“We’re having that conversation with Colm today, right?” Hope asked.
“Yes,” Angelica and Florence answered at the same time.
“Right.” Hope pressed her lips together briefly before grinning at Angelica and then turning that stunning smile onto Florence.
It hit her.
Angelica flicked her gaze from Hope to Florence and back again. It wasn’t jealousy, though she could very easily see why other people would think that’s what it was. Angelica was very secure in her relationship with Hope and exactly what was involved in it, but this was something else.
Something Rex had said.
Florence and Angelica were very similar.
And Hope was attracted to those qualities in Angelica. Hope had proven before that her attraction ran hot and cold, quickly and strong all at the same time. And she’d proven that just because she was attracted to one person didn’t mean she wasn’t also attracted to someone else. Angelica never doubted Hope’s love for Rex, nor did Rex ever seem to also doubt Hope’s love for Angelica.
It just so happened that Rex didn’t want an open relationship.
But Angelica wasn’t Rex.
“When are we filming?” Angelica asked, settling into that feeling, into the knowledge she’d just put together.
They’d need to talk, but not right now. And it might not even involve Florence in the end, but she had to know. Did Hope want an open relationship?
Because Angelica wasn’t sure she could handle the complications of Hope, an open relationship, filming, and the threat Josef was leaving her. If he found out about an open relationship, what would he do with that information? How many threats would he come up with now?
Ultimately, Angelica had to protect all of them. That was always her job, and it was part of her responsibility as a producer on the show. She couldn’t let Josef take them down, not because of any mistakes she’d made or otherwise, and certainly not if Hope wanted to have an open relationship.
She gathered her iPad and stood up. “Are you ready to meet with Colm?”
“Sure.” Hope gave her an inquisitive look, one that said she knew something was going on but was more than willingnotto ask about it right this very second.
Angelia appreciated that. She straightened her back and walked out of the conference room. Rex nodded at her as she passed him, and Angelica acknowledged him. How different would it have been if the order of things hadn’t been the way they were? If Rex and Hope had established an open marriagebeforeAngelica had met them?
Would they all still be in some sort of triangle?
Keeping that question to herself, Angelica walked into the hotel office and immediately sat down in the chair near the desk. She would wait for everyone else to get there as she continued to study and memorize the script, although her brain wasn’t retaining a single word that she read.
“Ange?” Rex said her name gently.
Angelica looked up, meeting his gaze.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes.” She cleared her throat, looking around to find Colm and Hope already seated across from her, that curious gleam in Hope’s eyes again. They’d barely managed to speak to each other in the last couple of days between filming and preparations and planning. But they needed to have a serious conversation at some point.
“Right.” Rex stepped away from them, nodding toward Sy. “Action!”
“We need to talk about the state of the hotel,” Angelica started, looking directly at Colm. “We’ve had a few experts come in to inspect the building, and we’ve run into some alarming problems.”
“Problems?” Colm’s eyes grew wide. “There’s no problems.”
This was what Angelica was used to being met with. Denial. Straight up and six ways to Sunday. She flicked her gaze to Hope who seemed just as surprised by his continued denial of the circumstances.
“Mold.” Angelica said that word swiftly and sharply. She was ninety-nine percent sure that she wasn’t supposed to say that, but the script at this point was useless to her. She looked up to see Florence slide in next to Rex and put a hand on his arm to let him know that she was there. “There’s mold everywhere in this building. Black mold.”
“There’s not.”
“Read the inspection report.” Angelica flipped her iPad around so that Colm could read those reports. He flicked through the pages, one after the other, and then Angelica moved on to the second report, making sure that he understood that multiple inspectors found the same problems. “You can’t deny that.”
