“You want to get revenge on Wulfric?” the girl – Halsey? – finally spoke again.
“I want to strangle him slowly, then rearrange some of his better features, yeah,” he replied, tossing the bloodied towel into the sink. She slid her phone back into her pocket and finally looked at him again. He was struck by how gorgeous she was, with a round face and wide eyes. He couldn't quite place her age – she was wearing a lot of makeup. She had to have been Katya's age, or maybe a little older, twenty-five even. Was probably another neighbor, some long classmate from yester-year. God, Carmel just made hot people, it seemed.
When she cleared her throat, he realized he'd been staring a little too long. He coughed and looked back into her eyes. She was glaring, but she always seemed to be glaring, so he wasn't sure if she was offended or not. She abruptly dropped her purse to the floor and she sat back down on the step ladder, leaning back a little. The pose forced her chest out, making it almost impossible not to stare at her tits, while she stretched her shapely legs out in front of her.
“Want to a take picture? Might be easier to stare at,” she offered in a nasty, sarcastic tone of voice. Liam groaned and rolled back his head till he was staring at the ceiling.
First I get the run around from Katya. Then I get punched in the face by Wulf. Now I'm getting hassled by some stranger. I should've stayed at the fucking beach.
*
“What the hell is going on!?”
Wulf took a deep breath, then yanked himself away from Mr. Tocci's grip. He didn't want to offend Katya's father, but he also was about two seconds away from completely losing his shit and tearing the whole goddamn house down.
First I will smooth things over with the Toccis, then I will take about eighty deep breaths, and then I will fucking shove Eden's head up his goddamn asshole.
“It was an intense moment, I reacted poorly,” Wulf said by way of an answer.
“No kidding,” Mr. Tocci sighed, leaning against his desk. “I know we haven't spoken in a long time, Wulf, but I know you know better than this. For god's sake, you're a grown man! What are you doing brawling in my garage?”
“It wasn't something I planned on.”
“So what happened. Make me understand this before I have to deal with my wife. She won't be happy when she sees that dent on our car.”
“I'll pay for the damages, of course,” Wulf said.
“I don't care about the car, Wulfric. What is going on?” Mr. Tocci asked in a carefully modulated voice.
Wulf stared at the other man for a moment. He'd never once thought of Mr. Tocci as his father. No, Wulf had a father, even if the man was a cold hearted bastard. Mr. Tocci was something else – he was one of the first people Wulf had ever truly respected, and to Wulf, respect meant much more than any sort of fatherly affection. He hated to admit it, but he didn't like the idea that he might have disappointed the man.
“Words were said,” Wulf finally answered. “And I didn't like what I heard.”
“Not good enough,” Mr. Tocci shook his head.
“I'm sorry, but the rest isn't really any of your business. I'm sorry I lost my temper at your party, and I'm sorry for any damages caused. Of course, I'll pay for -” Wulf began to say.
“What happened to you, Wulf?”
There was silence for a moment, the two men staring at each other. Then Wulf took a deep breath.
“Well, I went to school, got several degrees while opening a business that's been thriving ever since, all while taking care of my family and putting my sisters through school,” he snapped.
“I know all that, but when did you turn into an absolute dickhead?” Mr. Tocci asked.
Wulf was stunned for a moment, then he barked out a laugh. Before that moment, he'd never once heard Katya's father use a curse word. Mr. Tocci chuckled as well, then both of them were laughing away.
“I'm not sure,” Wulf laughed. “Probably around eighteen.”
“Ah, graduation year. Crazy time for you.”
“Don't remind me.”
“I have your mug shot in my scrap book.”
“Seriously?”
Two minutes later, Mr. Tocci produced a large photo album and found a page towards the back. Sure enough, there was a mug shot of him in black and white. He hadn't looked at pictures of himself in a long time, and it was kinda surreal looking at the eighteen year old Wulfric Stone. The young man in the photo was glaring, his hair wild on his head, sticking straight up. He was bleeding from a cut on his lip, and his left eye was already starting to swell shut.
“You still owe me bail money,” Mr. Tocci chuckled. Wulf rubbed a hand across his mouth.
“I can't believe you kept this. Wow, what a night. Drunken and disorderly, breaking and entering, assaulting a police officer,” Wulf recalled his graduation party. Things had gotten a little wild. Youthful exuberance and whatnot.
“I know. When I got that call at three in the morning, I nearly had a heart attack. Katya was at a friend's house that night, and I was so sure it was her, that something had happened to her. Imagine my shock when they said it was the county jail calling.”
Wulf frowned. His mother had been doing a double shift at a restaurant, she'd never even known about the arrest.
“No, Katya never would've done something that would land her in jail,” Wulf assured him.
“I would hope not. She was twelve at the time.”
They both laughed.
“At any age.”
“Maybe. But I don't know, sometimes I don't think I know my daughter as well as I thought I did,” Mr. Tocci said in a careful voice. Wulf glanced at him.
“I'm sure you do, you two were always close while I was growing up,” he said. The other man nodded.
“I know. But I'm not around now. I have to admit, when Elena told me you and Katya were seeing each other, I was happy. Happy knowing someone I respected and trusted was looking after my baby girl.”
It took a lot to make Wulf feel bad. About anything. But Mr. Tocci seemed to have a magic key straight to Wulf's nerve center. He winced as he listened to the words coming from Katya's father. Felt guilty that he'd ruined everything, and for more people than just him and Katya. Funny, when he'd first decided to have his fun with little Katya Tocci, it hadn't even occurred to him that it would affect their lives back home.
Sometimes, being self-centered isn't such a good thing.
“I'm sorry things didn't work out,” Wulf finally managed to say. “I made some mistakes.”
“People do. But if you're trying to win her back, punching out the competition isn't the way,” Mr. Tocci insisted.
“That wasn't what I was doing,” Wulf chuckled. “Though I mean, it had occurred to me before.”
“Then what the hell was the fight about?”
“Let's just say 'the competition' had some unflattering things to say about your 'baby girl' – and I didn't think that was okay,” Wulf explained. Mr. Tocci's eyes got wide, then he slowly nodded.
“Well then. I hope you got in more than one hit.”
Wulf laughed again.
“I got in a couple.”