499 Girlfriend

"You want to fake his death tonight?" Styles probed, his brows knitted together in confusion.

Katherine nodded and began to explain. "Think about it… We won't know when we'll have this chance in the future to do it. We can't keep using Gus to be our eyes and ears in Castle all the time. It is risky and dangerous the longer that he stays there—not just for him, but for all of us. The faster we can get this done for him, the faster we can move forward. We already have what we need to keep an eye on Shadow from the inside without putting our people in danger."

"Katherine's right. This could be our only chance. Let's get him out of there," Chris agreed. "We could use this… It's the perfect way to make it seem as if Gus died during the mission. But how are you going to do it?"

"We can have someone act as one of the guards…" Damien suggested and glanced at her. She nodded in agreement and added, "Yeah, that would work. The senator would be too frightened to realize who is who. As long as someone comes in to 'save' her, she'll buy it."

Chris ran his hand across his jaw and wondered. "Who are you going to send there? You need someone who's highly trained to get past security..."

Just then, the door to Styles's bedroom opened, and in came Amelia. "Styles, have you seen my—Oh!" Styles immediately got out of the group call, surprising everyone. Katherine and Damien's heart raced when they realized what just happened. Amelia wasn't seen from the camera angle, but her voice was picked up clearly.

"Who was that?" Chris raised a brow as he stared at the screen.

"Um…" Katherine looked at Damien and met his stare. His expression was unreadable at the moment, but she knew too well that he wasn't comfortable talking about his mother with Chris around. Amelia's timing was perfect—if she wasn't in hiding, she would have been their best option to help their emergency operation—someone who was highly trained. But they couldn't.

"That was… Styles's girlfriend," she blurted.

"What? Styles has a girlfriend?" Chris couldn't believe what he was hearing. He couldn't imagine Styles being in a relationship—what with how awkward he becomes whenever he faces a pretty woman.

Before they could reply, Styles came back on the group call.

"You have a girlfriend?" Chris asked.

"What?"

Seeing Styles's surprised look, Katherine immediately spoke naturally, "I was just telling Chris that the woman who just came in was your girlfriend. He doesn't believe it."

"M-My girlfriend? Why would you… Yes…" Styles cleared his throat and admitted after seeing Damien's expression through the video. Even through their screens, he could evidently feel the weight of King Charming's intense glare. "That was my girlfriend." He swallowed hard, the word was too foreign for him.

Chris softly chuckled, shaking his head. "Nice."

"He told me that Parker gave him the senator's schedule and her usual routine. He says that she always goes home for dinner, so she'll most likely be at home by then. I mean… it makes sense since the old man wants to make it seem like it's suicide."

"Alright. Felix can do it. He'll be perfect for it. I can have him flown there fast in an hour. Coordinate with them regarding the layout." Damien was already tapping his phone while he spoke, trying to get in touch with Felix who was just nearby.

"Got it."

"Let's keep in touch." Katherine turned off their group call and the tablet's screen turned black. Then, she turned to Damien, "Sorry… I didn't know what else to say."

He shook his head as if to say that it was not a big deal and planted a kiss on her lips. "Thank you for telling me about this."

"I promised you, Damien… and I won't break it. We're a team now," she replied, leaning against him and receiving his embrace.

The tablet rang and Styles came in after they answered the call. "I'm so sorry about that… I forgot to tell Falcon that I was going to be on a video call."

"It's okay. Where is she?" Damien asked, wondering what his mother was doing after what just happened.

"She's on the phone with Felix. They started planning for tonight. Wait—what about your plan later? Does this mean you aren't going to break into your aunt's office anymore?" Styles asked her.

Katherine and Damien exchanged looks before she pulled on a small smile. It couldn't be helped. Even though she badly wanted to, there were more pressing matters at the moment. Her aunt's secretary was in the office, so she could only go there when no one is around. "It's okay, I'll figure it out. We'll be at the mansion for dinner tonight and we'll just have to see what happens then. If we still have time later after all of this, we might go."

She glanced at Damien who readily nodded and reassured her, "Of course. We'll make it… Don't worry."

"Okay, I'll keep you guys updated with everything that's going on. We have the best team. I'm sure we can pull it off. Laters gators." Styles ended their phone call and it became silent inside the car again.

Katherine wanted to believe that and think positively. She briefly closed her eyes and told herself, 'This is going to work.'

"Are you okay?" Damien wondered when she became quiet.

She opened her eyes again and answered, "You still have a meeting to go to."

"Yeah. I need to leave soon. But I'll be back here for you in a couple of hours. Are you going to be okay until then?" 

"Of course." Katherine curved her mouth into a smile. 

Damien swept her hair to the side and tucked it behind her ear. The rims of her eyes were slightly red. "Why don't you take some medicine? Don't endure it. You're clearly suffering."

"I will." She leaned in and kissed him on the lips before she reassured him, "I'll be fine. I'll wait for you."