Chapter 6
KAT’S POV
I sit in the corner of the café with my legs curled under the wooden table. My fingers are wrapped tight around the warm mug of peppermint tea. I don’t realize how hard I’m gripping it until I see the faint tremble in my hands.
I keep telling myself not to think of Matt.
But how do you stop thinking about someone who just broke your heart?
How do you forget the sound of your best friend’s voice, giggling in your bedroom with your husband? The flash of her red nails clawing at his back. His voice—Matt’s—saying things he once said to me, only this time, to her?
I flinch.
I don’t mean to think about the past. But my mind pulls me there anyway. To the moment I meet Matt. And how, funny enough, it all starts with Percy.
That trip.
The mountains.
The snow.
flashback
Melissa drags me on that ski trip, says we both need to get away. I’ve been working non-stop and she just got dumped. It’s supposed to be fun. Light. We drink too much hot cocoa, dare each other to wear hideous snow gear, and get giddy about the way the snowflakes look like glitter under the moonlight.
Then comes the skiing.
I remember standing at the top of the slope. My stomach twists inside me but I try to hide my fear. Melissa laughs, carefree as always, and zips down the hill like a natural. I take a deep breath and push off, praying I won’t die.
Halfway down, I lose control. Not badly—but enough to veer left, past a ridge, where the trees grow thicker and the trail becomes dangerously quiet. That’s when I see him.
A figure in the snow, motionless.
I scream.
I scramble off my skis and run to him. Snow has half-buried him. His leg is twisted in a way no leg should be. Blood soaks through the white snow. His skin looks too pale and his lips are a dark shade of blue. I kneel beside him, not even realizing the snow is soaking through my jeans, turning my skin numb.
“Hey!” I shout. “Can you hear me?”
He doesn’t respond.
I don’t know how, but my brain switches into autopilot. I press my scarf to his leg to stop the bleeding. I talk to him, begging him to stay awake, even though he’s unconscious.
“You’re going to be okay,” I say over and over. “Please. Just hang on.”
When I pull out my phone, I fully expect the reception to fail. But that morning? For once, there’s a bar of signal. Enough to call for help.
I stay with him until the ski patrol arrives. They tell me later that if I’d found him just ten minutes later, it might’ve been too late. That man is Percy—though I don’t know it at the time.
Back at the lodge, my fingers still shaking, I walk into the lounge area and see Melissa laughing with someone. A man I don’t know.
The man is tall, handsome and has perfect dark hair. And those eyes—sharp, electric, locked right on me the moment I enter the room.
Matt Hamilton.
He walks up to me like he’s been waiting.
“You’re the girl who saved someone on the slopes,” he says, holding out a hand. “Hero of the day.”
I flush, embarrassed. “I just did what anyone would do.”
“No,” he says, tilting his head. “Not everyone would.”
I remember how warm his hand feels when he holds mine. How his fingers linger. How Melissa raises an eyebrow behind him and mouths “damn” when she sees my face go red.
From that moment, it’s him and me.
Or so I think.
end of flashback
I squeeze my eyes shut now and press the cup to my lips, trying to quiet the scream in my chest. That memory used to be golden. Now it’s poison. Now I can’t think of Matt without seeing Melissa tangled up in our sheets, gasping like she has no shame. No guilt. I hear the betrayal in their laughter, echoing in my skull.
And it hurts.
It hurts so much I don’t know where to put the pain. I want to scream. Break things. Curl up and disappear. I want to be anywhere but here.
But instead of Matt, my mind does something worse.
It turns to Percy.
I see him again today. Years after the accident. He looks even more gorgeous than ever.
And the things he says…
God, the things he says to me.
"Trust me, Kat. When I fuck you, you're going to come back for more. I don't like to make love. I like to fuck. I want you to be fully ready when the time comes. That's why I want you to be absolutely sure"
I hate how my thighs clench at that. I hate how my breath catches just thinking about it.
I shouldn’t want that. I shouldn’t be fantasizing about him—especially not today, not now. Not when my life is falling apart. But my body doesn’t care about the rules. My body remembers the way Percy looks at me like he owns me. Like I’m something to be devoured.
I imagine his hands gripping my waist. His mouth trailing heat down my throat. His fingers pulling at my hair while he growls my name. I picture being pushed back against a wall, breathless, legs wrapped around him, his voice in my ear—
My cheeks flame, and I nearly spill my tea again.
What’s wrong with me?
Your marriage just ended. You caught your husband cheating. And here you are, thinking about sex. About Percy. God, what is wrong with you, Kat?
I nearly get up to walk it off. To splash water on my face. Maybe even lock myself in the bathroom and touch myself till I—
“Miss Kat.” A voice says, interrupting my thoughts.
I jolt. I feel my heart leaping into my throat.
Bruno stands next to my table, bundled in that ridiculous brown coat he always wears, looking completely out of place.
I groan and cover my face with one hand. “Not you.”
He raises a brow. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I feel like I’ve seen a ghost,” I mutter. “Or maybe I’m just having a breakdown. Honestly, hard to tell at this point.”
Bruno doesn’t laugh. He steps closer. “I have news.”
“I’m not interested in your ‘news’ right now,” I snap. “I just walked in on my husband screwing my best friend. I’m barely holding it together. So unless your news is that the earth is about to explode, keep it to yourself.”
“It’s about your father.”
I blink.
“Excuse me?”
Bruno looks me dead in the eye. “He’s here. In Maddox.”
I stare at him. For a moment, I think I’ve misheard.
“My father?” I whisper
“Yes” he says firmly
I push back my chair, standing slowly. “If this is some joke, if you’re trying to mess with me—”
“I wouldn’t lie about this,” he cuts in. “He’s here for something important. You need to see him.”
I stare at him for a long moment, breathing heavily.
Then, without thinking, I grab my coat and follow him out the café door,