Page 41 of Mountain Trial

Jacques stopped when he was inches away from Kat―would probably have gotten even closer if Luc’s chair hadn’t been in the way.

“Kat,” Jacques said in a deep voice.

“Jacques.” She wasn’t giving an inch.

“Can I speak with you privately?”

Over my dead body.

A look of panic crossed Kat’s expression, but was gone in an instant.

“I don’t think so. Whatever you want to say, you can say in front of my friends,” she said.

Jacques nodded, an exaggerated move that ended up with his hair covering his eyes. He flipped it back casually.

“I won my category today.”

“I heard. Congratulations.”

Jacques cleared his throat once, twice.

Kat’s expression remained cast in stone while she waited for him to continue.

“What do you want from me, Jacques?” she finally said. Although her hands were shaking, her voice was calm.

“I wanted to apologize. So I will. I’m sorry.”

Kat’s mouth dropped comically open, but no sound came out.

“I’m sorry I scared you. I’m sorry I treated you badly. All these years, I never stopped thinking about you, about what I did. When I came back to Chamonix, I thought … I thought I could charm you. I hoped you’d realize the things I did weren’t me, Kat. It’s no excuse, but I was taking things to improve my performance, then things to help me relax …”

Kat’s expression grew hard. “You mean drugs. So it’s the drugs that hit me that night?” she whispered coldly.

Luc felt his blood pressure rise. He saw red.

He hit her?

Jacques sighed and lowered his voice even further.

“No. I did that. And I’m sorry. I know we can’t move on from what I did. I’ll be leaving Chamonix next week after the ceremony. I just wanted you to know I’m not like that anymore. And that I am sorry.”

Kat staggered, grabbing on to the back of Luc’s chair.

She swallowed once, her pale throat moving, but didn’t respond.

Jacques turned to him. For once, the mocking expression seemed to be gone from his face. There was real pain in the man’s eyes―which didn’t mean Luc didn’t want to drive him to the ground and pound him with his fists.

He hit her.

“Impressive Cork 540 today, Fournier. A shame about that fall.” He turned towards Scott. “Congratulations on your win, Reynolds. I’ll see you on the stage next week.”

Jacques looked back at Kat, who stood still as a statue. “I’m sorry,” he repeated, then turned and left. At the bar, he had a quick conversation with his three friends, and moments later they all left.

Kat leaned towards him. He could feel her entire body shaking. There was a chair next to her but Luc didn’t guide her towards it. Instead, his arms pulled her gently onto his lap. She sat on his lap, her face coming to rest against his shoulder. His arms came around her protectively.

He hit you?

There were so many things Luc wanted to ask, but now wasn’t the time.