Neighbors (Twin Estates #1) (21 page)

“You don't understand, Wulf. She … she's one of
those
moms, she's always trying to set me up. Always asking me when I'm going to settle down, get married, have babies. She sees you, and she sees hope. She sees the good looking, successful, rich, boy next door, and then she sees us together, and then she's going to start thinking about all that other stuff. Thinking you're perfect. Perfect for me,” she told him in a soft voice. He chuckled and leaned close, kissing her softly on the lips. It didn't make her feel better, though. It made her heart pound and constrict, warning her that what she was about to do was irrevocable.

“I am pretty perfect, Tocci.”

“Please stop.”

“
You
stop,” he sighed, rubbing his nose against the side of her jaw. Kissing along the side of her shoulder. “We just had an amazing time together, didn't we? Yet here you are, trying to tell me I'm not perfect.”

“I'm not saying that,” she said, finding it hard to breathe. Everything was already too difficult – she wanted him to stop touching her.

Don't want him to ever stop touching me.

“Then what are you saying?”

“I
do
think you're perfect for me, and that scares me.”

“Why?”

“Because I've never felt this way about somebody,” she whispered, placing her hand over his. “I don't want you to break me.”

He had no sharp comeback for that, no smart ass response. The kisses stopped, but he didn't move away. His forehead was pressed against her jawline, his breath hot against her neck. His hand stretched and flattened against her skin, then slowly slid out from underneath her own hand. She closed her eyes, preparing for him to leave her.

But he didn't. His hand moved over the top of hers, his fingers splaying wide apart. He took a deep breath, then fit his fingers into the spaces between hers. He squeezed tight and balled his hand into a fist. Linking their hands together. She gripped as tight as she could, wanting to hold onto the moment forever.

They always go away too soon. Give me this one, for just a little longer.

“You're right, Tocci. That is very, very scary,” he breathed.

She was pretty sure he'd never spoken truer words to her.

They laid like that for a long time, neither moving as the room grew hotter and hotter in the noon sun. She tried to move away at one point, so full of nerves and tension, she was afraid she'd burst out crying if she didn't get away from him. But Wulf wouldn't allow it, wouldn't let go of her. As she rolled away, he held her in place with their hands against her chest, then scooted up close behind her. Spooning her. He was on top of the sheet and she was under it, but still. It was the closest she'd ever felt to him. When he sighed and kissed the shell of her ear, it finally happened. A tear escaped, running down the length of her nose. It balanced on the bow of her lips for a moment, then dropped sideways to the bed.

What happens now?

The sun had become too much, the heat oppressive. Despite her best efforts, Katya fell back asleep, warm and comfortable with Wulf pressed against her from behind.

When she woke up an hour or two later, it was to find herself alone in the bed. She sat up, holding the sheet to her chest. Wulf was sitting on a chair near her bed, bent over with his elbows on his knees, his hands steepled together. He was completely dressed, even looked showered. She wondered how long he'd been sitting there, watching her. She glanced around the room.

“Your mom is still gone,” he offered.

“Oh. Thank you.”

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah. Hungry, but alright.”

“Katya ...”

She stared at him with wide eyes, her hands clutching the sheet in a death grip. Usually when Wulf said her first name, it made her heart dizzy and her pulse pound with happiness. Now, though, it made her worry. Something in his tone.

“Yes?”

“I have to go back home.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Okay. Super duper okay. So okay. Never mind my heart puking into my stomach, that's totally normal. Totally okay. Super fucking goddamn extremely fucking o-fucking-kay.

“A Malibu property requires my personal attention,” he stated as he stood up and began to pace her room. His voice was serious, his cadence clipped. She knew this Wulf, the all-business-all-the-time Wulf. The man she'd been getting to know was miles away. If she wanted to have any hope of ever seeing the other Wulf again, she had to let him go. She had to give him space.

“I understand,” she assured him in what she hoped was a calm voice. “Work is work. Go.”

His eyes cut to her.

“Most women like to say something is okay, when in reality, it's the least okay thing they can think of.”

“Lucky for you, I'm telling the truth. I'll see you when I get home,” she said it flippantly, as if she took it for granted they'd keep seeing each other. Maybe if she acted like it was no big deal, the moment they'd shared, then he would, too.

“Yeah,” he said, his voice soft.

“Are you leaving right now? Do you have time to eat?”

“I'm leaving now. I'll order a car for you for Friday.”

“Oh no,” she waved him away. “That's ridiculous.”

“I drove you down here. I'm leaving you stranded. I'll send a car.”

“Seriously, Wulf, it's fine. I'm a big girl, I can rent a car, or my mom can drive me, or I -”

“I'll send a fucking car, and when it shows up, you had better be here.”

Whoa. She wasn't sure that she'd ever heard Wulf angry before. For whatever reason, her getting home was a big deal to him. She nodded and took another deep breath.

“Okay, Wulf. Okay. Friday, whenever is fine.”

“Good.”

“Thank you.”

He'd been looking out a window. As she watched, he did an about face and strode towards her bedroom door. He was going to leave. That was it. No goodbye, no acknowledging what had happened between them. It was another moment, she could feel it, but not a good one. She stared at him as he moved, committing him to memory. Wulf always looked good, but his body was made to be in motion. When he got to the door, he yanked it open, then held still. Katya bit down on her lips.

“I'll be in touch, Tocci.”

Then he was through the door, slamming it shut behind him. She bent in half, pressing her forehead to her knees.

See? Ruined it. I completely, totally ruined it. Should've kept my mouth shut.

But she couldn't have, she knew. Even right then, when she was feeling hurt and sick and confused, her feelings for him were bursting out of her. Ripping her at the seams and tearing her apart.

Wulf had said he was good at deals, but apparently he'd never acquired a heart before. It was safe to assume that he didn't even know what to do with one. She would be his learning curve, and she had a feeling that it would be a very steep, very sharp one.

This is going to hurt like a bitch.

Wulfric Stone was not a stupid man. He'd gone to good schools, gotten excellent grades, excelled at everything he'd put his mind to – his bank account and his business accolades were proof.

But he could admit when he was acting stupid, and when it came to Katya Tocci, he'd been
beyond
stupid. Idiotic. Dense.
Imbecilic.
See? All those synonyms, and he'd thought of them on his own – a very smart man.

Yet rendered completely stupid by the mere presence of a former neighbor.

The first time he'd seen Katya, he'd thought to himself “wow, the girl next door really grew up”, and then he'd wondered exactly how much she'd grown. He hadn't paid any attention to her at all when she'd been a neighbor in Carmel. Now as a neighbor of sorts in San Francisco, she captured
all
his attention.

He'd been curious – Wulf was curious by nature. Always poking, always prodding. Always testing boundaries. How far would little Miss Tocci bend? Would she break? What all would she do for him? And for how long?

He'd expected her intoxicating mixture of naiveté and bold sexuality. Been ready for the way she'd responded so eagerly to him. Was happy at how easily she took commands and heeded demands.

What he hadn't been ready for, in any way, was her blinding honesty. Katya hadn't needed to confess how she was feeling – it shined out of her. She looked at him with such adoration. Such happiness, at simply being near him. Not his money. Not his power. Not his intelligence or connections or family name. Just him. Just Wulf.

But when the words weren't spoken, it was easier to ignore. To pretend he didn't notice any of it. How could he acknowledge any of it? It would have meant the end, and he wasn't finished yet. No, not by a long shot – not when there was so much more of her to be had.

Why the fuck had he gone home with her? Wulf never went home. He hadn't been home in years, not since Vieve had graduated – he'd made excuses for Brie's graduation, missing it entirely. Yet Katya Tocci drunkenly mentions that she's going home, and he cancels a weeks worth of meetings and takes the top off his car.

She's not the only one who had some words that needed to be said.

He couldn't say them, though. Was scared – yes,
scared
– to even whisper them to himself. To admit, out loud, that he cared about her. Very much. That way she looked at him … it meant everything. Somewhere along the line, he'd grown to depend on it.
Need
it.

Horrible. Needing something meant depending on it, and
that
he could not abide. That's all he'd thought about when he'd been curled around her, while she'd cried and slept. If he needed her, and she left him, he would be broken. He couldn't afford that, not the way he lived his life, not when there were people who depended on him to be whole and strong.

His mother had loved his father, very much. Wulf was pretty sure she
still
loved the man, and they hadn't spoken in years. The elder Mr. Stone had cheated on his wife, multiple times, before finally leaving her for a much younger woman. Wulf hadn't begrudged his father his happiness – if he needed to leave, then he had to go. Wulf would've been okay if it had been as simple as that, a man following his heart.

But it wasn't that simple, and what Wulf couldn't understand was why his father had to make it hurt so much. Why he'd rubbed the new relationship in his ex-wife's face. Why he'd tried to leave her destitute and penniless with two young girls, and a son who had a very expensive hobby.

It had broken his mother. He could remember thinking that very clearly, finding his mom hiding behind the couch, curled up in a ball and sobbing. She'd never returned to her old self. It had been Wulf who'd looked after his sisters for the first year, taking them to their soccer practices and ballet recitals. Eventually, his mother had bounced back, but still. It wasn't the same. Her smile never reached her eyes. She never so much as looked at another man. And she never, ever stopped working. Almost like she was afraid to stop.

That
could not
happen to Wulf. So he cut out the middle man. Remove the potential for heartache from his life, skip straight to working all the time, and never be afraid.

Cut to fourteen years later, and you're terrified of a baker with big blue eyes.

Because Katya would break him. If he let her in, he'd have to be honest with her. Let her inside his heart and his brain and his secrets. She'd have to know everything about him. And then she'd leave, it couldn't end any other way. He couldn't let that happen. He didn't want to be broken.

So he broke her, instead.

After Wulf had left, Katya had managed to drag herself into the shower. Scrubbed his scent and his fluids and his touch off her body. When she was scraped raw and shiny pink all over, she'd finally gotten out.

Her mother didn't say anything, much to Katya's shock. The older woman did send her some knowing looks, though, and she smiled to herself,
a lot
.

They spent the day together, taking the barbecue leftovers to a homeless shelter. Walked around a park for a while, talking about Katya's job and her mother's charities. Laughed about her silly father, who was a well respected former professor, and now did historical consultations for books and movies. He was in New York, helping with a play, and was sad to have missed his only child's visit home.

The next day, Katya kept herself busy with cleaning her room from top to bottom. Her mother had an amazing housekeeper, a woman who felt more like family than an employee, so Katya hated leaving behind any sort of mess.

She also had to keep busy because if she didn't, she would go insane. She kept checking her phone, desperate for a message from Wulf. She'd sent him one, saying she'd hoped the trip home hadn't been too bad. He never responded. Never called. Nothing.

He said he'd be in touch. He had to go home. Stop freaking out. It doesn't mean anything.

When she finally went to bed, though, she wasn't quite as strong. In her head, she whispered that it meant everything. They'd shared a very powerful, important moment, and then he'd ran away. She'd pushed him too far, asked for too much.

You didn't ask for anything.

You asked for everything.

The next morning, she woke up even more of a wreck. Still no texts from him. It had been almost forty-eight hours. She was counting them – since reconnecting, they hadn't gone more than a couple days without speaking, at least via text. If he didn't text the next day, she was going to lose it.

She'd gotten so worked up, she'd convinced herself that he'd already completely forgotten her, which meant she needed a way to get home. Blinking away tears, she sat on the sofa in the living room, her laptop open in front of her and a car rental site already pulled up. Then someone knocked on the door and her mom called out for her.

“Katya, dear! Your ride is here!”

A man in a simple black suit stood on the porch, smiling politely. At the curb was a huge, black Lincoln Navigator, with super tinted windows and shiny rims. Wulf hadn't been joking around – she would be riding home in style.

The driver loaded her one bag into the back of the car, then opened a door for her while she hugged her mother goodbye. It was silly, but she actually got a little teary eyed. Katya visited home fairly regularly and had never gotten choked up before, but it had been a different kind of trip. Special in its own way. She'd grown even closer to her mom, learned more about her.

Oh, those boundaries. Ever expanding.

During the ride she chatted with the driver for a while, but then fell silent and stared out the window. Tried not to think about a very cold, serious man that had left her naked and all alone.

As soon as she walked in her front door, she got attacked by Tori. Her roommate outweighed her by quite a bit – Tori was all tits and ass, while Katya was all knees and elbows. The flying hug sent Katya crashing into the wall, then they both fell to the ground.

“Good lord, I was only gone for five days,” Katya gasped for air, shoving the other girl off her.

“I know, I know, but what a five days!” Tori exclaimed, finally backing away and helping her friend up.

“Why? What happened?”

Katya chucked her bag into her bedroom, then followed Tori to the kitchen. They had a decent sized living room – well, by San Francisco standards – but always wound up in the kitchen. She never knew whether it was because she just felt most comfortable in a kitchen, or it was because that's where the alcohol was located. She sat down while her roommate poured them some pre-mixed margaritas.

“I started at The Garden,” Tori all but squealed as she dropped into her seat.

“Liam's club? And it's going good?”

“Oh mah gurd, it's
amazing!
I can't believe I never went to a sex club before!”

“He told me you'd be working upstairs.”

“Pffft, for like five whole seconds. My superior waitressing abilities and fantastic cleavage streamlined the process. Once I proved that I could carry a tray without dropping it, and that I could count down a till, I was pretty much in. I mean, it helps that my roommate is banging my boss,” Tori snickered.

“Don't say that,” Katya almost snapped. The mood in the room instantly sobered.

“Whoa. Sorry. Didn't realize it was a … sensitive subject ...” Tori mumbled. Katya groaned and rubbed her hands across her face.

“It's not, I'm sorry. Just had kind of a weird weekend with Wulf, and I haven't slept with Liam in a while. I think I need to be done with boys for a bit,” she sighed.

“No way. Working around that man every day has me wondering how you ever keep your hands off him. Goddamn, that body? That smile? So sweet. So funny. You should see the way women fall all over him.”

“Do they?”

“Yeah. But don't worry, he doesn't pay any attention to them.”

Katya frowned and slurped at her margarita. She'd prefer it if he did – she wanted some of the attention off herself.

They talked about Tori's job for a while, until it was time for her to actually put in an appearance at the place. She changed into a sexy outfit, then blew a kiss as she breezed out of the apartment. She was gone for all of two minutes when there was a knock at the door.

“Did you forget your keys?” Katya groaned, stomping down the hallway. “I always tell you, check your pockets before -”

When she swung open the door, it was to find Liam standing there. Not Tori. They blinked at each other for a moment, then Katya finally smiled. She had missed him. Maybe not as a lover or as a romantic interest, but as a very good friend. His warmth and caring always surrounded her, making her feel comfortable in her skin. A feeling she wasn't entirely used to.

Especially after spending a few days with Wulf.

“I actually do have the keys to the building, but I thought it might be creepy if I used them to let myself in whenever,” Liam teased. She leaned through the doorway and wrapped her arms around his middle, surprising him a little. It was a moment before his own arms were settling over her shoulders, holding her head tight to his chest.

“It would be very creepy,” she sighed, breathing in his warm, familiar scent.

“You okay?”

“Now I am,” she said, pulling back a little so she could look up at him. He was still smiling.

“I have a surprise for you. Come with me.”

They went back up to the roof. Katya wasn't sure what she'd expected, but it certainly wasn't what was waiting for her. She burst out laughing as she took in the small, blue, plastic kiddie pool that was now sitting in front of the old loveseat.

“You dragged this up here?” she snickered, walking around it. It was filled with water, which she discovered was ice cold when she leaned down to drag her fingers through the liquid.

“Yeah. There's a hook up over there, I stole a hose from maintenance.”

“Naughty. I won't tell if you don't.”

“It's okay, I'm pretty tight with the owner.”

She laughed again, glancing back at him. He wasn't looking at the pool. He was only looking at her. She cleared her throat and reached up to pull her hair into a ponytail.

“Let's take this baby for a spin.”

She'd carried her margarita up with her and they shared it while they sat on the loveseat. They'd both rolled up their pant legs and were soaking their feet in the subzero kiddie pool. It was funny, she'd spent a lot of time trying to talk Wulf into taking her to the pool he said he had on his own building – and here Liam had brought one to her. It was kind of a beautiful moment.

So many moments. Moments with Wulf. Moments with Liam. So different.

“So, how was your vacation? How is Mom?” he asked, leaning back into the sofa.

“Mom is good. Really good. I, uh, I told her about you.”

“Really? That's nice.”

“And the other guy.”

“Wow, angel cake! You're getting braver every day!” he laughed. She threw him a glare over her shoulder.

“Hey, it was hard for me. My mom and I don't talk about stuff like that,” she told him.

“I know, I'm teasing you. I'm impressed. It couldn't have been easy. Good for you,” he said, and she felt his fingertips near her temple, gently pushing a stray hair behind her ear.

“She was totally cool about everything, I was kind of shocked. You'd really like her.”

“I'm sure I would.”

“Yeah.”

“And what about the new guy?”

“What about him?”

“Did Mom like him?”

Katya cleared her throat again, turning to stare out over the neighborhood.

“Yes. My mom likes him very much.”

“Lucky for him.”

“Yeah.”

“Katya,” Liam sighed, and she felt him lean forward. “Is everything okay?”

She bit into her bottom lip. This was not something she could cry about to Liam. What could she say? “
Hey, thanks for all the great sex and opening my mind to new possibilities and ways of life and fucking me six different ways to Sunday, but I think I'm falling in love with this totally closed off douchebag asshole, and I don't know how to stop it from happening, and I don't know how to make him love me back
” just didn't sound like something she should blurt out to him.

Why couldn't you just fall for Liam!? He's so perfect! He owns his own property, runs a successful night club, is so hot he burns just to look at him, and is the best thing to happen to the female sex since vibrators.

But she hadn't fallen for him, and that's why she couldn't talk to him. It was between her and Wulf. Their moments were their own, she wanted them kept private. Things they'd only ever share with each other.

“Yeah. Just a long week. New guy can be kind of temperamental, and my mom threw a huge neighborhood barbecue right before I left. Just drained. Ready for a couple more margaritas and a nap,” she said, finally managing a smile for him.

“Margaritas I can help with. But a nap? Are you five? I can think of some other activities that might help relax you.”

She felt his hands on top of her shoulders, squeezing and massaging. She closed her eyes. It felt natural when Liam touched her, but she knew it was wrong. She was just helping him dig himself into a hole with her. The same kind of hole she was standing in with Wulf. She wouldn't do that to another person.

Katya moved so her back was against the arm rest, then she put her feet in his lap. Let him massage those. They laughed about life in suburbia and he talked about his childhood and his family. His parents were divorced, but it had been amicable, and they were still really close friends, which was encouraging to hear, she felt.

She also learned about his brother, the other sibling who had inherited one of the Twin Estates buildings. For some reason, she had always assumed it was a younger brother. Maybe because of his age, she didn't know, but then Liam casually made a comment about his brother being his twin, and Katya almost fell off the couch.

One Edenhooferhoffen was almost too much for the world – there were two of him!? Another carbon copy of Liam running around somewhere? She wept for the women of the world and prayed that his brother was at least the settling down type. Those were some genes that needed to be propagated.

“
Edenhoff. Say it with me, angel cake. Edenhoff.
”

The second Edenhoff brother – “
technically he's older, by about four minutes
” – was in Guatemala. He was a former ER doctor and he traveled around with different aide groups, providing medical services in third world countries.

Talk about night and day. One twin runs a sex club at night, the other saves starving children in Latin America. She almost wondered if Liam was making it all up.

The sun set and the stars came out and it got too cold for the kiddie pool. Cold enough that he wrapped his massive hoodie around her. She'd figured he would go back to his club, but when she asked him, he told her he was where he was needed most. Then they finally went back to her apartment, where they drank margaritas till Tori came home. Katya left them together, laughing around the kitchen table, while she quietly slipped into bed.

I do need Liam. I would've stayed home all day pining for Wulf if it wasn't for him. But I don't want to use him. I just want … this all to not be so complicated anymore.

*

Katya had the rest of the weekend off, and she refused to spend it whining and crying over Wulfric Stone. He had a life. He had a business. He had property in Malibu he was trying to sell, apparently. His life didn't revolve around her, and that was okay. So he hadn't gotten in touch yet, so what? She was a modern woman, having a very modern relationship. She would not freak out. He'd get in touch when he had the time.