The Neighborhood (Twin Estates #2)

by Stylo Fantome

  “No – before I was caught between two men. Now I'm back in that same position, only the men are much, much worse in my eyes. I still don't fully trust either of them, and Wulf still thinks it's a game. He just walked out afterwards, laughing about the whole thing. Laughing. I wanted to die a little, I was so angry.”

  “Okay, so drop the jerk and go with Liam.”

  “It's not that easy. I don't want to … how did this turn into a choosing thing!?” Katya suddenly exclaimed. “I was supposed to be using them. Torturing them. Now it's a contest for which prince can climb my tower and win me over.”

  “Climb your tower, huh. That's a new one on me. Is that like when one of them eats you -”

  “Tori.”

  The other girl cackled and downed the rest of her coffee before sitting upright.

  “Well, on the bright side, at least you're not angry at them anymore, right?”

  “... well, I guess so … kinda ...”

  “And a little sex never hurt anybody.”

  “Wrong.”

  “You look more relaxed, so there's that.”

  Katya didn't feel relaxed. She felt hot and bothered. Caught between being raging pissed off at Wulf, and so incredibly turned on she wanted to drive to his work and fuck him right at his big desk. She felt worried and guilty, because while he was still playing some stupid one-up-manship game, Liam was pouring his heart out and making a real effort.

  I have to tell him.

  “I have to tell Liam what I did,” Katya sighed, rubbing at her temples.

  “Are you going to sleep with him, too?” Tori asked. Katya barked out a laugh.

  “I didn't want to sleep with Wulf, it just happened. I don't know. I don't think so? God, I don't know,” she groaned again.

  “Look, it's like I said,” Tori sighed, climbing out of her chair. “Just do you. Keep doing what feels right, and eventually, it'll lead you where you need to be. It's how the universe works.”

  “And what about you?” Katya asked, leaning back so she could look up at her friend. “How come we never talk about your love life? Who's boffing your brains out?”

  “God, I wish. I'm all about that cash nowadays. Liam's promoting me to night shift manager downstairs, comes with a big raise.”

  “That's amazing, Tori. Good for you!”

  “Thanks. I've been working really hard for it. I know I'm still pretty new, but I'm the best he's got down there. And you know, I think it's better this way. Keeping busy, focusing on work. No offense, but I don't want your boy problems,” she laughed. “I went through all that before on my own, and no thank you. I think lil' Tori just needs to take a well deserved break from men.”

  She was smiling and she was laughing while she spoke, but Katya got the feeling her friend didn't feel like doing either of those things. In fact, she felt like Tori almost seemed a little sad. Like she was covering something up with all the big grins and talk of hard work.

  “Are you sure you don't have anything you want to talk about?” Katya asked. Tori shrugged and began wrapping her scarf back around her neck.

  “Lots of things. Like bears. How weird is hibernation? Not peeing for months on end? How do they do that?”

  Katya rolled her eyes.

  “You know that's not what I meant. What's going -”

  “Would love to talk, gotta run, gotta bar to manage. Kisses!” Tori called out as she strode for the door, blowing kisses over her shoulder. Then with the tinkle of a bell, she was gone, leaving Katya blinking in her wake.

  Hmmm, I am going to have to tie her down and get the truth out of her, eventually.

  *

  She threw herself into her work for the rest of the day, ignoring her phone entirely. Liam was really back to his old self, sending her silly messages and pictures through the afternoon. Wulf texted once, just one line, like normal. Something vaguely smug and slightly dirty. Enough to piss her off even more and turn her on more.

  Asshole.

  Luckily, both men turned out to be too busy to harass her any further. Liam was gearing up for a huge party at his club – The Garden was turning ten years old, four of which had been spent under his direct management and ownership. They were going all out for it. While they'd been in Carmel, she'd reluctantly agreed to go to the party, but only under the condition that Wulf be there, too. It had seemed like a funny joke at the time, because Liam hated it when Wulf was in the club.

  Now it wasn't funny at all. Wulfric, in a sex club, and around her, and her around Liam, knowing she'd just had sex with Wulf, but not with Liam – Liam, whom she'd had sex with in the club once before.

  Think about how many times you just thought the word sex, and re-prioritize your life, you sex fiend.

  The party was on Saturday, and she'd long since scheduled that Sunday off, even before her little sabbatical. She wondered if she should cancel. Tell Liam she was simply too busy catching up at work. But then he sent her a really sweet text, telling her how much he appreciated the chance to start over again, and she knew she had to suck it up. He was really putting in an effort to be a good friend and a better man. She could at least hold it together for a couple hours at his party.

  Thursday was more of the same at work, but also with classes mixed in with her regular duties. The bakery was one that interned bakers from a local college – it was how Katya had found her current position. So once a week, she took them all to learn special techniques or to different seminars or expos.

  She was so caught up in it all, she hadn't noticed that she'd missed several phone calls throughout the day. On the train ride home, she finally pulled out her cell and was surprised to see that Wulf had called her three times. While she stared at the screen, he actually called again. She took a deep breath and brought the phone to her ear.

  “Tocci.”

  He barked out her name like a drill sergeant. Like he was about to give an order.

  “Stone,” she said back in a comically deep voice.

  “Where the hell have you been?” he demanded.

  “At this little place called work,” she laughed at him.

  “Oh, so they decided to take you back.”

  “No thanks to you.”

  “Hey, you threw that first piece of cake.”

  “And the last, technically.”

  He snorted and she felt proud of herself. She'd had many a pep-talk with herself, prepping for the next time she would see him. If he could treat mind blowing sex like it wasn't a big deal and just walk away from her, then she could do the exact same thing. Or at least, she could act like she could.

  “Watch it. I was calling to remind you – you still owe me dinner,” he stated. She chewed on her bottom lip and clutched the rail in front of her as the train rocked.

  “I don't owe you anything,” she reminded him.

  “After the gift I gave you the other night, you owe me a lot.”

  She felt her face burn red, but she refused to let her nerves come through in her voice.

  “That's adorable that you think that,” she replied. “Because from my point of view, seems like you left me wanting a lot the other night.”

  A man standing nearby glanced down at her and she rolled her eyes.

  “That's adorable – you probably couldn't walk for the rest of the evening,” Wulf chuckled.

  “You think too highly of yourself.”

  “Because I know I'm that good.”

  “If this whole conversation is going to be this annoying, I'm going to hang up,” she warned him.

  “Dinner, seven o'clock sharp. I'm thinking seafood,” he told her. Her mind raced around for an excuse.

  “I really can't cook for you tonight,” she insisted.

  “Why?”

  “Because ...”

  “It's okay, take your time. I've got all evening to wait for you to make up a convincing excuse.”

  Hear that sound? That's your sanity he's bending and snapping in half.

  “Okay, fine – you want to know w
hy I can't?” she snapped. “Because I'm going out with Liam. I didn't want to hurt your feelings, that's why I wasn't going to tell you, but since you apparently don't give two shits about mine, there it is. I can't cook you dinner because I'm going to be too busy screwing Liam into next Saturday!”

  Now every person standing around her looked at her. She sent a glare around to the crowd, then shoved her way to a door as soon as the train stopped.

  “Oh. I see. So apparently I wasn't that good,” he spoke in a carefully modulated voice.

  “I told you – your ego is going to be the death of you,” she told him as she stomped down the street.

  “Most likely. When you realize how unsatisfied you are by a boy like Liam, call me.”

  He didn't say goodbye, just hung up on her. She growled and shoved her phone into her pocket.

  Okay, it wasn't her finest moment. She had absolutely no intention of sleeping with Liam any time soon, and using him to make Wulf jealous wasn't okay on any sort of level. Guilt rolled over her and with a heavy sigh, she pulled her phone back out. Stabbed at a contact and held it to her ear.

  “I was just thinking about you,” Liam's warm voice filled her ear. She grimaced.

  “Awww, that's sweet. I was just talking about you,” she replied.

  “Hopefully it was all flattering. Lots of money, big penis, that kind of stuff.”

  She laughed out loud.

  “I was talking to Wulf.”

  “Oh god.”

  “Yeah. He was being kind of a jerk, so I did something bad,” she told him.

  “Like what?”

  “Well, he was demanding I cook him dinner, so I told him I couldn't because I was too busy having dinner with you tonight,” she was semi-honest.

  “Naughty girl, angel cake,” he laughed.

  “I'm really sorry, I just blurted it out. He makes me so angry sometimes, I just ...”

  “It's okay – I would've paid to have seen his face. You can use me any time to piss Wulf off. Now, what are you going to make me for dinner?” he asked, and she could practically hear how hard he was grinning.

  “Uuuggg, I bake all day, and then you people expect me to cook,” she grumbled.

  “Shut up, you love it. Come bring me food.”

  “Okay, okay. Tacos?”

  “Always. See you in a few.”

  “Bye.”

  She stopped at home for a bit, changing her clothes and setting up some sketches on her drafting table. She tried not to blush when she remembered what had happened on it the night before – how it had gotten that far, so fast? So fast. One minute they'd been fighting, the next they'd been ripping off each other's clothing.

  She shook away the memories and headed out. She stopped in and grabbed a bag of tacos from his favorite spot, then was off to Liam's club.

  She hadn't been back since their big fight. Just walking down the alley to it, she felt like she was going to break out in hives or something. Too many bad memories. Or fake memories. She wasn't sure which feeling was worse. Ever since that first evening together, everything had been planned. Premeditated. She took a deep breath with ever step she took, bracing herself.

  She made small talk with Jan the bouncer. She'd seen her hero a couple time since he'd saved her from her two personal demons. He'd come home with Tori a few times for a late night meal. He was scary to look at, but he was actually a big teddy bear in real life. She gave him a hug before she headed inside.

  She'd texted Tori ahead of time so the girl could be waiting upstairs for her. Katya wasn't mentally prepared to deal with the rest of the staff. Most of them had witnessed her epic freak out and resulting race through the club. The whole situation was still embarrassing and sore.

  Her roommate greeted her inside the door, then lead her downstairs. She chattered about what preparations were being made for the coming weekend and what kind of music there would be and what she was going to wear. Katya got the feeling it was more filler, that her friend was trying to avoid talking about anything real. But before she could even get a word in edgewise, she was at the hallway to Liam's office and Tori was scampering back to her bar.

  Before Katya got to the door, voices filtered out to the hallway and froze her in place. Knocked her down and hurtled her through space and time.

  No no no no no, not again.

  “... all your fault,” Liam was saying.

  “I didn't tell you to use her,” Wulf's voice said.

  Katya started breathing fast, feeling lightheaded.

  “You gave me her number!”

  “Her card, there's a difference.”

  Wait, what?

  “She's like a goddamn nazi.”

  “That's going a bit far.”

  I am not a nazi! Am I!?

  “She's taken everything and basically called me stupid.”

  “Well, she's not exactly lying.”

  “I just wanted someone to do my accounting – I didn't want some tiny bossy lady taking over my entire office.”

  Katya felt the oxygen returning to her lungs.

  “Ayumi is a CPA – she originally worked for me in accounting. She's excellent at this, just let her do her thing. Do you have my check?”

  Katya almost laughed. Ayumi Nakada – Wulf's assistant. They were talking about Wulf's assistant. Not her. Ayumi, who apparently was also a CPA. She pressed a hand to her forehead and walked up to the door, gently knocking on it.

  “What!?” Liam snapped. She took that as an invitation and pushed open the door. Both men stared at her for a moment and she managed a smile.

  “We've got to stop meeting like this.”

  Her voice lacked any kind of strength to drive the joke home, but both men chuckled. Liam hurried around the desk and grabbed the food bag from her while guiding her to a chair.

  “Sorry, I tried to get him out of here before you got here,” he grumbled, shooting a glare at Wulf. The other man smirked at both of them.

  “Is that dinner I smell? Wonderful, I'm starving,” he said, sitting in the seat next to Katya.

  “No, no, no, this is a private intimate dinner for two,” Liam informed him. Wulf rolled his eyes and shrugged out of his jacket. She noticed that he wasn't wearing a tie, and when she looked up at him, his smile got bigger. She frowned and looked away, grabbing the bag off Liam's desk.

  “It's fine, I got enough to choke a mule.”

  “Which means barely enough for me,” Liam groaned, but he sat down in his desk chair and wheeled himself out so he was sitting with them.

  It was an awkward dinner, for sure, but nothing could keep Liam quiet for too long. He eventually started talking, telling old surfing stories from his early twenties. Katya pointed out that she was still in her early twenties, which made everyone chuckle.

  Wulf said that his early twenties hadn't been very fun. Completing grad school, building a business, taking care of a family. They both stared at him in silence for a moment, then Liam cleared his throat.

  “You're kind of a downer, bro.”

  When Katya finished her food, she realized Wulf was staring at her in a way that made her very uncomfortable. Liam still had a lot of hours left at the bar, so she made her excuses and went to leave. He gave her a big hug and kiss goodbye, adding to the uncomfortable feeling. She tried to hurry out without saying anything to Wulf, but of course, he never let her get away with anything.

  She was sliding her jacket on and hurrying down the hallway when she heard him closing in behind her. She glanced over her shoulder, then groaned before turning up the stairs to leave.

  “I don't have time to deal with you, I have to get up early tomorrow,” she told him. He walked so close behind her, she could feel his body heat. He stayed that way clear through the whole club, all the way until they were outside. Jan gave him a nasty look, but didn't say anything as they headed out of the alley.

  “You sure about that? I'm still hungry, I could go for some dessert,” he said, and she nearly choked on air.

&n
bsp; “Are you sure about that? It might wind up all over your smug little face,” she warned him.

  “It didn't last night.”

  She lucked out and a taxi was letting someone out at the curb right next to them. She hurried down and grabbed the door, then turned to face Wulf. He'd stayed right on her heels and she almost wound up with her nose in his collar.

  “Not for lack of trying. Speaking of which, I have something for you,” she said, pulling his messy tie out of her pocket. She unfurled it and wrapped it around his neck.

  “That mess better come out, this was very expensive,” he told her, leaning down close as she wrapped her hands around the ends of the tie.

  “You know what else costs a lot?” she whispered, standing on her toes and meeting him halfway. His eyes were on her lips, following their movement.

  “What?” he whispered back.

  “My time. Stop wasting it, Wulf.”

  She abruptly let go of the tie and dropped into the taxi's backseat. She slammed the door and waved at him as she gave an address to the cabbie. Before Wulf could say a witty comeback or get into the car with her, the cab was sailing off down the street, with Katya laughing the whole way.

  21

  “How're things, kiddo?”

  Katya balanced her phone between her shoulder and ear while she moved around her kitchen. To celebrate Tori's promotion, Katya had made her roommate's favorite foods and dessert. Her dad had called right in the middle of it all.

  “Good, busy. Work has been insane,” she said, kicking the dishwasher door shut with her heel before hurrying over and peering into the oven.

  “That's good to hear, glad you're back at it. Your mother's got me on this low-sodium, low-carb diet. I think she's trying to kill me,” he chuckled. She laughed.

  “Good for you, you need taking care of.”

  “Speaking of taking care – how are your two boys?” he asked in what she was sure he thought was a nonchalant voice.

  “They're not mine, and they're fine.”

  “No more punches?”