Page 118 of Under the Table

“Sorry.” Hope hung up.

Angelica bit the inside of her cheek and stared at her phone, realizing far too late that the camera was still on. At least they hadn’t said anything that would be too easy to catch them at. Angelica stepped out into the main reception area, finding Sy out there along with Rex, Josef, and the owner, Daniel.

She let go a huge sigh and plastered on a serious face. Pushing aside whatever was happening with her and Hope had to be a must right now because she couldn’t let it distract her from the conversation that needed to happen.

She could do this.

She didn’t need Hope. She just wanted the extra support, which she knew Hope would generally provide.

“Daniel, I need to have a conversation with you.”

“About the golf carts?” He could clearly sense the seriousness of the conversation, but he wasn’t aware of where Angelica was going to take it.

“No.” She nodded toward the office, and then looked directly at Rex. “You too.”

She walked back to the office she’d just come from, sitting behind the desk like she owned the place. And in this case, she did. Daniel sat down across from her, and the crew crowded in behind, giving as much space for filming as they could. Angelica looked directly at Sy and nodded at him. She’d have to thank him later for giving her the tip.

“It came to my attention earlier this morning that your manager, Louis, is a registered sex offender.”

The air in the room tightened. She kept her gaze on Daniel, judging by his response how much he knew or didn’t know. When she saw nothing from him, she glanced around the room to find out who else might have known, but everyone seemed stunned.

That was a good thing at least. Even Josef didn’t seem like he knew.

“I left him out of this meeting because we need to figure out what we’re going to do about the situation.”

“What situation?” Daniel shook his head. “He wasn’t arrested for any crime with a minor.”

Angelica’s eyebrows rose, and she rocked back in her chair, staring at Daniel. “How long have you known about this arrest and his conviction?”

“Louis is a good manager.”

“He’s also a sex offender.” Angelica wasn’t going to let this one go. “And you’re running a family-friendly resort. I’m not above hiring felons to work in my hotels, but I am going to be very specific in where they work, what they have access to, andit will be entirely based on their offenses. You cannot have a sex offender working where children are abundantly present.”

“He hasn’t been a problem.”

“He might very well not have been or be one.” Angelica stared at him hard, trying to get her point through his tiny little head. “But are you going to be the one who puts others at risk? Children, who are innocent. Children, who don’t know and understand the ways of the world. Children, who you try to get here by luring them in with fun activities and childcare.” Angelica breathed steadily. “You are a line of defense for them, and they and their parents trust you to hire people who should be around kids, not ones who have proven themselves otherwise.”

Daniel’s cheeks turned red, and he puffed them out with breath. “Louis wouldn’t hurt a kid.”

“But he has.” Angelica slid paperwork over in front of him. But Daniel didn’t pick it up to look. “He was convicted—not just arrested—but convicted of sexual assault and harassment of a minor. And this isn’t ahe turned eighteen and the girl was still sixteentype of case.” Angelica pointed at the part of the report that had that in there. “And your records show that you ran a background check on him, that this came back, and you still ignored it to hire him. That’s intentional negligence, and you should be held responsible for it.”

Daniel stayed still.

“We came here to fix your hotel, to put into place policies and strategies to grow it. And I cannot in good conscience do that if you don’t understand the very basics of keeping children safe. This is beyond a golf cart incident. And you need to understand that. I’ll give you five minutes to figure out what you want to do and if you want to move forward.”

She took the packet of information she’d printed for Daniel with her and stepped out of the room. Josef was hot on her heels,but she wasn’t playing games today. Not after this week. Not after everything?—

“Ange!” Josef’s voice reverberated through her.

Angelica paused, turning around to face him. “You can yell at me later, Josef. But what I did in there was the right thing to do.”

“It was.” He nodded at her, his face forlorn. “It was. I can’t argue with you on that, and if Daniel doesn’t fire Louis, then I’ll fully support pulling out of this hotel.”

That was a relief. Maybe. Josef always had something up his sleeve, so what was it this time? Angelica crossed her arms, popped out her hip, and waited for the other shoe to drop.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what?” Angelica glowered.