Katia’s POV

The house was quiet when we got home. Aiden had fallen asleep in the car and did not wake when Julian carried him upstairs. Clara stayed asleep through the transfer from car seat to crib. I stood in the doorway of her room for a minute and watched her breathe. Her fist was still curled the way it had been at Gail’s table. I closed the door and went downstairs.

Julian was already in the kitchen. He had not turned on the main lights. The under-cabinet ones were enough. He stood at the counter with his hands flat on the stone and his head down. I walked in and stopped on the other side of the island.

“She already knew what he did to me,” I said. “She knew the whole story. She just did not know the man sitting at her table was the same one.”

Julian lifted his head. “He used a different name. He changed his voice. He walked into her house and let her introduce him like he belonged there. That is not an accident.”

“I know.”

“He has been working for Elliot the entire time,” Julian said. “The fake marriage. The papers. The attempt on the company. All of it. This is the same thing. Elliot sent him after Gail because she left the estate and started living on her own. He wanted her isolated. I know I’m just suspecting, but I think he wanted her shares.”

I pulled out a stool and sat. My hands were still cold from the car. “Gail is going to blame herself. She is going to sit in that house and think she should have known. She waited years for Anthony. She finally let someone new in, and he turned out to be Jude.”

“She did not know,” Julian said. “That is the point. He made sure she did not know. Elliot made sure.”

We stayed quiet for a minute. The refrigerator hummed. Somewhere upstairs a floorboard settled. I thought about Gail standing in her living room with blood on the rug and her hands shaking. I thought about the way she had looked at me when I confirmed it was him.

“I want to go back,” I said. “Tonight. I do not want her alone with this.”

Julian shook his head. “Not tonight. If we show up now, she will feel like she has to perform for us. She needs to sit with it. She will go to Grandma in the morning. Let her do that first. Then we talk to her.”

“And if she does not go to Grandma?”

“She will,” he said. “She always does when something breaks. Grandma knows her better than either of us. Let her have that conversation without us standing in the room.”

I nodded. It made sense even if I hated waiting. “We tell her the truth about Elliot. All of it. No half versions. She deserves to know this was not random.”

“Agreed.”

Julian pushed off the counter and opened the drawer where he kept the spare phone he used for Marcus. He set it on the island between us. “Marcus finds Jude before Elliot moves him. We need him talking. We need to know what Elliot told him to do and how far it was supposed to go. If he was after the shares, there will be paperwork somewhere. Emails. Instructions. Something we can use.”

“And if Jude runs again?”

“Then Marcus finds him anyway,” Julian said. “He has done it before. Jude is not careful when he is scared. He will use the same cards. The same hotels. The same people. Marcus will have him by tomorrow night.”

I looked at the phone. “What do we do about Gail’s shares in the meantime? Elliot wanted them. He still wants them. Jude failed, but that does not mean Elliot stops.”

“We lock them down,” Julian said. “I will have the lawyers review the structure tomorrow. Anything that can be moved without her direct signature gets frozen. Anything that requires her approval gets flagged. If Elliot tries to come at her through a company or a proxy, we will see it.”

“She is going to hate that,” I said. “She just got her own place. She is going to feel like we are putting her back under the family’s thumb.”

“Then we tell her why,” Julian said. “We do not do it behind her back. We sit down with her after she talks to Grandma, and we explain the risk. She can decide how far she wants the protection to go. But we do not leave the door open.”

I rubbed my thumb along the edge of the island. “He sat at her table. He held Aiden’s fork. He smiled at Clara. And the whole time he was waiting for us to leave so he could put papers in front of her.”

“I know.”

“I want to hit him again.”

Julian’s mouth moved, almost a smile, gone fast. “You will get your chance if he is stupid enough to stay in the city. Right now we find him. We get what he knows. Then we decide what to do with him.”

He picked up the phone and dialed. I listened to his side of the call. Short. Clear. Marcus answered on the second ring. Julian told him Jude Wolfe was back in New York under the name Callum Davies. He told him where the dinner had been and what time Jude had run. He told him to start with the usual places and to move fast. Marcus said he would have something by morning. Julian ended the call and set the phone down.

“Done,” he said.

I pulled my own phone out of my pocket. Gail’s name was still at the top of the recent messages. I typed slowly.

We are here. Whenever you want to talk. No rush. Just know we are not going anywhere.

I read it twice. Then I sent it. The message showed delivered. I set the phone face down.

Julian came around the island and stood behind me. His hands settled on my shoulders. He did not say anything. I leaned back until my head rested against his chest. The kitchen was still. Outside, a car passed on the street and kept going.

“He is not getting near her again,” Julian said.

“No,” I answered. “He is not.”

We stayed like that until the under-cabinet lights clicked off on their timer. Neither of us moved to turn them back on.