Page 65 of No Holds Barred

Twenty-One

“Rex!” Angelica’s lips broadened into a smile as she wheeled herself into the staging area in the quaint little Vermont hotel. She barely made it over the lip of the doorway with her knee scooter, getting stuck twice before she was able to shove hard enough to push the wheels over it.

“What’s up?” Rex glanced up from where he and Cadence had their heads bowed in discussion.

“Watch.”

Angelica set the knee scooter to the side and put both feet onto the ground, distributing her weight evenly. Her sore muscles protested, but she couldn’t stop the smile that reached her lips. “I’m weight-bearing, finally.”

Rex grinned and shook his head at her. “That’s great!”

“So great!” Cadence stood up immediately and came over to her, touching Angelica’s arm lightly. “And sexy as hell as always.”

Angelica’s cheeks heated up, and she flicked her gaze from Cadence to Rex. “I thought it’d make for easier filming this week, so we don’t have to hide the scooter as much.”

“You’re right about that.” Rex leaned back in his chair, crossing an ankle over his knee. “And it’ll be helpful, becausehaving walked around this place with our carts, it’s going to be brutal on you and the scooter.”

Angelica bit her lip and glanced at the scooter. “I still need it sometimes. I’m not fully weight-bearing.”

Rex nodded. “We’ll figure it out for filming, but you’re going to have a tough time moving around this building.”

“Perfect.”

Angelica snagged the scooter and moved toward the small table that they’d declared as theirs in the lobby. This hotel was quaint, and they didn’t have the big conference rooms that many of the others had. It meant that Angelica was going to have to be far more creative about what the hotel offered. In a lot of ways, it was on par with Mountain View West and should probably cater to weddings and personal events rather than work events.

“I can step in whenever you need me to get around.” Leanne’s voice sent chills down Angelica’s spine. She’d barely turned around and sat when she watched Leanne walk through the doorway as if she owned the entire room. And with Josef’s encouragement and backing, Angelica wasn’t surprised that Leanne felt that way.

But she was misinformed.

Josef was only in this for himself. And he didn’t care if he walked all over Leanne to get there.

“I think I’ll be good, thank you.” Angelica looked to Rex. “Shall we?”

“Hope’s running late this morning,” he mumbled, still flicking his gaze between Leanne and Cadence. “Actually, do you two mind giving Ange and me a minute?” He pointed to Leanne and Cadence.

“Not a problem, boss.” Cadence snagged her iPad and immediately walked away. Leanne hesitated for another second, but Cadence plopped a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back.

“What’s wrong?” Angelica asked, lowering her voice and looking directly at Rex.

“Hope’s late because of Eva. She was throwing a fit this morning. But that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.” Rex’s shoulders were still hunched over, and he looked toward where Cadence and Leanne had vanished to. “Are you and Cadence…”

“No.” Angelica shook her head. “Absolutely not.”

“I feel like…” he trailed off and groaned, rubbing his hands over his face. “I can’t keep up with who’s fucking who anymore.”

“No one is fucking anyone as far as I can tell.” Angelica crossed her arms and gave him a firm stare. “Well, some of the crew, but I’m not concerned about that. Cadence is outrageously flirtatious. She has been since the moment I met her two years ago.”

“And Leanne? She always looks at you like?—”

“Leanne is my former employee, Rex, and she knows that I won’t hire her back even though she can’t find a new job. Which should tell you something.” Angelica flicked her gaze back to where the two women had walked away. “And Josef brought her in purely for drama’s sake.”

“I gathered that much.” Rex sighed heavily. “I thought after the complaint I made about him that he’d be fired from the show for this season.”

Angelica slowly turned to him, eyes wide. “Your complaint?”

Rex nodded. “After Vegas and San Diego, I couldn’t stay silent any longer.”

“I didn’t know about your complaint.” Angelica sighed. That’d be three full complaints against Josef from three people with power, and still Logan hadn’t pulled the plug on Josef’s behavior. She was starting to lose faith in Logan.