The Neighborhood (Twin Estates #2)

by Stylo Fantome

  “Oh. About what?”

  “About what a crazy slut you were in college.”

  Her mother actually let out a startled shriek and dropped the hose, sending the spray into the air. Katya jumped away and laughed as her mother got a face full of water.

  “Katya Tocci!” she gasped, kicking the hose out of the way. “How dare you use that language with me!”

  “It's okay, Mom. It's kinda badass, really. Two men at once! I never knew you had it in you,” she teased.

  Her mother glared at her for a moment longer, water dripping down her face, ruining her makeup. Then she sighed and smoothed her hands over hair, putting everything back into place.

  “Well, it was a long time ago,” she said simply. “I was young and carefree, and quite frankly, your father and his friend were the two most attractive men on campus. What can I say? Everyone acts like that in college. It's a time for exploration.”

  “Dayum, Mom!”

  “Hush. And don't ever tell anyone I said that, either,” her mother snapped, pointing sternly at her daughter. Katya smiled.

  “Oh, this is all going in the Christmas cards this year. Love you!”

  Katya turned and ran back into the house, leaving her mom to sputter in front of the roses. Her dad was in the living room and wheeled up to the coffee table, fighting to open an airplane size pack of peanuts. She yanked it out of his hands and ripped it open, then handed it back.

  “I love you, Dad. So much that sometimes it makes me really, really stupid,” she told him.

  “Completely understandable, sweetheart. Happens to me all the time,” he replied.

  She hesitated for a second, dancing from foot to foot while her father calmly ate peanuts.

  “I'm scared,” she finally said. He nodded.

  “You should be. He could be shacked up with another woman by now.”

  “Daddy!”

  “Of course he's not! That boy is head over heels for you. Now get out of here before you drive us all insane,” he snapped, waving his hand at her, shooing her towards the door.

  She hadn't asked, but she assumed her father knew she'd need some way of getting home, so she took the car keys on her way out the door. She tossed her bag into the back seat, got behind the wheel, then burned rubber as she pulled out of the driveway.

  She had a two hour drive ahead of her. Two hours, by herself, stuck with her own thoughts. Not a good thing, as she now knew.

  During the first hour, she almost talked herself into turning around several times. Even pulled into a rest stop once and had a full on argument with herself. Then she got back on the road and put the pedal to the medal.

  The second hour was spent trying to decide what she would say. What she would do. Should she go to her old apartment, wait for him to get off work? No, that would be hours away, she would definitely psych herself out.

  Okay, so show up at his office? She didn't want to create a scene. Didn't want to embarrass him or herself, at least not anymore than was necessary.

  Don't want to wait, don't want to embarrass yourself. Jesus, suck it up. GET TO WORK, TOCCI.

  About twenty minutes outside the city limits, she bit the bullet and called him. She cursed when she got his voicemail, then immediately called again. Nothing. So she took a deep breath and really fortified herself and called his office.

  “The Stone Agency,” his assistant's smooth voice answered the phone. “Wulfric Stone's office.”

  “Hi, Ayumi,” Katya said nervously. “This is Katya Tocci.”

  “Good to hear from you, Ms. Tocci. What can I do for you?” Ayumi asked politely.

  “Is Wulf available?”

  “I'm sorry, he's not here.”

  “Oh … okay ...”

  “But he did give me instructions, in case you ever called,” Ayumi continued. “If you need anything, I'm at your disposal, or if there's an emergency, I can go get him.”

  “No, no, no, no, no emergency, I'm fine,” Katya said fast. “Do you know when he'll be back?”

  “Oh, I'm sorry, he won't be back today. He's at a grand opening for a new business. There's a ribbon cutting, and then there's a party.”

  Katya's mind raced, going back over the days and weeks and months. To when they'd first ever met, in her bakery. When he'd stared at her like he hadn't recognized her.

  “... I have a waiting list.”

  “You have a waiting list?”

  “Yes. If you'd like me to make cupcakes for your party, I can have them to you in roughly three months.”

  “A wait list, huh.”

  “I'm sorry, but I'm very busy today. If you'd like to look at my portfolio, I can give you our website.”

  “No, no, three months is fine. We're having a party in about five months time, so if you think you can pencil me in, that would be great.”

  Jesus, it had been five months since that conversation. She could hardly believe it.

  She never did make his cupcakes.

  The universe is amazing.

  “Ms. Tocci?” Ayumi asked.

  “Yeah, sorry, here,” Katya had forgotten she was on the phone. “Hey – could you tell me where that party is?”

  30

  It took Katya a lot longer to get to the address Ayumi had given her then she'd thought it would. She wasn't sure how long the party was lasting – was it already over? Would she be able to find him? It would be just her luck that she'd get there, and he'd already be gone.

  She parked at a meter a couple blocks away, but didn't have any change. She decided screw it, she was on her way to figure out her future, who cared about a parking ticket. She took off jogging down the street.

  It had been an hour since she'd spoken to Wulf's assistant. She'd asked the other woman not to warn him that she was coming, didn't want it getting more awkward than it already was – if he was off guard, she could just barrel right into it all, just blurt out her feelings.

  If he's even there. It's after five – I spoke to her about an hour ago. He wouldn't leave the party that soon, would he?

  She was so lost in her thoughts, she wasn't paying attention as she rounded a corner. She ran smack into someone's back and almost fell down. Someone else grabbed her arm and hauled her upright.

  “I”m sorry,” she said quickly. “So sorry.”

  “No problem,” the man she'd hit said. “You okay?”

  “Yeah – what's going on?” she asked, trying to look around. There was a huge crowd in front of her that was taking over the sidewalk.

  “They're doing an opening ceremony for this new mall – everything is gonna be ten percent off after they open the doors,” he explained. “We're all waiting for them to cut the ribbon.”

  “Oh my god,” she breathed. “They haven't … haven't cut the ribbon yet?”

  “No, but they're about to. Whoa!” he exclaimed when she pushed in front of him. “Good luck, lady!”

  It was no easy task, shoving her way to the other side of the crowd. It was absolutely packed, and huge. She finally got to the other side and stood against a polished cement wall that came up to her eyebrows. She put her hands on top of it, then scrambled to lift herself up.

  It was a gigantic fountain, water cascading over a huge shaft of onyx in the center. She carefully stood up on the edge and finally looked around.

  The crowd was even bigger than she'd realized – she was barely halfway to the front of it. She sort of recognized the building, but it was in a part of town she didn't go to often, and a lot of work had been done to it. They'd maintained the historical feel, but updated everything and had added a whole parking structure on the side.

  For whatever reason, she had assumed the ribbon cutting and the party would be taking place inside the building. She had also assumed it would be an office building. Ridiculous, really. Still assuming things, even after everything that had happened to her.

  The ceremony was taking place outside, in front of the crowd. There were two posts with a huge red ribbon strung between the
m, a comically large bow in the middle. Several men and two women stood in a line behind it. Two other men were forward and off to the side, and one of them was speaking into a microphone. The other one stood stoically and silently, his hands clasped behind his back.

  “Wulf,” she whispered, straining her eyes to get a good look at him.

  He looked the same. Tall and handsome, his face so serious and stern that he looked angry. But she knew him better now, and all she saw when she looked at him was the man who told her she was like a present. Who told her she was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

  An applause broke her out of her reverie, and she watched as Wulf moved to the ribbon. A large pair of silver sheers had appeared in his hands, and while people clapped and cheered, he began sawing through the thick ribbon.

  Katya frowned and started looking around for an easier way down off her perch. This wasn't right – this was Wulf's moment. She didn't like it when her relationships interfered with her career, so she shouldn't be interfering with his. She would wait around and after the crowd had gone inside and calmed down, she could seek him out. Or she could go wait at his apartment, even.

  If you still have access to it. He probably took you off the list. Why should you be on it? You've changed your mind more times than a – STOP IT RIGHT NOW. NO MORE THINKING ABOUT ANYTHING UNTIL YOU TALK TO HIM, YOU RIDICULOUS, SILLY, PRESUMPTUOUS -

  She had been walking along the cement edge, which was the width of a balance beam. She had noticed that at the other end, the stairs rose to meet it, and she would be able to hop down a couple inches as opposed to a couple feet. But her coordination wasn't as good as she'd thought, and one wrong move sent her careening to the right, over the crowd. She started windmilling her arms and over corrected, leaning too far to the left.

  You cannot be serious. This cannot be happening again.

  She shrieked when she hit the water. It was freezing cold, and there was some sort of current system in place that kept the water flowing in a circular motion. She was dragged along, coming up once to sputter for air before she was pulled back under.

  Fantastic, I'm going to drown in two feet of water in front of a mini-mall. Better than I deserve, really.

  She didn't drown, though. She finally calmed down enough to plant her feet. The water harmlessly flowed around her and she was able to sit upright, hacking and gasping for air. She sat there, shivering and coughing while she struggled to push her messy hair out of her face.

  “What in the hell are you doing!?”

  She turned her head in time to see Wulf effortlessly pull himself up onto the ledge. She groaned and twisted around, trying to get up on her knees. She was shocked when he didn't hesitate at all and just waded right into the water, ruining his expensive suit. He grabbed her arms and hauled her to her feet, standing her in front of him.

  “Hi,” she managed to say, her teeth starting to chatter. He glared at her, then shrugged out of his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders.

  “Thought it was a good time for a swim, Tocci?” he asked, rubbing his hands up and down her arms.

  “Well, you know me and fountains.”

  “I do, unfortunately.”

  There was a second of tense silence.

  “I'm sorry I ruined your ceremony,” she started speaking fast. “I thought it had already happened, then I climbed up here and you hadn't cut it yet -”

  “Tocci.”

  “- and so I tried to climb back down, but then I stumbled, and I fell, and I -”

  “Tocci.”

  “- this suction or whatever is way too strong, it dragged me down here, and I'm really, really sorry I -”

  “Katya!” he snapped, and she finally looked up at him again.

  “Yes?” she asked meekly.

  “What. THE HELL. Are you doing here?”

  She took a deep breath.

  “I came to see you,” she said in a small voice.

  “You came to see me,” he repeated.

  “... yes?”

  “You know where I live, you have my phone number. It had to be right now?” he asked, looking at her like she was crazy.

  “Yes, it did,” she nodded.

  “What could possibly be so important that you felt the need to climb up here and almost break your neck and give me a goddamn heart attack!?” he demanded.

  “I had to tell you something,” she continued.

  “It had better be really fucking good.”

  She took another deep breath and searched her brain for the perfect words.

  “I'm scared,” she blurted out, surprising herself.

  “You're … what?” he sounded confused. She decided to roll with it and let her brain go on on auto-pilot.

  “I'm scared of you,” she said. “I'm terrified of us. I'm worried that you'll get mad every time you don't understand me, and I'm frightened that I'll get confused every time I don't understand you. I'm worried this will all be too much work. I'm afraid we'll make each other miserable and horrible and broken.”

  They stared at each other for a long time, and if she had to guess, she'd say Wulf looked a little scared, too.

  “That's what you came up here to tell me?” he checked. She chewed on her lips for a second and focused on his eyes. Those intense blue eyes that could infuriate her and terrify her and make her glad to be alive.

  “But most of all,” she said, barely above a whisper. “I'm scared you'll never know how much I love you.”

  “You … love … what?” he asked. She nodded.

  “I think I've loved you for a really long time. And I'm scared because I've never been in love, and I'm afraid because I don't know if you'll ever love me back, but … but I don't care. I told you I'd fight for you, but that wasn't really right. I'll fight for us, no matter how hard it gets.”

  There, it was out. And once again, she felt an immense sense of relief. Good or bad, ugly or not, she'd done it. She driven a lot of miles and come a long way and she had laid her heart on the table. No matter what happened now, she would always have this moment. She'd proven to herself that despite her inner voice and all her mistakes, she could make good on her promises and she could fight for him. She could rise above and be truly brave. She could be fearless.

  … aaaaaand he's not responding. God, this was stupid. This was so stupid. I'm going to die if I have to stand here much longer. Literally, totally, die. Melt and swirl down the drain.

  “You're scared ...” he finally breathed. She managed a nod.

  “Terrified.”

  “Oh, Tocci,” he sighed. “What am I going to do with you?”

  “Um … you could start by drying me off with a warm towel?”

  “You're horrible, you know that?” he asked, pulling her closer.

  “Yes, I've become aware of it.”

  “I told you,” he said, wrapping an arm around her waist. “Never be scared with me.”

  “I know,” she said, staring up at him. He wiped her hair out of her face. “It's easier said than done.”

  “Would it help if I told you a secret?”

  “Like what?”

  “I think I've been in love with you since that first time we slept together.”

  “You have not.”

  “I so have.”

  “I don't believe you.”

  “I kept the panties, Tocci.”

  “You did no-… ew, really?” she asked. He burst out laughing.

  “What can I say? I'm a romantic deep down. But don't tell anyone.”

  “I won't. They wouldn't believe me, anyway.”

  “Tocci.”

  “Yes?”

  “Shut up now, it's time to end this with a very dramatic kiss.”

  They were standing in a freezing cold fountain and a huge crowd was staring at them and she was crying so much, but none of that mattered. He kissed her so hard she could feel it in her soul, and when everyone cheered, she thought it was her nerve endings thanking her for finally coming home.

&
nbsp; You're very, very welcome.

  *

  “I was scared, too.”

  Katya snorted. She couldn't imagine Wulf being scared of anything.

  “Of what?” she whispered, rolling onto her back.

  “Of you,” his voice was a hot breath against the side of her stomach and she resisted the urge to laugh. It was a ticklish spot.

  “Of me?”

  She looked down as his head moved across her body, pausing as he placed a kiss against her ribs. She could just barely make out his form against hers. They were completely under the top sheet on his bed, with only the light from a candle filtering through the Egyptian cotton.

  “You laugh when you're with him. Smile. So much.”

  “I smile with you.”

  “Not enough.”

  “Well, you should be nicer to me,” she teased, then yelped when he nipped at her collarbone.

  “I knew he wasn't right for you,” Wulf continued, and she groaned when his tongue circled around her earlobe. “He has a lot of growing up to do.”

  “He's three years older than you.”

  “Yet still a child. You need a man. Someone who can take care of himself and you.”

  “And his family, and my family ...”

  “I can't help it that I'm such a generous, selfless person.”

  “That's funny because it's actually true.”

  “I know. And I thought for a moment there, just for a moment … that you were going to make the wrong choice. And that scared me.”

  “Yeah, well ...” she sighed and wrapped her arms around him before burying her face in his hair. “Me, too.”

  They were silent for a while. She coiled her legs around his hips, rested her feet on the backs of his thighs. His arms worked their way under her, holding her tightly while his head rested on her chest.

  It was hot, being under the sheet like that, so tangled up in each other. But telling secrets and sharing souls was somehow easier to do while they were hiding away from the world. She took a deep breath and lifted her head.

  “I won't stop being his friend,” she said, and Wulf groaned.

  “I know, we've already established that.”

  When they'd first gone to his apartment, there had been long talks. Confessions whispered while clothing was removed, truths told while wrapped up in each other. She'd told him about Liam's visit to Carmel, and about how she'd realized just how deep his insecurities ran.