“Worrying about everyone,” he finally answered, then he leaned down and kissed her.
“How did you know -” she started to ask when he pulled away, but he grabbed her hand and tugged, forcing her to follow behind him.
“Because it's what you do, Tocci. If I didn't stop you, you'd be worse than Vieve, trying to micromanage everyone into your idea of happiness,” he informed her as they headed up the stairs.
When they got to the top, they saw Vieve and Brie arguing in a corner. Katya smiled and waved. Wulf just kept heading for the exit. Outside, they nearly ran Landon over. He was standing next to the Jan the bouncer, both of them smoking. She always thought it was strange, a doctor smoking cigarettes. She scrunched up her nose and waved her hand through the air.
“Sorry, Ms. Tocci,” Jan coughed as he rubbed out the butt. “I thought you'd already left.”
“What, we can't smoke out here?” Landon asked, blowing a stream into the air.
“Smoke away,” she offered. “It was good seeing you, Jan.”
“You, too, sweetie pie. This wolf guy taking good care of you?” Jan asked, and he leveled an evil eye on Wulfric. Wulf just rolled his eyes. She laughed and wrapped herself around his arm.
“He takes the best care of me,” she replied.
“Good to hear. I don't ever wanna hear different, ya got me?” he said, still staring at Wulf.
“Oh, don't worry, you won't ever be hearing anything from me,” he replied.
“Your attitude ain't scoring you any points, buddy.”
“Also don't care about that.”
“We're leaving,” Katya chuckled, shoving at Wulf's side. “Goodbye, gentlemen.”
“See ya, sweetheart!”
Landon didn't say anything, just turned his back and leaned against the railing, puffing out smoke rings.
They walked out of the alley and headed down the street. It was early afternoon and they still hadn't eaten lunch. She remembered an exotic food shack somewhere nearby and looked up directions on her phone.
“Remember the burrito cart by the old bakery?” Wulf asked, shoving his hands into his pockets while they walked. She nodded and leaned against him, wrapping her arm back around his.
“Yeah. You always ate mine,” she replied.
“Two times. Two times, I ate your burrito.”
“Wulf, we only ate there two times.”
“We should go there again,” he ignored her. “Come downtown for lunch tomorrow, we'll walk over.”
“Can't.”
“You're right – you should go and get some and bring them to me in my office.”
“No,” she laughed. “I'm busy. I'm meeting with that realtor tomorrow to look at another space.”
“Ah. How could I forget.”
She rolled her eyes. It was a sort of sore point between them – Katya was finally biting the bullet, she was going to open her own bakery, specializing in custom orders and wedding designs. Wulf had been more than willing to run out and buy her the best shop he could find, but she wouldn't let him. She wanted to do it on her own. She welcomed his help and advice, but she didn't want him doing the whole thing for her.
So on her own, Katya had looked up a realtor whose focus was in restaurants, commercial kitchens, and bakeries. Wulf had checked her out, grilled the poor woman in his office, and though he insisted he could still do just as good a job, he grudgingly agreed that she would be more than capable of finding Katya a good location.
However, Wulf would not allow her to purchase something on her own, and that he wouldn't budge on. Realty was his profession, after all, and he was very good at it. He would be there, getting her the best deal possible. Also, he was investing in her business, so he figured it was his right to be part of the final decision.
She'd been prepared to use up her savings for a down payment on a decent place, but Wulf hadn't wanted that; he had more than enough money, and he wanted to share some of it with her. So they came to an agreement – they would be business partners. On paper, with official contracts and everything. Part of the deal was that he sell out his half of Liam's business. He didn't need it and he'd be distracted enough with Katya's new venture. She wanted Liam to be free, and she wanted Wulf's laser like focus on their business. So he'd agreed, and there they were a couple weeks later, completing the sale.
“How much?” she asked after a couple moments of silence.
“How much, what?” he asked, and she glanced up at him. He had his phone in his free hand and he was scrolling through e-mails. She groaned and stood upright before stealing the device from him.
“This is my time,” she reminded him as she dropped the phone into her purse. “How much did you make him pay?”
“I so love when you're halfway through a conversation before you decide to start speaking,” he sighed, glaring across the street.
“Stop it, you know what I'm talking about. I told you to play nice, Wulf. If I find out you charged him one dollar more than what's fair, I will be pissed,” she warned him. He finally looked at her.
“I guess you'll never know, will you,” he said.
“You know I'll just ask him, and he's scared of lying to me now,” she said. “He'll tell me the truth.”
“Jesus, you two. What I did in life to deserve Eden, I'll never know.”
“I'm sure there's a laundry list of dirty deeds that more than qualifies you for that kind of punishment. Now answer the question,” she insisted, pulling him to a stop. He turned to fully look at her.
“I sold Liam my half of the business for exactly what I felt it was worth to me,” he informed her. Katya folded her arms across her chest.
“Oh god. More than half a million? A million? Two million?” she groaned. She couldn't believe it. Wulf and Liam had their differences, barely tolerated each other, but it wouldn't be right if he'd gouged him. She wouldn't be okay with it, not one little bit.
“Surely you don't think I care a million dollars worth about Eden's shitty sex club?” Wulf snorted. She raised her eyebrows.
“Half a million?”
“I'm insulted. I barely ever spared it a second thought, except when it came to payments.”
Her eyebrows got higher.
“Quarter million?” she guessed. That would be beyond cheap – the liquor license alone was worth that much, at least.
“Three months and you still don't know me at all,” he sighed, moving to walk away. She grabbed onto his jacket and held him in place.
“Jesus, Wulf, what happened in that office down there?” she demanded. He gently pried her hands off the expensive material.
“He told me what he was willing to pay for my half. I told him he overestimated his business' worth, and that as a licensed appraiser and realtor, I calculated it to be worth ten thousand dollars, max.”
Katya's jaw dropped.
“You didn't … ten thousand dollars ...” She couldn't even believe what she'd just heard. It was like giving away his half. Her mind was beyond blown.
“Yes, but on a condition. I didn't feel he was taking good enough care of his staff.”