The Neighborhood (Twin Estates #2)

by Stylo Fantome

  “I figured you'd gone to lunch with Vieve,” Wulf explained. Katya let out a dramatic sigh.

  “I'm happy for both of you. If you'll excuse me now, I have a shower that's calling my name. Have a good time,” she said, scooching around them while she talked and then making a beeline for the elevator.

  “Tocci.”

  She made a face as the doors slid open, then looked over her shoulder at Wulf.

  “Can't avoid me forever,” he said, still giving her that shit-eating grin.

  On the elevator ride up to her floor, she ground her teeth together. Stupid blonde. Stupid Wulf. Stupid lunch. Stuck key? Ridiculous. And the “can't avoid me” sign off – she wasn't avoiding him! He's the one who ran away at the crack of dawn!

  She didn't know how much more she could handle. First her break through with Liam, and then a run-in with Wulf. As she let herself into her apartment, she thought again about what she'd realized over the weekend – her little torture plan wasn't working so well. She wasn't getting back at anyone, and she was just making herself – and apparently Liam – miserable in the process. Wulf, however, was rebounding better than she would've thought. Stupid lunch date with a blonde, gorgeous, ridiculous, horri-

  Katya gasped and dropped her bag, coming to a stop in the middle of her kitchen. At least, in what used to be her kitchen.

  Gone were the scratched counter tops and old cupboards. The ugly sink and ancient fridge. Her thrift store table. Even the light green tile floor was nowhere in sight. All of it, just gone.

  Sometime since she'd left Friday morning, her entire kitchen had been gutted and replaced. She was staring at laminate wood floors and granite counter tops, with a matching island standing in the center of it all – complete with four bar stools in front of it.

  She hurried around it and came to a stop in front of a state of the art propane stove. Five burners and a huge oven, with a second oven built into the cabinets next to it. Everything was stainless steel and brand new, complete with the tags and protective film still on them.

  How had this happened!? She'd only been gone three days! She peered into the new sink – a large, farmhouse style in a brushed satin finish. Deep enough to hold her huge cooking pots, with a long necked faucet that was perfect for filling those pots.

  She was turning a circle, taking it all in, still shocked. She'd asked for a new oven – not an entirely new kitchen. This was amazing. How had it gotten done so fast? Was this Liam's doing, more apologies for his behavior?

  When she'd turned back to the stove, she saw something she'd missed during her first pass through. A folded card was propped up at the back of the appliance, resting against a subway tile back splash. She plucked it off the counter, noticing that there was now recessed lighting built into the bottom of her cupboards, and opened the card.

  You can say thank you in the form of something short and lacy. I expect dinner at six o'clock promptly.

   W

  Red. So much red, clouding her vision. A nuclear bomb of anger went off in the back of her skull, and the note got crumpled in her fist. First she had to witness him flirting with some random chick, then rubbing the whole lunch date in her face, and now she finds out he was trying to buy her forgiveness and/or sexual compliance via a new kitchen. What, he was going to go bang some blonde chick during lunch, then have Katya for seconds?

  I am NOT seconds.

  She was storming off the elevator into the lobby before she even realized she was moving. She took out her phone and texted Liam, hoping he'd answer right away. But by the time she'd reached his apartment, he still hadn't answered. She groaned and knocked once on his door, then burst through it. He was in the kitchen, hidden behind his open fridge door.

  “We need to talk!” she snapped, letting the door slam shut behind her.

  “Huh?” he called back, his voice muffled.

  “I think we should have sex, right now,” she said, pacing back and forth by his couch. He finally stood upright, letting the fridge fall shut.

  “I'm sorry … what?”

  He sounded so caught off guard, his voice was even different. She glanced at him, noticing that he was only wearing a towel wrapped around his waist, then she kept pacing.

  “Sex. I know I said no sex, but what the hell, it's been a long time, and I'm really pissed off, and everything is fucked up anyway,” she growled, pounding her fist into her palm. There was a pause as she made her way to the front windows, then she heard footsteps behind her.

  “You want to have sex with me, like right this minute,” he double checked. She looked over her shoulder, then went back to the view.

  “Yup. You showered really fast – it's only been like five or ten minutes,” she commented, staring down at the street. A white Mercedes was parked at the curb in front of her building. She glared down at it.

  “What can I say, I'm fast. So are we doing this, or what?”

  He still sounded strange, so she turned to face him. She frowned as she looked up at him. He was standing at the other end of the long couch, smiling back at her. Something seemed off, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

  “No,” she sighed. “I'm just … I got my feathers ruffled. Did you know he was going to do that?”

  “Who?”

  “Wulf?”

  “What wolf?”

  “Uh, that asshole you hate – that Wulf,” she repeated herself. He thought for a second, then his eyes got wide.

  “Ooohhh, yeah. Yeah, that Wulf. Okay. Yeah. Asshole. No. No! What did he do now!?” he exclaimed. She shook her head.

  “What's wrong with you? Have you been drinking?” she checked. He shrugged.

  “Maybe a little.”

  “Jesus, Liam, it's ten in the morning.”

  “Hey, it's six at night in London,” he countered, smiling big at her. “So about that sex. Maybe we can just try it, for old times sake, and you can tell me -”

  Before he could finish, though, he was cut off by the sound of the front door opening. There was a rustling sound as grocery bags were kicked through it.

  “Sorry, I decided to stop down at the corner store. That dickbag is always short changing me, I had to fight to get my five bucks back.”

  Liam was striding into the apartment, scooting bags with his feet, his arms full of other bags.

  Katya's jaw dropped open and she stared at him for a second. Then stared at the Liam that was standing in front of her. Then back at the other Liam. Her brain short circuited.

  Why is it someone can say they have a twin, and you know what an identical twin is, yet it's still shocking when you meet them.

  “You're Landon,” she blurted out, pointing at the man in the towel. Liam finally glanced up from his grocery scooting.

  “Hey, I didn't know you were here,” he said.

  “I … I ...” she stammered, her eyes still bouncing back and forth between them.

  “She was just graciously offering to have sex with me,” Landon said. “But I told her I couldn't, since I'd just taken a shower.”

  Both men laughed.

  She couldn't stop staring. She knew she was being rude, but it was amazing. Two Liam's, standing in front of her.

  Though the more she stared, the more she could see the differences. Landon was a different kind of tan – super dark, the mark of someone who'd spent a lot of time in the sun. He was also more weathered, making him look just a tad bit older. His hair was longer and liberally sun streaked, and was being held back by a head band, she noticed for the first time. And where Liam had a silly, goofy kind of grin always at the ready and a good natured feel to his attitude, none of that was present in Landon. His smile was more cunning, and his tone of voice was like someone who was laughing AT her, not with her.

  But other than that, they seemed to be carbon copies of each other. Same height, same eye color, same bone structure, same body – Katya was very familiar with Liam's naked torso, so it was kind of shocking to realize she was also intimately familiar with Land
on's. She had to force her eyes to not dip down to his towel.

  “I'm sorry, what?” Liam scratched his head.

  “I … I thought he was you,” Katya stammered. “I didn't know he was here.”

  “Oh god,” Liam groaned. “I'm sorry, Katya. What did you say to her, Landon?”

  His brother shrugged.

  “Probably the same stuff you would say if a gorgeous girl burst in on you and demanded to have sex. Katya, it was a pleasure. Hopefully next time we meet, I'll be wearing more clothing, or you'll be wearing less,” Landon said before nodding at her. Then he walked back into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Liam hurried to her side.

  “Sorry – when I got home last night, he called me from the bus station. He flew to L.A. from Mexico City, then took a Greyhound here. I would've warned you, but you and I had our own shit to deal with, and I didn't think you'd be coming over,” he told her. She held up her hand.

  “It's fine. I barged in, he was just messing with me. You said identical, but it's so ...” she searched for the word. Liam smiled.

  “Overwhelming?”

  “Yes. That's a lot of male-ness, for one room,” she told him, and he laughed at her.

  “Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment. We get a lot of attention if we ever go out together.”

  “I'm sure. How long is he staying?”

  “He's sort of avoiding home right now,” Liam said, rubbing at the back of his neck. “I think he's gonna be around for a week, maybe two.”

  “That's … nice.”

  Katya suddenly felt awkward. There was no privacy in Liam's studio-esque apartment, they wouldn't be able to get away from Landon, and she didn't want to discuss any of her problems in front of him.

  Luckily, Liam seemed to sense all that, and a huge grin spread across his face.

  “Hey, I have a great idea. Come with me.”

  He left all the groceries on the floor, except for a six pack of beer. As he scooped it up off the ground, he hollered to his brother that he'd be back later. Then he grabbed Katya's hand and led her back to her building. Up all the floors in the elevator. Out onto her rooftop.

  She hadn't been back up there since their fight. She hadn't been able to bring herself back there – too many memories with him, and she didn't trust them. Which were real, and which were calculated and fake? She frowned as he dragged her across the roof and deposited her on the love seat.

  “Is this okay?” he asked, glancing at her as he unscrewed the lid from one of the bottles.

  “Um … I guess it had to happen at some point,” she replied, glancing around.

  “You don't want to be in my place while Landon is there. He's … special. He takes getting used to,” he told her.

  “He seems like it. He's a doctor?”

  “Yeah, but also a massive asshole.”

  “Ah.”

  “And I don't want to go to your apartment until you invite me, so I figured this was a nice halfway point,” he explained. She finally smiled at him.

  “Thank you, Liam. For being understanding.”

  “This is good, right?” he asked, handing her a beer and then reaching down to grab one of his own. “I think we're going to be … better.”

  He spoke tentatively, not with any of the boldness he'd been displaying over the past weekend. The cocky, overly confident, competitive Liam really seemed to have taken a break. She was glad – she didn't like that version of him as much as she liked him being natural.

  “Yeah. Yeah, I think maybe so,” she agreed with a laugh. “Maybe you should've called me a bitch who used you a lot sooner.”

  “I didn't mean that,” he grumbled, taking a long drink from his bottle.

  “No, you did. And you were kinda right. I was using you, sometimes. I can remember thinking it and feeling bad about it, yet I never did anything about it. Pretty bitchy.”

  “Well, if you're saying it ...”

  “But you also used me – not to mention lied to my face, manipulated me, violated me … should I go on?” she snapped. He shook his head.

  “Nope. I think I've got it,” he assured her.

  Katya nodded and sipped at her own beer while she looked out over the neighborhood. She'd always enjoyed their little rooftop jaunts. Liam didn't allow other people to come up there, she was the only one with a key, so the space really did feel special. Somewhere he'd only ever been with her; somewhere she'd never shared with anyone but him.

  “So am I going to have to watch you make out with Wulf in front of me anymore?” Liam suddenly blurted out. She snorted, almost choking on her drink.

  “I don't think so,” she said. “I thought … I don't know, I thought it would be fun to make you guys feel like shit. Sort of play you against each other. But I just wound up feeling shitty.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Wulf three, probably.”

  “I doubt he even has normal human feelings,” Liam pointed out. Katya frowned.

  “You'd be surprised.”.

  “Can I propose a deal?” Liam suggested. She glanced back at him.

  “What kind of deal?”

  “How about – I say I'm sorry, for everything. I promise to tell you the truth from here on out. And I try my hardest to prove to you that I care about you, every bit as much as he ever did,” he laid everything out. She took a deep breath.

  “Okay.”

  “And in exchange, we start over.”

  She stared at him for a long second, her lips pressed into a hard line. It was a difficult decision. Part of her screamed “yes, please god, just let all this bullshit end”, yet another part of her whispered “no, what they did is unforgettable – how can you trust him”, and she wasn't sure which voice to listen to, which way to turn.

  But he was staring at her, looking past her eyes and straight into her soul. Pleading with her again. And god, how she'd missed him. How she'd needed him, the last couple weeks. She blinked back tears and slowly nodded.

  “Okay,” she whispered, then cleared her throat. “Okay, you promise and you try, and I accept your apology, and we start over.”

  He smiled. It was small and it was sad, but it was genuine. Then he sat up straight and held out his hand.

  “Hi, I'm Liam Edenhoff,” he introduced himself. She smiled and wiped at her eyes before shaking his hand.

  “Hi Mr. Edenhofferhana, I'm Katya Tocci,” she laughed. He chuckled and squeezed her hand between his.

  “We can work on the name,” he told her. “I'm a thirty-two year old ex-surfer who generally enjoys doing as little as possible while eating as many tacos as possible. I own two buildings in downtown San Francisco, and I own a successful sex club.”

  “Sex club, huh. Sounds crazy. Way too wild for a simple little baker like me,” she said.

  “I bet you'd surprise yourself. You'll have to come check it out sometime,” he offered.

  “Maybe I will, Liam.”

  “Or,” he took a deep breath. “You could go out on a date with me.”

  She lost her smile.

  “I don't know. I don't think I'm in the dating market right now,” she said slowly. He nodded.

  “Okay, I can respect that – but if you ever decide to dive back in again, I hope you'll think of me. I think I could show you a really good time,” he said, staring at her again.

  “I'm sure you could, Liam. I'm really, really sure you could.”

  19

  They spent the rest of the day and half the night on the roof – only leaving to grab a pitcher of margaritas from Katya's apartment. He called into his club, telling Tori that she was in charge of the downstairs bar for the evening.

  Though part of her still felt like a traitor to herself and to the female sex in general, she was happy that they'd moved past his betrayal. It felt good to be laughing with him again. In the short time they'd known each other, they'd really forged a bond together. And it felt better now – there were no secrets between. No wolf lurking in the shadows – literally. They co
uld talk openly and freely, about anything and everything.

  “Tell me about Landon.”

  She'd waited a while to ask that – there was a tension between the brothers that wasn't necessarily obvious, but she could still feel it. She'd been surprised to learn his twin would be staying with him, and she wondered how Liam was handling life with a roommate.

  She learned that Landon was technically the older of the two, and he seemed to take that title very literally. He'd always been serious – quite a contrast to Liam's laid back personality, especially since they were twins. Landon had thrown himself into school and college and his work. Gotten married, then gotten divorced. Then he'd shocked everyone by joining an aide group and traveling to South America.

  There was a lot of bitterness in all that information. Liam felt like the second-best twin. The also-ran, the after-thought. There was Landon, acing everything he put his mind to, traveling the world, helping people, saving lives. And there was Liam, struggling in school, inheriting his living, needing Wulf to help him get the club.

  Even worse was the fact that Liam felt like everyone was idolizing a sham. Landon may have been a doctor, sure, and it may have seemed like he'd selflessly dedicated his life to an aide group, okay. But that didn't all translate to him being a good guy. Liam was privy to Landon's darker side, something the other twin kept hidden from the rest of his family.

  A serial dater with more women under his belt than even Liam, he also had a problem with drugs that stemmed back all the way to high school. On top of that, he just wasn't a very nice person – his shame at his addiction and his lofty position as a doctor had turned him into a nasty, snobby, vindictive person. It killed Liam to see his family worshiping this man who had lied to them, stolen from them, and hidden himself from them.

  But he let Landon stay with him because even though they had their differences, he said, that was still his twin. It was hard to look into what was essentially a mirror and say “no” – plus, Liam knew if he did, it would come back to haunt him. Landon would go home and claim that his brother wouldn't let him visit, or something. Liam didn't want to deal with a dozen phone calls from his family that would just result in him caving and letting Landon stay, anyway.