“Ange…” Florence winced. “You could have left?—”
“I didn’t want to.” Angelica took the ring out of the box and held it in the palm of her hand. “But I think I know exactly what I’m going to do with this.”
“Do you?”
Angelica hummed and then looked at Florence before putting the ring away. “Depending on when Josef is released, we should have more security while filming.”
“Agreed,” Florence answered. “And as far as the defamation lawsuit? I know Logan is worried about it, but after today and looking over a bunch of the footage from the last few seasons thanks to Rex and Sy, I don’t think he’ll have much of a leg to stand on and the case will likely be dropped.”
Angelica nodded. She’d hoped that’d be the case, but until someone else brought that up, she wasn’t sure she could trust it. Then again, trusting others wasn’t exactly her forte. “It won’t be resolved before we go back to filming.”
“No, it won’t,” Florence agreed. “But maybe by next season.”
Humming, Angelica chose not to respond to that one. She finished her drink and smiled at Florence. “Thank you for being here today.”
“Two thank-yous in an hour? Who are you and what have you done with ice fairy Angelica Shields?”
Laughing, Angelica shook her head. “I think maybe she melted.”
“I think that’s to my advantage,” Florence leaned forward and finished her drink as well.
“Likewise.” Angelica nodded. “I do need to talk to Hope, though.”
“Yes. You do. I’ll leave you to that. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need something—even though I know you won’t.” Florence stood up, smiled at her, and then left. Like nothing had happened.
Angelica breathed into the silence, closing her eyes, and centering herself. Now all she had to do was tell Hope. And fuck, why did just that thought bring all of the unshed emotions from earlier forward? Staring at her phone, Angelica made a choice she never would have before.
Angelica
I need to be more honest with you. This is an emergency, and I need you to come to me. Josef was here. I’m safe. Physically fine. But I need you.
. . .
Three little blue dots showed up and then vanished. Then they showed up again. The sound signaled the arrival of Hope’s text, and immediately, Angelica relaxed.
Hope
I’m on my way.
Chapter
Forty-Five
Hope shookher hands out nervously in the green room. The suit jacket felt odd against her skin because she was so used to a chef’s coat, but they weren’t going to be cooking for the first part of the show. Instead, Heidi was going to be interviewing both her and Angelica together.
Thank God, because she didn’t want to screw up an interview like she had the last time. And with everything going on lately, even though Josef was still in jail awaiting a hearing, she was still glad to have Angelica as close to her as possible. They hadn’t spent a night apart since that day, and it’d been nearly the full three weeks of their mid-season break.
“Hope?” Angelica said, coming closer and touching her hand. “I’m not sure I’ve seen you this nervous for an interview before.”
Hope grimaced. “A lot has changed since the last time we did this.”
Angelica hummed and nodded. “But it’s just an interview, and you’re on Heidi’s show all the time.”
“Yeah, so she’ll feel more comfortable to ask questions that other people wouldn’t.”
“I’m not sure about that.” Angelica dropped her hand to reach Hope’s fingers, twining them together. “I’ll be right there with you.”
“I know you will.” Hope pressed her lips together and forced a smile onto her face. “It’ll be fine. It’ll be fine.” She repeated it to try and convince herself, but it still wasn’t working. Something in her gut told her that this was going to go off the rails and they were going to lose control of the situation.
