Page 38 of No Holds Barred

“I walked in to do prep today, and Leanne was in the conference room waiting to meet with me. She said that Josef hired her to replace you while you’re out. I… he didn’t mention anything to me about it, and I’m assuming nothing to you. And no one else knows?—”

“Of course they don’t,” Angelica snapped. What the hell was this? “No one knows who Leanne is.”

“Well they might be about to find out.”

Angelica swallowed the lump in her throat, but it came right back. Tears pricked her eyes, and she had to blink hard to force them back. Why was this season going so awry? And it wasn’teven problems between her and Hope like it should be. That, she knew how to deal with. That she understood.

But this?

“Ange…” Hope rubbed her hand up and down Angelica’s leg.

“I don’t want your pity.”

“You don’t have it. But you do have my sympathy.” Hope bit her lip and stared directly into Angelica’s eyes. “What do you want me to do about it?”

“If Josef’s going to replace me, then there isn’t anything we can do.” Angelica shifted, the weight of discomfort crushing her. She hated this.

“Who are you and what have you done with my Angel?” Hope stared at her confused. “You don’t just roll over and let him do whatever he wants to you. You fight back. You hold strong. You take what you want, and you don’t give up until it’s yours.”

My Angel?

Those words rang through Angelica’s mind, weaving stories that she couldn’t trust and didn’t want to believe in. She needed to separate herself from them. She needed to put up walls to protect herself from facing that heartache again.

Angelica looked at Hope directly. “That’s not entirely true.”

Hope paused, her lips parting in surprise. Did she understand what Angelica wasn’t saying? Nowhere in the course of their short relationship had Angelica pushed to make Hope choose between her and Rex. Nowhere had Angelica forced Hope’s hand in that. And she never would have. Same with Leanne. Angelica hadn’t fought to keep that relationship. Instead, she’d done the exact opposite, and she’d just let it go.

Did Hope understand that?

Angelica didn’t move her gaze from Hope’s, needing to know if she was reading between the lines enough for this to be clear. Angelica didn’t fight for things she knew she couldn’t have, and this show was one of them. She’d been told time and time againthat she wasn’t worthy of it, and she was tired of fighting that battle.

“Ange—”

“Josef has been very clear from the start of filming that I’m not the right person for the job. Perhaps this car accident is just one way for me to bow out without causing issues.” Angelica held her breath. Why did those words feel so awful coming out of her mouth? They left such a bad taste.

Hope sighed heavily, cocked her head to the side, and then shook it. “No.”

“No?” Angelica furrowed her brow. “What do you mean no?”

“I don’t believe it. Josef hired you for a reason. He sought after you for a reason. You were the first person hired, well before I was. He wouldn’t have put up with you if he didn’t think that you were right for the job.”

Angelica clenched her jaw. He had fought for her, way back in the beginning. He’d paved the way for her to end up where she was now, but that didn’t mean he still believed that. But perhaps more importantly, Angelica didn’t believe she had the energy to fight for something she wasn’t sure she wanted.

“He hired Leanne to piss you off, and he knew it would work. He hired her to create drama. That’s all he does.” Hope reached forward and clutched Angelica’s fingers tightly. “He wants drama, and what better way to get that than to throw your ex into the mix without telling you? And it’ll create the sexual tension that he can’t define that exists between the two of us.”

Angelica’s heart thudded hard. She glanced down at Hope’s hand against hers, the way her fingers were soft, her nails cut short, but the strength that she held Angelica with was obvious.

“Why are you just giving up?” The words left Hope’s lips and bored their way into Angelica’s soul.

Tears stung her eyes again, threatening to spill. This past week had been so difficult. It’d been so hard to even think aboutwhat she needed to do and how she could still be here. If she’d never agreed to this show, then nothing like this would have happened. She wouldn’t be heartbroken, again. She wouldn’t be facing Hope now. She wouldn’t?—

“Ange?” Hope prompted. “You can trust me.”

“I don’t want to,” Angelica whispered. “I don’t want to be in this position anymore. I don’t want to rely on you. I don’t want to feel this way anymore.”

Hope sighed and nodded. “Do you want to walk away?”

Angelica snorted with a laugh. “You mean hobble my way out of here?”