After faxing the liquor order off to the distributor, he put his monitor to rights and tried to see if it was broken. He was unplugging it and plugging it back in when his cell phone rang.
“Yeah,” he barked into it while he fiddled with cables.
“Liam.” Katya's voice. He sat upright.
“What's up? Are you with Tori?” he asked.
“What? No.”
“Oh. Have you talked to her?”
“Not today, no.”
“You should.”
“I'll make a note of it. Liam, something's happened.”
He held completely still.
“What do you mean?” he asked cautiously. She took a deep breath and he felt his stomach clench in fear.
“Everyone is fine,” she started out with, which of course meant nothing was fine. “No one is seriously injured. But there was an accident, and Ayumi is in the hospital.”
Liam leapt out of his chair so fast, he knocked the monitor over again.
“What? What happened? Was she driving? Is she still in the ER?” he demanded as he grabbed his jacket and ran out of his office.
“ER? No, she's in a private room, and she wasn't driving.”
Liam took the stairs two at a time in his hurry to leave. He barely even glanced at Jan the bouncer when he burst outside, he was so focused on getting to the street.
“Then what the fuck happened? Which hospital are you at?” he asked, hailing a taxi. She gave the name, and Liam repeated it to the driver, then promised an extra hundred bucks if the guy would gun stop signs.
“There was an accident,” she repeated herself.
“Yeah, I got that, Katya. What kind of fucking accident?”
“I need you to calm down, Liam.”
“I am fucking calm!”
“No, you're not, and what I'm going to tell you is going to upset you even more.”
“Fuck,” he breathed, then he forced himself to lean back. “Okay. I'm calm. Calmer. I won't freak out. Tell me.”
“She went to her house to get something. Her neighbor was inside, stealing stuff. Underwear. Jewelry. They sort of startled each other, and when she called the police, he ... he roughed her up a little. He wound up pushing her down the stairs.”
Liam's brain shut down for a minute. Actually switched off. He wasn't aware of street lights or other cars or the cabbie yelling at pedestrians. There was just white noise, rushing through his ears.
“Liam? Liam!” Katya's voice finally brought him back, just as he was pulling into the hospital. He tossed the promised money into the front seat and hurried into the building.
“I'm here,” he managed to say. “Where are you guys?”
“She's in the east wing. Room two-seventeen.”
“Okay. Has a doctor seen her yet?”
“Liam.”
“What!?”
“She's been here for two days. She's getting discharged tomorrow,” Katya said in a slow voice. “I wanted ... I might be making a mistake here, but I just really thought you should know. She has a bad sprain, and she had a concussion, but she's fine now.”
Liam stopped listening. Stopped walking. Moved and fell against the wall next to him.
Three days. While he'd been at home alone on Christmas, she'd been in the hospital. He'd been dying for just one word from her. Anything to show him she was still thinking of him. Anything to indicate she'd been feeling the same as him.
Yet when she'd been attacked, and she'd been in the hospital for days, and she hadn't called him once.
“She called you?” he finally spoke again.
“No, Wulf did.”
“Ah. She called Wulf.”
“The hospital did,” Katya corrected him. “He's her emergency contact. He's been here since the beginning.”
“Of course he has,” Liam whispered.
“I'm sorry, what did you say?”
“Nothing. I'm on way up.”
He didn't wait for a response, just hung up his phone.
While he navigated the labyrinth that was the hospital, his mind spun out of control. Rage and anger mixing with fear and terror. How could someone hurt Ayumi? How could someone put their hands on her?
How could she not call him? How could she possibly think he wouldn't want to know? If he'd been in an accident, she'd be the first person he'd try to call.
It hurt. The feeling of not being good enough was back, one hundred fold. His stomach turned into one big Charley Horse and he actually groaned, pressing his forehead to an elevator wall.
Those moments. All those moments with her. They were only your moments. She was just passing time.
By the time he got to her hallway, he'd composed himself. Katya was sitting on a bench and saw him coming. She hurried up to him and wrapped him in a big hug.
“I'm so sorry, Liam,” she breathed. “I know it's awful. It's the worst. But she's going to be okay.”
“That's good,” he said. She looked up and frowned at his cold voice, so he cleared his throat. “I just want her to be okay.”
“I know she wants to see you.”
“Okay.”
“You can go in now. Wulf is at her home, cleaning things up. I'll wait out here,” Katya offered, not realizing she was just rubbing salt in the wound.
When Liam walked in the hospital room, it took everything he had not to fly off the handle. Not to break things and yell and go find whoever had hurt her and murder them with his bare hands.
She was sitting upright in bed, fighting with a remote control of some sort. She had a large, white bandage on the right side of her forehead, just barely concealing a nasty looking bruise. He saw a similar bruise covering her entire left elbow. Her left leg was sticking out of the covers and elevated on some sort of pad. A funky looking medical boot covered her from toes to mid-calf.
She so small. How could anyone possibly want to hurt her?
“Nice shoes,” he coughed out. His voice startled her and she dropped the remote.
“Liam!” she gasped. He managed a smile and he walked around the room, grabbing the remote for her. Then he moved back to the foot of the bed.
“She didn't tell you I was coming?” he asked. She shook her head, causing her gorgeous thick hair to spill over her shoulders.
So much hair, always all around me. Like a curtain, blocking out the rest of the world. Why wasn't that enough for her?
“No, I had no idea. But I'm glad you're here,” she assured him.
“Me, too. They said ... someone was in your house?” he asked. She chewed on her lip and nodded.
“Yeah. The creepy neighbor, remember him? He didn't think anyone would be coming home, I scared him.”
“The police got him?”
“Yes.”
“Good,” he said, gripping the rail at the end of her bed so hard, his knuckles turned white. There was silence for a long second. He wasn't sure what to say. He'd already said it all. It hadn't been enough for her. Apparently, nothing would ever be enough for anybody.
“Did you have a good Christmas?” she finally asked. He shrugged.
“Not really.”
“Oh? Why not?”
“Well,” he started, tapping his finger against his chin. “I found out one of my best friend's has a massive crush me, and I never knew, so she threatened to quit. Then I found out another good friend got attacked and almost killed, but didn't feel the need to call me or tell about any of it, though she did tell all her other friends. And to top it all off, the girl I think I might be falling in love with doesn't care about me at all. In case that's a little confusing, the second person and the third person are the same.”
“No, no, no,” she said quickly. “Please, Liam, it wasn't like that. I don't have any friends, remember? The hospital called Wulf, he called Katya.”
“Nice of any of you to call me. Oh wait ...”
“I didn't have my phone,” she said. “It got broken. I ... didn't want to ask one of them for your phone number.”
/> “After all this, after everything, I'm still a dirty secret.”
“No,” she moaned, and her eyes drifted shut. Liam took a deep breath and cleared his throat. Tried to speak. Had to wait a second, then cleared it again.
“I've been realizing a lot of stuff about myself,” he spoke in a low voice. “You had me pegged from the beginning. I say things people want to hear, just to say them. I don't pay attention to how my actions affect other people around. Thank you. I'm working to change those things about myself.”
“No, I don't want you to change, you're per-” she started to argue, but he held up his hand.
“But I was always honest with you about how I felt. I always told the truth. I thought maybe you felt the same way. I believed you when you said you were confused, and I tried to understand when you said you needed time. You kept pushing and pushing, and I didn't believe you couldn't feel the same way about me. Not after Santa Barbara. Not after Malibu. But I was wrong,” he said. She sniffled once. Twice. A large tear rolled down her cheek.
“Don't say that,” she whispered.
“I'm so sorry this happened to you,” he whispered back. “If I could trade places with you, I would in a heart beat. If I could find this guy, I would murder him. But I won't be second best. Not anymore.”
“You're not second best,” she said on an exhale.
“That you could go through something like this and think I wouldn't want to know – that shows me exactly what you think of me. Tells me exactly where I fall in your life. You're beautiful and you're amazing and I'm glad I could make you feel good for a little while. I hope I made you feel good. But I'll stop bothering you now,” he promised. She started crying in earnest.
“Please, Liam. I go home tomorrow – can we talk tomorrow?” she asked. He shook his head.
“It's ironic, isn't it? All these years, all these girls, and I would pretend to be a shoulder they could cry on, just so I could use them. Now I find the one girl I don't want to pretend with, and she just wanted to use me for my crying shoulder,” he chuckled. She shook her head.
“It's not true,” she told him. “It's not true.”
“You made me realize that I'm a pretty shitty guy a lot of the time,” he said, stepping away from the bed. “But you also made me realize that sometimes, I'm not so bad. Sometimes, I'm actually good enough. Thank you, Ayumi.”
“Please,” was all she managed to say.
“For what it's worth ... whatever we were? It was great,” he told her as he walked backwards to the door.
“It was the best,” she whispered. He nodded in agreement.
“Take care of yourself.”
The hardest thing he'd ever had to do in his life was walk away from a girl who didn't even really like him. Life just wasn't fucking fair.
He was almost back to the elevators when Katya caught up with him.
“You're going!? Why? What happened in there?” she demanded, tugging at his jacket sleeve.
“Katya,” he sighed. “I love you. I really do. But honestly? It's none of your fucking business.”
She dropped his sleeve.
“Don't do something stupid, Edenhoff,” she warned him. “You're upset. She's upset. Just chill out and talk to her when you've calmed down.”
“You know what?” he replied, stepping onto the elevator when it opened. “I do all the talking. All the chasing. I think it's time I finally take a break. You all are always bitching about me needing to grow up, right? Well, I'm grown up enough to know when it's time to stop playing around and go home.”
“You're a fucking idiot,” she groaned.
“Probably. But at least I know my own self worth.”
She couldn't argue with him anymore because the doors slid shut, and then he going down, down, down.
Being an adult is nowhere near as awesome as everyone makes it seem.
21
“What a shitty holiday season,” Katya stared, leaning against the back of her couch and staring out the windows.
“That's mostly my fault,” Wulf's voice yelled from the bedroom. He was rummaging around in the wardrobes, making a lot of noise.
“And don't you forget it!” she laughed. She heard a snort and when she looked forward, he was walking into the living room.
“Watch it, Tocci. I don't feel guilty enough to take any shit.”
“Yes, you do,” she teased, then she moved her feet so he could sit next to her. “Did I tell you I spoke with Liam again?”
“No. Any luck?” he asked. She shook her head.
“No. It's bizarre, it's like talking to a different person. So serious, all business. She did a number on him.”
“Works both ways, you know. Suddenly, my icy little assistant has turned into a wilting flower. She mopes around the office all day, it's driving me crazy.”
“Leave her alone, she's had a shitty week.”
“I know. I didn't even ask her to come in, she came on her own.”
“Those two,” Katya groaned, rubbing at her forehead. “Oh! Did I tell you the other thing? Liam is canceling the party.”
“The New Year's party?”
“Yeah. When I mentioned it today, he said he wasn't going to do it. He's not in the partying mood, and Tori still hasn't come back to work, so he's pulling double duty down at the club.”
Wulf frowned and stared off into space for a minute.
“He doesn't have to cancel the party,” he finally said. Katya laughed.
“I don't think he has to either – he wants to, Wulf.”
“Call him and tell him it's still on. We'll throw it.”
“Why would we throw a party in his buildings?” she asked.
“Because everyone fucking needs it,” he suggested. “Because those two idiots need someone to straighten them out, and if it has to be me, then goddammit, I'll do it.”
“How does a party help straighten them out?” she was beyond confused.
“Because the party we're going to throw, they can't turn down an invitation,” he assured her.
“What kind of party are we throwing? Liam goes to sex parties all the time, he won't be impressed,” she laughed.
“No, I was thinking like an engagement party.”
Katya thought for a second, mentally going through all the couples they knew.
“Who's getting engaged? And who would want their engagement party at the Twin Estates?” she asked.
“Hopefully us.”
“Why would we say we're -”
Katya literally, actually choked when Wulf held out his hand. A shiny ring with a large, solitary diamond sat in his palm.
“I wanted to do this over Christmas,” he murmured, grabbing her left hand and pulling it towards him. “But you pissed me off so badly. So I decided to wait until New Year's. Then the whole thing with Ayumi made me realize I don't want to wait one more minute. I want to spend every moment of my life with you, Tocci, and you had better say yes, because I'm not really giving you a choice.”
She couldn't hardly see through her tears, but Katya laughed at his proposal. Then she nodded while he slid the ring onto her finger.
“God, Wulf, it's beautiful.”
“Not as beautiful as you.”
She leaned in and kissed him quickly. When she pulled away, he was smiling, too.
“I'm considering that a yes.”
“It's a yes.”
“Verbal contracts are binding in this state.”
“Good.”
They didn't come up for air for several minutes. When Katya finally remembered the start of their conversation, they were sprawled across the couch. She pushed against Wulf's chest until he propped himself up over her.
“You were going to do this at Christmas? You planned it before the whole Brie thing?” she asked. He nodded.
“Mmm hmmm.”
“When did you get this ring?”
“Around Thanksgiving. I bought it at the same time I bought that pendant I got you.”
“T
hat long!” she gasped. “How could you keep it a secret this whole time?”
“Not all of this need to run our mouths twenty-four-seven, dear.”
“Shut up. And what was all that talk about an engagement party at Liam's buildings?” she asked. He rolled his eyes and squeezed in next to her, so they were both laying on their sides.
“If it's our engagement party, how could my assistant and your best friend possibly not go?” he asked. Katya's eyes got wide.
“Oh, Mr. Stone. Mr. Stone, you are very, very clever.”
“Thank you. I take praise in the form of blow jobs.”
“Noted. Okay. So what's the plan? Just get them in the room together and see what happens?” she asked. He groaned.
“I never imagined I'd propose and then spend the rest of the evening talking about Liam Edenhoff.”
“And Ayumi! This is for her, too.”
“Tell you what, we'll split the work. You get Ayumi, I'll get Eden there. Deal?”
“Deal. When should we -”
“Talking time is over, Tocci. Show me how thankful you are.”
“Anything for you, Mr. Stone.”
22
While Katya and Wulfric were discovering new depths to their love, Ayumi was praying she hadn't ruined what was quite possibly her only chance at love.
She'd felt humiliated in the hospital. Depressed. Ashamed. The look on Liam's face, it would forever be burned into her brain. Even when he was upset, a person knew Liam Edenhoff was the kind of man who allowed himself to feel everything, every moment, all of it. Bad, good, or ugly.
But in her hospital room, he'd been so closed off. His face blank and almost devoid of emotion. It was so unnatural, there'd been a split second where she'd wondered if she was actually talking to his brother, Landon.
She'd hurt him. Ayumi Nakada had somehow gained the power to hurt Liam. It honestly hadn't even occurred to her how he would feel once he found out she'd been in an accident and hadn't told him. But after she'd talked to him, she'd tried to put herself in his position. Wondered how she'd feel if she found out he'd gotten badly hurt and hadn't called her.
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