Chapter 436

[ 914 words ]

Julian’s POV

“Katia wants to race,” I said. “Against Tessa Sterling. She needs our help p>

Grandma Celeste’s expression did not change, but something in her posture straightened, the way it always did when a situation required her full attention.

“Help how?” she asked.

“I need everyone present at the race,” I said. “All of us. It provides cover and confuses the narrative Tessa is trying to build around who Catwoman actually is p>

Gail’s brow furrowed.

“I will bring Aiden,” she said, then paused, her expression shifting into something more careful. “Is it safe, Julian? For Katia to race while pregnant. What if someone sees who she is, or even if they do not recognize her face, what if they see the bump and put the pieces together themselves p>

“That is exactly why we want every Windsor there,” I said. “If the whole family attends a public event where Catwoman happens to be racing, it muddies the question of who among the women present might actually be her. Tessa is looking for one woman standing apart from everyone else. She will not find that if half the city sees an entire family attending together, ordinary and unremarkable p>

“And Katia herself,” Gail said. “The bump. Surely someone close enough would notice p>

“She will not step out of the car,” I said. “She arrives already inside it, races, wins, and leaves the same way, exactly the pattern she has followed every single time she has raced publicly for years. No interviews. No photographs outside the vehicle. Nothing for anyone to examine closely enough to notice anything beyond the car itself p>

Gail considered that for a long moment, then nodded slowly, something easing in her expression.

“Alright,” she said, a small smile finally breaking through. “I will bring Aiden. He will want to see his mother race anyway, even if he does not fully understand what that actually means yet p>

Grandma Celeste had been quiet through the entire exchange, watching me with the same careful, assessing attention she brought to every decision that mattered to this family.

“I will attend,” she said finally, “on one condition p>

“Name it,” I said.

“You race as well,” she said. “And you protect Katia through every second of it. I want you close enough to intervene if anything goes wrong, and I want your full attention on making certain she wins, not simply on winning your own race beside her p>

I looked at my grandmother, at the quiet steel underneath her request, the same protective instinct I had watched shape every major decision she had ever made for this family.

“Everyone wants me to make sure she wins,” I said, something almost amused slipping into my voice despite the weight of the conversation. “Alright. She will win. I will make sure of it, and I will protect my wife and her honor through every second of that track p>

Grandma Celeste studied me for a moment longer, then nodded once, satisfied.

“Good,” she said. “Then we are all in agreement. This family shows up together, and we make certain nothing about that night belongs to anyone but us p>

Gail reached over and squeezed my hand, something warm passing between us that had nothing to do with strategy or protection.

“She does not know we are doing this,” Gail said. “Is she going to be upset that you arranged all of this without asking her first p>

“I do not think so,” I said. “This was my idea, not hers. But I know my wife. She will not be angry about support she did not ask for. She will be happy to have her family standing behind her when it matters most, even if she never would have thought to request it herself p>

Grandma Celeste’s mouth curved into something close to pride.

“Your wife,” she said, “understands this family better than most of us give her credit for p>

I thought about Katia standing in our kitchen days earlier, unwilling to let fear dictate a decision that belonged entirely to her, and felt something settle in my chest that had nothing to do with worry and everything to do with quiet, complicated pride.

“Yes,” I said. “She does p>

We spent the next hour working through details, the same careful planning I had already begun with Zane and Sam now extending across the whole family, seating arrangements that placed the Windsors visibly and unmistakably together, timing that had Aiden arriving with Gail well before the race began so no one could later claim he had appeared alongside a mother nobody could account for elsewhere.

“What about David and Martha?” Gail asked. “Should the Kensingtons attend as well p>

I considered that.

“It would help,” I said. “The more ordinary family members present, the harder it becomes for Tessa to isolate any one woman as the one she is actually hunting for p>

“I will call Katia’s mother,” Grandma Celeste said. “Martha and I have not spoken properly since everything with Delia came apart, but I can simply frame it as a family outing, something to support Katia during her pregnancy. There is no need for either of them to know the actual reason we want them there p>

“They cannot know,” I said, more firmly than I intended. “Not about Catwoman. Not about any of it. The fewer people who understand why their presence matters, the safer Katia actually is. Her parents attend believing this is nothing more than a family event. That is all they are permitted to know p>

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