“We came home one day, and he was just gone. Gone. Like he'd never been there. I mean, we'd never been close, he was always working, so I wasn't too bothered by it. But Vieve was only seven, and Brighton was five. They couldn't understand why Daddy left them, and I sure as shit didn't know, and my mom wasn't saying anything, because she was having a goddamn mental breakdown.
“Then the phone calls started, her begging him to come back. It was pathetic – he'd left her for his personal trainer. Like fuck him, if he didn't want us, then we shouldn't have wanted him. But my mom wouldn't stop. She would show up at his work, at his new apartment, call him in the middle of the night. I listened in on one phone call. It was horrible. He called her stupid and fat, said she was worthless. Boring. So many things. I couldn't understand why she wanted him back. Why she just broke down and even shut out her kids, for this man who was fucking awful.”
Wulf was almost growling by the end of his story, his hand crushing her fingers. She didn't try to break free, though. She wanted him to give some of his pain to her.
He's probably never told any of this to anyone. God, how long has it been rotting inside him?
“Sometimes it's hard to shut off love. Even when someone is awful and you should know better,” she offered.
“Yeah, well, love shouldn't be exclusionary, either. What, he couldn't love us because he loved someone new? She couldn't love us unless my dad loved her? What a fucking fuck show. She'd never held a real job, she had no savings, he took it all – suddenly she's got three fucking kids, a huge goddamn house, and no way to pay for any of it, and what's she doing? Crying in a corner for a man who'd broken her. I will never understand that thought process, and I would never let that happen to me,” he stated.
“Talk is easy. Sometimes you shock yourself with the things you allow people to do to you, if you convince yourself that you love them enough.”
“What about when you allow it to affect other people in your life? I'm almost sixteen years old, and one day my biggest concern is rotating the tires on my 'vette, and the next, I'm fucking scouring the want ads, looking for anywhere that would hire a teenager at a decent wage. I eventually sold my car, sold her car, sold practically everything in that house. I knew I wouldn't be going to the Olympics. I only kept swimming because I knew a scholarship was the only way I'd get into college, so I swam my ass off. I dug in and I sacrificed and I worked, all so she could spend two years begging some asshole to come back to her.”
He sounded so bitter. So angry. She remembered her thoughts from the night before, about realizing that even Wulfric Stone needed someone strong to lean on.
“That's awful, and I'm sorry. I didn't know any of that growing up, Vieve never told me.”
“She didn't know, I kept a lot of it from the girls. The girls. Y'know, they almost feel more like my daughters than my sisters. How fucked up is that?”
Katya took a deep breath and rolled onto her side. She wrapped her arms around one of his, holding it tight to her chest. He finally looked down at her.
“I'm going to say something, and I want you to listen. Don't react right away, just listen.”
“Oh god.”
“I'm just repeating what you've told me, okay? This is what I've heard,” she started. “Your dad was a workaholic, always too busy for his wife, never spent time with his kids. Then he just left one day, without a word. Without an explanation. And when your mother confronted him, he was mean to her. Said horrible, awful things to her. Tried to make it so she wouldn't want him anymore,” Katya's voice dwindled to a whisper as she spoke.
“Oh my god.”
“I don't think you're -” she tried to preemptively stop what she knew he was going to say, but he barreled right through her.
“I'm just like him. I hate that motherfucker, I haven't talked to him in almost four years, and I'm just fucking like him. Do you know, I can't remember the last time I spoke to Brie? I didn't even go to Brie's graduation. I just said they felt more like daughters to me than sisters, and I fucking treat them the same way he did. I'm no better than he is,” Wulf was speaking faster and faster.
“Stop it.”
“And jesus, the things I've done to you, Katya. Fucking awful. I'm a horrible goddamn human being. Why are you here?” he asked, turning to look at her again.
“Because I care about you,” she said. “Because I would never leave without a word, and I would never try to hurt you. Maybe you don't know how to fight for what you want, but I do. I would fight for you, Wulf. You're worth it.”
He abruptly rolled onto his side as well, crashing into her. She didn't have time to process what was happening, just gasp into his mouth as he kissed her. One of his hands was on the back of her head, holding her close.
No one had ever said that to him, she suddenly realized. That he was worth it. Worth more than a blank check. Worth more than strong shoulders. His father didn't care about him, his mother had emotionally abandoned him, and his sisters had been too young to understand the sacrifices he'd made for them. But Katya saw all those things about him, knew that it proved he wasn't a lost a cause. That he was most definitely worth fighting for.
Definitely worth falling for …
“I don't deserve you,” he whispered against her lips, shifting her onto her back.
“Probably not,” she teased.
“I don't, Katya. I really, really don't.”
“Stop it.”
“I want … I need this,” his voice stayed soft as he kissed along her jawline, behind her ear, then down her neck. “I don't want to be like him. I don't want to be that person. I want you. I want you to stay with me. I want you to fight for me. I need that, Katya. I really, really need that.”
“I'm not going anywhere, so you don't have to worry.”
“You make me want to be a better man,” his voice was barely a breath as he kissed between her breasts. Katya wrapped her arms around his head, hugging him to her.
“Good,” she answered, her throat thick with unshed tears. “Because I want to be a better woman, too.”
“You're already the best, Katya.”
“Really?”
“Better than anything I've ever experienced.”
The tears couldn't be stopped, and she didn't want them to stop. She wanted to keep touching him and kissing him and falling further and further in love with him. She kissed his fingertips and his pulse points and his cupid's bow. Wanted to imprint herself on his skin. On his soul.
You already are a better man, Wulfric Stone.
*
They stayed in bed for a long time. Wulf didn't so much as look at his cell phone, which made her feel giddy. When they'd dated, he'd been attached to the thing half the time. Now, it wasn't even in the room with them. She was his priority – he was making that very clear.