Page 86 of No Holds Barred

Hope: A little birdie named Lyric told me we have extra time today before we wrap and have the party.

Looking up, Angelica met Hope’s gaze across the table in the dining hall. They’d started using that space for their morning meetings since it fit them better, but still, it was tight and cramped. Angelica had settled the last few days. She hadn’t expected the shift to be so poignant, but it was. Even though she and Hope hadn’t had a chance to truly talk about that shift, she knew it was coming.

Sliding her thumb against her phone, Angelica typed.

Angelica: The little birdie isn’t wrong, assuming there’s no major drama in the next few hours.

Hope: I did promise Katherine I’d talk with her before we left.

Angelica pursed her lips and stared at that message. She’d thought that they were going to talk with each other, not someone else about work related things. And that, in and of itself, was a startling fact. She couldn’t remember the last time she wanted to avoid work to simply be in a lover’s presence.

Angelica: Did you want me there when you talk with her?

Hope: Yes.

“Ange, what do you think?”

Angelica froze. She had no fucking clue what Rex was even talking about. She’d been absolutely distracted by Hope and the texting conversation that they were having across the table. She spun through everything she could remember of what was being discussed, and she couldn’t even come up with one lick of a trailhead to begin to answer his question.

“We can make that happen,” Cadence said, shooting Angelica a harsh look before flicking her gaze to Hope. “Do you think, Hope?”

“Uhh… yeah,” Hope agreed.

Was she just as clueless?

Angelica really needed to pull herself together. She needed to make sure that she kept her head in the game when it came to her job, because with Leanne still hanging around, she couldn’t let up on that control just yet. Josef still wanted her out, and until that problem was taken care of, she was going to find herself on the defensive no matter what.

“Good.” Cadence snagged her iPad. “Then let’s get to it.”

She stood up, and Hope followed, shooting Angelica a curious gaze. Angelica stayed right where she was as everyonedispersed, but Rex continued to stare at her. “Stay a minute, will you?”

“Yeah, sure.” Angelica settled into the chair, hoping that he would fill her in on whatever it was that she’d missed without being an ass about it.

It took a few more minutes before they were alone, but Rex just continued to stare at her instead of saying anything. Discomfort swelled in her chest, filling every crevice and cavity that it could find. He just continued to stare at her, as if waiting for her to say something, but she had no context as to where to even begin.

Finally, Rex’s face pinched. “If you and Hope…” he stopped. Rex pursed his lips and stared down at the table in front of him for a good few seconds before he looked back at Angelica. “If you and Hope start something up again…”

Angelica’s stomach plummeted.

Were they really that obvious?

He had insider knowledge for sure, he understood his ex-wife better than anyone else on set, including Angelica herself at this point. Was he just picking up on the lack of tension? Or was there something else that?—

“It’s going to be difficult for me,” he said. “Just because that was part of the reason we divorced. Not the whole of it, but part of it.” Rex sighed and then looked around the room, as if checking to see if anyone else was there. He finally leaned in, lowering his voice. “You were distracted this morning, Ange. You have no clue what we were even talking about or where you’re supposed to be right now, do you?”

“Rex—”

He put his hand out in front of him. “If you’re going to do this, then you need to be more careful than you were just now. Do you understand? Josef’s out for blood, specifically yours, andhe’s not going to let anything fly under the radar if he can use it to his advantage. I’d hate to see you taken down by him.”

“I’m not sure I understand what you’re not saying.” It took everything in her to keep herself still and in control. But she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her squirm.

“You and Hope—I’m not…” he stopped again, looked around the room, and then lowered his voice, “Just be careful, Ange. I’m not sure the crew can take the tension like we had last year, and I’d hate for this to blow up.”

“Rex.” Angelica put her hand on top of his on the table to stop him. “I’m not entirely sure how to handle this.”

“I’ll figure myself out.” He gave her a wan smile and finally looked in her eyes. “But right now we have a common enemy, and I worry what will happen if you and Hope become that again.”

Angelica nodded slowly. “I’ll work to make sure that doesn’t happen.”