Chapter 437

[ 983 words ]

Julian’s POV

Grandma Celeste nodded once, understanding immediately.

“Of course,” she said. “I would never risk it otherwise. Martha will simply believe we are finally extending an olive branch after everything that happened with Delia. David will come because his wife tells him to. Neither of them needs anything more than that p>

“And Delia,” Gail said carefully. “Noah, I suppose, given everything that has happened with his father p>

I had not considered that and found myself turning the idea over slowly.

“It could not hurt,” I said finally. “Another face in the crowd, another reason for Tessa to doubt whatever theory she has already built in her head p>

Grandma Celeste nodded, already mentally cataloguing the guest list the way she approached every gathering this family had ever hosted, transforming even a dangerous, secretive event into something she could organize with the same careful attention she gave any dinner party.

“I will make the calls in the morning,” she said. “For tonight, I think we have done enough planning. Aiden will want his dinner, and I imagine Katia is waiting to hear how this conversation actually went p>

I stood, the weight of the evening settling into something more manageable now that the plan had real shape behind it rather than simply worry.

“Thank you,” I said, looking between the two of them. “Both of you. For not making this harder than it already is p>

“We are family,” Grandma Celeste said simply, as though the explanation required nothing further. “This is what family does. We show up. We stand close enough to catch each other when it matters p>

Gail rose and hugged me before I left, holding on a beat longer than usual.

“Tell Katia I am proud of her,” she said quietly. “For not letting any of this make her smaller p>

“I will,” I said.

I drove home that night with the plan settled clearly in my mind, the entire family arranging itself quietly around the woman I loved, ready to stand between her and whatever danger the night of that race might actually bring.

Katia was waiting up when I arrived, curled on the couch with a book she did not appear to actually be reading, and looked up when I walked in.

“How did it go?” she asked.

“I spoke to Grandma and Gail,” I said. “They are coming to the race. All of us. The whole family, standing together, watching you win p>

Katia stared at me for a moment, something shifting across her face that I could not immediately read.

“You did that without asking me,” she said slowly.

“I did,” I said. “I should have talked to you about it first, and I am telling you now in case that changes anything. But I wanted you surrounded by people who love you on that track, whether you had thought to ask for it yourself or not p>

Katia was quiet for a long moment, and I braced myself for the anger I half expected, the same fierce independence she had shown me in the kitchen that morning when I tried to talk her out of racing at all.

Instead her eyes filled, and she reached for my hand.

“Thank you,” she said, her voice thick with something warmer than I had prepared for. “I would not have asked. I do not think I even realized how much I wanted them there until you just told me they were coming p>

I pulled her into me, resting my hand carefully against the curve of her stomach, and felt, for the first time since this entire conversation began, something close to genuine readiness settle into my chest instead of fear.

“We race together,” I said. “The whole family behind you p>

“Together,” Katia agreed.

The location dropped four hours before the race. Same coded shit as always. Some abandoned waterfront road in Brooklyn. Wide enough to go fast, quiet enough that the cops wouldn’t show up too quick, close enough that half the city’s underground racing crowd could get there in an hour.

We didn’t all arrive together. Marcus and I planned that days ago. No big family entrance. Nothing that screamed, “Look at us p>

Grandma Celeste got there first. Her own car, her own driver. She sat in a folding chair like she was at a fucking concert instead of an illegal street race. Gail showed up next with Aiden on her hip even though the kid kept saying he could walk. His eyes went huge the second he saw the cars and the crowd.

David and Martha came after that. Still clueless. They thought this was just some family outing to support Katia while she was pregnant. Grandma had sold them that story after the whole Delia mess, and they bought it. They had no idea the woman they came to cheer for was standing less than fifty feet away in a mask.

Noah and Delia arrived together. His hand was on her back. They still looked a little awkward with each other, but at least they weren’t at each other’s throats. Delia looked tired as hell, but she smiled when Aiden ran over to show her some rock he found. Watching that, I was just glad some part of this fucked-up family was starting to settle.

Zane and Sam showed up already arguing about logistics. Sam’s phone was glued to her hand, tracking every camera Tessa’s people had set up.

My car was waiting exactly where I told them to leave it. Black. Low. Mask on the passenger seat. Katia’s car was two spots down. I could just see her through the tinted glass, already in the suit, already turned into the version of herself this whole underground world knew better than they knew me.

I walked over and knocked on her window.

It rolled down just enough for her eyes to hit mine.

“You sure about this?” I asked, voice low.

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