Clocking a different sort of problem that he hadn’t expressed so far when it came to the business, Angelica made note of it but kept it to herself. Now wasn’t the time to problem solve that.
“You said the woman was the wrong person, what do you mean by that?” Angelica clasped her hands tightly.
Ronan’s cheeks rushed with red. “She was someone with power, and she turned that power against me. She told her husband that I coerced her into it, so I was immediately put on leave because he runs this city, and then they filed charges against me, and civil suits. I lost everything.”
“Runs this city?” Angelica asked for clarification.
Ronan nodded. “She’s the mayor’s wife.”
Angelica’s heart broke. This man was suffering, that was clear. She looked around the room and started to put everything in her head in order. “All right, here’s what we’re going to do, you’re going to take a minute to set yourself right—go outside and get some fresh air—then you’re going to come back inside and we’re going to start with some damage control and to rebuild your reputation.”
“It’s impossible.”
“It might be,” Angelica said. “I won’t lie to you about that. You might never have the reputation you did before, in fact, you probably won’t. But that doesn’t mean people can’t start to trust you again or that your business has to fail because of it. All right?”
He looked skeptical.
“Just try it with me. What else do you have to lose?” she asked.
“Nothing,” he answered.
“Okay. Then go get yourself together, and we’ll talk in the office in a minute.”
Ronan took his time, but he did walk out of the hotel room. She watched him drag his feet away from the room. She wasn’t a therapist, but Ronan definitely needed one of those. Angelica stayed seated for another minute before she stood up and faced Rex, a hard look in her gaze.
As she walked out of the room, he snagged her arm and pulled her back. “Sy, will you give us a second.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Sy shut the door, a click loud and damning. Rex bent his head, turning to look directly into Angelica’s eyes. “Don’t you dare start thinking that when all this comes out about you and Hope that you’re going to be in the same boat as Ronan.”
Angelica stiffened. “I’m not the one who cheated.”
Rex’s lips thinned in a tight line. “Technically, and I do believe this, Ange, Hope didn’t cheat either. We had an open relationship, and it just didn’t work out.”
“Thatiswhat you’d like to believe, isn’t it?” Angelica stepped in slightly, closing a bit of the gap between them. “But the fact is, she was married to you at the time, and I was her boss. Power and coercion aren’t that far off the table.”
“Except she loves you.” Rex had an echo of Ronan’s pained look in his gaze. “She does.”
“Love doesn’t solve the problem of facts. And it doesn’t mean that the world is going to be accepting of it.” Angelica bit the inside of her cheek. “Where this concerns Ronan, I’m not sure we can restore his reputation. All we can do is give him some tips and tricks of how to mend it.”
Rex raised an eyebrow at her. “And are you using those tips and tricks yourself?”
Angelica tensed. Her lips parted slightly in surprise. “My problems are complicated by Josef.”
“They are,” Rex agreed. “But Josef isn’t exactly well-liked—or even a little liked—by the majority of this crew. Unlike Ronan, you have way more backing and support.”
Breathing slowly, Angelica held her ground for another second. Then she stepped back, broke Rex’s grasp on her arm, and walked away. She couldn’t do this. Not right now. Not when everything was so close to the surface.
Chapter
Fifteen
Hope wipedher hands on the dishcloth and looked around the kitchen. This was one of the best run kitchens she’d dealt with since starting filmingHotel Bombshell. Elsie had everything in its proper place, she kept up to date on all of the food items that came in and managed to keep everything fresh even though business was abysmal.
In the few days they’d been there, Hope had barely even seen one customer walk through those doors. And Elsie worked alone in the kitchen because it didn’t make enough to pay for a second employee. So if Elsie wasn’t there, then the restaurant wasn’t open.
Hope wiped down the steel counter and then leaned down on it, eyeing Elsie. “What’s your take on why River Vista Inn is failing?”
