Page 132 of Clinically Delicious
“Cate?” Megan had stopped swinging and was looking at me with worried eyes. “You look scared.”
“I’m not scared,” I lied. “Just... thinking.”
“About what?”
About how everything we do is being watched. About how every moment is being documented and catalogued and prepared to be used against us in court. About how I might have just handed Richard Castellano exactly what he needs to destroy Gabriel’s case.
“Nothing important,” I said, forcing a smile. “Want to go on the slide?”
She nodded, but she was still watching me with those too-perceptive eyes.
She knows something’s wrong.
Kids always know.
We walked to the slide, and I helped her up the ladder, watching as she slid down, but my mind was racing.
They’re watching us. Everything we do, everywhere we go—they’re watching. Building a case. Gathering evidence.
Waiting for us to slip up.
And I’d just given them ammunition.
Me and Fitz, sitting close on a bench. Talking. Laughing. While Megan played.
It could be innocent.
It was innocent. But in the hands of a lawyer like Richard Castellano? It could be twisted into something else entirely.
This is my fault.
I should have been more careful. I should have—“Cate!” Megan was at the bottom of the slide, waving. “Again!”
“Okay, sweetie. Again.”
But my hands were still shaking, and I couldn’t stop looking at the tree line, wondering if the man with the camera was still there. Still watching. Still waiting for us to make a mistake.
We’re not going to lose.
We can’t lose.
Because losing means losing Megan.
And I can’t. I won’t—My phone buzzed.
Gabriel: On my way. Don’t worry.
But I was worrying.
I was spiraling because this wasn’t just about a custody case anymore. This was about our lives being dissected and examined and judged. This was about every moment being weaponized. This was about the very real possibility that everything we’d built, this fragile, complicated, beautiful thing, could be torn apart by people who didn’t care about Megan or Gabriel or me.
People who only cared about winning.
And I had no idea how to fight that.
But I’m going to try.
For Megan.
