“I'm not in the goddamn mood for a conversation, Eden,” Wulf growled. Punching someone was suddenly seeming like the mostly likely outcome of the evening.
Far different from what I'd had in mind. Fucking Tocci, screwing up my life yet again.
“That's fine. But I just have to say – if that's what's really going on, if this is some sort of challenge, a way for her to make us prove our feelings for her, then game on. I'm not backing down, Wulf. You fucked her over just as bad as I did, which means I have just as good a chance at winning her back. Better even,” Liam warned him. Wulf barked out a laugh.
“How are your chances better than mine?”
“Because you were just some guy she slept with,” Liam said. “I was her friend. Maybe her best friend. That's harder to forget. I know her in ways you never did. I'm not gonna just let you walk away with this, not this time.”
“What, implying you did last time?” Wulf was really laughing by then.
“No, I'm saying I backed down last time because I knew what we were doing was wrong, so I didn't want to hurt her any more than I already had by making her fall in love with both of us,” Liam explained.
“Fine. Fine, Eden, if that helps you sleep at night, then fine. But I can tell you right now exactly why you'll lose,” Wulf said, digging his car keys out of his pocket.
“Oh, really? And why exactly am I going to lose, oh wise and all knowing Wulfric?”
“Because you're still thinking of it as a game, and regardless of what she said tonight, she stopped being a game to me a long time ago.”
13
Liam laid in bed and stared at his ceiling. Street lamps cast a glow through the windows, and the orange light stretched the entire length of his apartment.
He'd removed all the walls, converting the penthouse apartment into a loft, because he liked space. Wide open spaces. He didn't like boundaries or borders. He didn't like being shut out of something.
It was basically an analogy for his entire life. He'd always been made to feel like he was second best growing up, but he'd never understood why. Sure, his twin brother had gotten better grades. Had been much smarter, which had afforded him more opportunities.
But why should that make Liam less worthy? Less capable of succeeding? That's how his parents had always made him feel, though. Landon Edenhoff was the golden child, could do no wrong, nothing could hold him back. The sky was the limit. For god's sake, he was a doctor in some charity hospital in Guatemala, or somewhere.
Poor little Liam, though, with his C grades. Sneaking off to surf instead of taking his SATs. Always being told because he wasn't smart enough, wasn't quick enough, wasn't sharp enough, he'd never succeed. It's bad enough having a successful sibling with a natural talent – but having that sibling be a twin? A carbon copy showing him up at every family gathering. And a real asshole, to boot.
So when Liam had gotten his management position, had done such a good job turning around the business, he had thought that would finally prove something. He was a success in his own right. Landon was having his own issues. A nasty divorce, problems at work. Maybe Liam had a chance to be the winner, for once.
And then enter Wulfric fucking goddamn “everything I touch turns to gold” Stone.
Liam had taken an instant dislike to him, but hadn't really cared, because he didn't have to deal with him much. When the twins inherited the Twin Estates, Wulf had arranged a meeting. They'd signed paperwork, gone over some different management options. Then later, Wulf had helped with the permits Liam needed to remodel his apartment. All strictly professional.
So when Liam had first gotten the idea to buy The Garden sex club, it had been a natural leap to think of asking Wulf for advice. And when Wulf had offered to invest in the club, to buy half of it and turn all the managing over to Liam, Liam hadn't seen a downside.
My biggest regret. Now I'm stuck with him.
It was like his childhood all over again. Wulf was an arrogant asshole who knew he was smarter than everyone around him. Knew he was richer and better and more talented. Knew he was all these things that Liam could never be.
They had a weird relationship that mostly involved attempting to one up each other. Hitting on the same girl at the bar, seeing who could get her phone number first. Seeing who she'd go home with first. It was a toss up, usually. Almost exactly fifty-fifty, but that wasn't good enough for Liam. He wanted to win. Wanted to be better than Wulf at something.
That's why Katya had particularly stung. To really fall for that girl. To care about her and want good things for her, yet to have to watch her fall for the asshole. It was like confirming his worst fears. That he was still that little boy who wasn't quite good enough for anyone.
It was right, and it damn sure wasn't fair. Liam was every bit as worthy of her love as Wulf. Hell, more worthy. He ran a successful business, he owned expensive property, he was funny as hell, he was sexy as fuck, and he was good in bed. He was every bit as good as Wulfric Stone.
I won't lose to him again.
14
“I'm sorry, what?”
Katya crept down the hallway, looking back over her shoulder.
“I said I want to go to the beach,” Liam said, not creeping at all, just boldly striding ahead of her.
He's braver than I am.
“Okay. Have fun. You want me to water your plants, or something?” she asked, trying to remember if he even owned any plants.
“Angel cake, do I seem like the kind of guy who can keep a spider plant alive?” he laughed.
“Keep your voice down!” she hissed, swatting at his back as they stopped in front of a door.
“Why?”
“Do you want him to hear you? He'll murder you on the spot.”
“I've given him much better reasons over the years than this, I'll be fine. Besides, I told you, Wulf isn't home,” Liam said, flipping through a bunch of keys on a ring.
“Are you sure? I mean, positive? What if he comes home? God, why am I doing this?” Katya groaned, glancing over her shoulder again, expecting the elevator to open at any moment, revealing an omnipresent Wulf.
“Because it's exciting, and the new you seems to love danger and excitement. Are you really scared of the Wulf-man?” Liam teased, finally selecting a key and shoving it into the bolt lock. It slid open and he moved down to the door knob.
“I'm not scared of him,” Katya responded instantly.
Liar.
“Liar,” Liam echoed her thoughts. “I've never been to Wulf's house, though I've known him for years. You only went the one time, right? I'm curious. Let's go check it out. Let's be bad.”
Before Katya could argue, the door to Wulf's apartment swung open.
When Liam had called her and asked to go on a walk, she had figured it would be to a park or something, and that she'd be getting an earful about her behavior from the previous night. She was prepared to tell him that her “date” with Gaten had only been a ruse – even Gate had been aware that she'd only agreed to dinner to piss off Wulf, and the two of them had laughed heartily about it over fish and chips.
When it was clear Liam had no intention of going for a walk and had pushed the top floor on button the elevator, she thought he was going to try one of his seduction routines on her. But then he'd told her they were gonna take a tour of Wulf's apartment, and she'd been so thoroughly caught off guard, she'd just gone along with it.
Of course, she knew what they were doing was wrong. Like as in actually, literally illegal – not to mention an incredible violation of his personal space. Still. She knew Wulf would never invite her up on his own, and also, she didn't care about violating his privacy. Not one little bit. So she walked into the apartment and listened as Liam shut the door, locking it behind them.
It certainly wasn't on the same opulence level as his high rise penthouse. There was no hint of all the marble and black accents, and it was maybe a third the size. If that. She smiled to herself.
He must be miserable here.
/>
It did have one thing in common with his old home, though. It was totally impersonal. No family photos or pictures, no artwork, no personal touches at all. He'd most likely had another designer set the whole thing up. The furniture was warmer, more homey, than his last place, though. She ran her hand along the back of the huge couch she'd watched his movers struggling with the other day.
“It's … nice,” she finally said, looking over a ridiculously big television.
“If you like the idea of living in a hotel room, sure. It has about as much warmth as he does,” Liam snorted from the other side of the room. Katya nodded as she moved into the kitchen.
“Yeah. Yeah, his other place is the same way.”
There was almost no food, also like his other home. There was some fancy beer in the fridge, and a case of expensive water. Some Chinese take out, then just a quart of milk. The only pantry item was cereal.
How does he not have scurvy!?
“So we were talking about the beach,” Liam's voice shouted from a different room.
“Uh huh,” she replied, though she wasn't paying attention. She was being drawn through the apartment towards a large room in the back.
Liam kept prattling away, but she couldn't hear him as she entered Wulf's bedroom. It certainly wasn't as big as his other one, and there were no windows. Luckily, he'd left the light on in the en suite, and it caused enough of a glow for Katya to see her surroundings. For some reason, she didn't want to turn on the overhead light. Didn't want to disturb the scene more than she already had.
She was a little shocked to see that the bed wasn't made. Wulf was more than a little OCD, she had trouble picturing him leaving behind any kind of mess. Everything else in the room was in order – just the covers on the right side of the bed were folded back, as if he'd yanked them off and never returned. She smiled as she took in the other side of the comforter, noticing that it was still in place from whenever the bed had last been made properly. Wulf slept primarily on one side. Even she didn't do that, preferring to stretch out in the center of her mattress.
She glanced over her shoulder, then stepped further into the room. She lowered herself to sit on the edge of the bed, in the spot where Wulf had probably been sleeping just hours earlier. On the nightstand next to her was a half empty glass of water, what looked like a datebook, and some sort of tablet or iPad.
Katya thought briefly about being a good person and getting up and walking out of the room. Then she decided fuck it, and she grabbed the tablet. She wouldn't go rooting through his social media files or anything, but was curious to see what he'd been looking at before he'd gone to bed, if he'd left it up on the screen. Maybe Wulf had some sort of kinky porn fetish she could use against him.
What she saw, though, when she unlocked the screen, surprised her more than any sort of weird kink. She held still as she stared down at the device, feeling a little short of breath.
“Did you hear what I said?” Liam's voice trickled into the room. She took a deep breath, but didn't respond.
She was looking at a picture of herself. Normally not a big deal – she took lots of pictures, had them all over her own apartment. On her own phone, the wallpaper was a selfie of her and Tori. Before that, it had been a pic of her and Liam. She was pretty sure Tori's wallpaper was a pic of herself and a famous basketball player she'd bumped into, and Katya knew Liam's wallpaper was a picture of him and her. Lots of people kept pictures of themselves or their loved ones nearby.
So to see it on Wulf's tablet was more than a little shocking. And it was more than just her picture being his wallpaper – it was knowing her picture was the only personal touch in his entire apartment. It was very overwhelming. She almost wanted to cry. She sniffled and ran her fingers down the side of the screen.
It was from their trip to Carmel. They were in his car, at some overlook they'd stopped in for a moment. Wulf was in the driver's seat, barely visible at the edge of the picture. He was wearing a dark pair of sunglasses and staring down at his phone – the reason for the stop, some business popping up. He was always on his phone.
Katya was the one who'd taken the picture. She was sitting at an angle in her seat and leaning back, actually pressing against Wulf's shoulder so she could get him in the shot. She was smiling big with the tip of her tongue trapped between her teeth. Her hair was in a ponytail, blowing everywhere in the wind. She looked silly and young and messy.
How had he gotten the pic? He must have gone onto her Facebook profile, lifted it from there. A lot of effort for him. And she had to wonder, why that particular picture? She had lots of better ones, where she was dressed up. Even a few with him, where he was wearing his expensive suits.
What on earth goes on in your head, Wulfric Stone?
“You haven't been listening to me at all.”
Katya let out a small shriek and dropped the tablet, startled as Liam entered the room. She'd forgotten about him. She caught her breath and picked up the device before she climbed to her feet.
“No, sorry, I got distracted,” she replied, glancing down at the screen before setting it face down on the night stand. It unsettled her, realizing Wulf looked at a picture of her everyday. At a silly, relaxed, cute, intimate photo of the two of them. Everyday.
“Find anything fun? Anal beads, ball gag, prostate massager?” Liam joked, moving around the bed to lay down behind her.
“No, he wouldn't have anything like that.”
“Did you look? You never know.”
“Um, actually, I think of all people, I would know.”
“Gross, I hate when you remind me.”
“You're the one who used to have pow-wows to literally discuss the sex he and I had.”
“Gross, I hate when you remind me.”
Katya grabbed the pillow next to her and swiveled around, smacking it across his face. He went to hold up a hand, but she continued to beat him with the goose down cushion. She got in a couple more good licks before he was able to grab her wrists. They struggled for a moment, her trying to make him eat the pillow, when he was able to shove her back onto the bed and hold her down.
“It hasn't been long enough for you to be cute about it,” she growled at him.
“You make smart ass comments about it all the time,” Liam pointed out, laughing as she struggled against him to no avail.
“I'm allowed to, I'm the injured party,” she replied.
“You can only milk that for so long.”
“I think I have a little longer.”
“God, angel cake,” he sighed, and she stopped moving. “I missed you so much.”
Katya swallowed thickly, trying not to notice the look in his eyes as they wandered over her face and chest.
“Should've thought about that before,” she replied in a soft voice.
“Hmmm. Do you ever think about it? Us?” he asked. She took a deep breath.
“More often than you could possibly imagine.”
“You know, I thought it would be fun, sneaking around in here,” he started. “Getting to see into Wulf's private world, and him not knowing I was here with you.”
“Knowing that whenever you see him, he'll have no idea you did something that would piss him off,” Katya laughed.
“Yeah. But now that we're in here, I have another idea,” he said.
“And what's that?”
“Imagine how pissed off he'd be if we had sex in his bed.”
Katya held still. On the one hand, he was completely right. Wulf would lose his goddamn mind. Probably kill them both, then burn his bed. On the other hand, she was never going to have sex with Liam. But on yet another hand, it was very empowering having Liam begging her for sex again. And one last hand – she could still use this situation to her advantage.
“Mmmm, that would be kinda hot,” she agreed, shifting around underneath him so he could settle in between her legs.
“Seriously?” he was understandably shocked.
“I hadn't thought about that. Was this you
r plan, get me up here and have sex?” she asked, stretching her arms above her head. He was still holding onto her wrists, so he moved with the stretch, laying flat on top of her.
“No, but it's seeming like a really, really good idea.”
“It would be so crazy,” she breathed, lifting her head so her lips brushed against his as she spoke. “Can you imagine his face? When you tell him you fucked me in here?”
“I really don't want to imagine his face right now.”
“Not to mention,” she sighed, moving so her mouth was trailing down the side of his neck. “It's been a long time since you and I had sex together.”
“A loooong time, angel cake.”
“So long, I can barely remember.”
“I could never forget.”
“Really?” she whispered, slipping her wrists free of him and running her hands down his chest. “I find that surprising.”
“Why?” he whispered back, his lips at her ear. She took a deep breath.
“Cause you've already forgotten what I said yesterday,” she stated in a loud voice. He gave a start at the abrupt shift in tone, and she used that against him. She shoved hard at his chest, catching him off guard. With a shout, he fell to the side, bounced on the mattress, then slid to the floor with a thump.
“Jesus, Katya!” he snapped, rubbing his head where it connected with the baseboard.
“I told you – I'm not sleeping with you. What about that is so hard to get?” she said, climbing off the bed and straightening out her clothes.
“Now that I know that statement is backed up with physical violence, I'll be sure to keep my hands to myself,” he grumbled, glaring up at her.
She laughed and left the room. She was still chuckling to herself, flipping her hair over her shoulder, when she thought she heard something. She went still in the living room, standing next to a huge stone coffee table that sat in front of the over-stuffed sofa. A jingling sound, near the door.
That would be keys. In a lock. Turning it.
The Neighborhood (Twin Estates #2) Page 10