Page 51 of Mountain Security

Alex

Yvette’s shoes were off her feet the moment she walked through the door.

“What an evening … Want to come in for a drink?”

Alex hesitated outside her doorstep.

“Are you sure?” he asked. “You don’t have to work?” Her cell phone had been ringing and buzzing pretty much continuously since the news broke. She wasn’t even answering anymore, now that she’d been in touch with her whole team.

She shook her head. “Rushing in with a quick response won’t dilute this. Apparently, Pierre did exactly what that journalist says he did. And those pictures don’t lie.”

Ah, the pictures.

Hugo had shared a few of them with Alex. They were not pretty.

Yvette sighed. “I’ve arranged to meet the team in the office at eight a.m. tomorrow. We’re going to be working full time on this, so I hope they get a good night’s sleep.”

“You’re sticking with him,” Alex said.

Yvette sighed. “He had an affair. A consensual relationship with another adult. Personally, I don’t condone what he did, but professionally, he’s still exactly the same man he was earlier today.”

Alex nodded. “That seems like a fair way of thinking about it.”

Yvette brought out a bottle of red wine and two glasses.

“Is wine okay?” she asked.

“Wine’s fine,” Alex said easily. “Where’s your bottle opener?”

Yvette pointed to a drawer. Alex found it and took the bottle from her. Yvette sat on one of the tall stools next to the kitchen counter.

“I wish I didn’t know his wife.” She sighed.

“You think she already knew?”

Yvette nodded. “That’s why she wasn’t there tonight. I spoke with her a little while ago. They both knew the news was going to break, and expected it to be sooner rather than later.” She ran her hands along her curls. “Shit. I knew Pierre was acting strange. I should have—“

“You’re kidding, right?” Alex asked. “There’s nothing you could have done differently.” He handed her a glass that was perhaps fuller than polite society demanded, but he thought they both needed it today.

Yvette took her glass to the balcony. There was a small table with two chairs. Yvette took one, and Alex sat across from her.

Ahead of them, the mountains were deep shadows. The only sound was the faint sound of a TV coming from one of the lower apartments.

Some kind of action movie.

“It’s peaceful out here,” he said.

Yvette nodded, taking a deep sip of wine. Alex couldn’t help but watch the movement of her throat as she swallowed. Her face glowed in the soft light coming from her apartment. She was still wearing those dangling earrings that made her slim neck look even longer.

His eyes moved appreciatively down her body. He’d thought she looked hot when he’d first seen her earlier that evening, in those shiny black patent leather heels. But now, barefoot, her dark red toenails peeking out from the bottom of her dress, she was the sexiest sight ever.

“I love this view,” she said, sighing softly. “It’s why I moved all the way out here.” She turned to look at him, as if the idea had just occurred to her. “Where do you live?”

“In a house near the ice rink. I live with two other members of the PGHM team, Ry and Hugo.”

Yvette didn’t seem to think that was strange at all, and for that he was grateful. Sometimes, it was hard to explain to others just how close he and his team were. When the team had moved from Annecy to Chamonix, and they’d all had to find new accommodation, it had made perfect sense to look for a place together.

She was quiet again for a bit. Alex could tell she was thinking about something. He settled down to wait. He could be patient.

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