Page 69 of Under the Table

Yes.

But it hadn’t happened in a very long time. And still, she’d told herself when it did happen again, that she’d react differently than before. And she wasn’t. She was stunned into doing nothing.

“Hope was present when there was the incident in the bar.” Angelica looked at him directly. “So we do need her. And the bar is under her purview, not mine.”

She slid her knee out of his reach, and his hand dropped. When Hope got there, she’d be sure to scoot closer to Hope to avoid being so close to Julian. At least that way, she’d have a bit more protection from him. Angelica realized belatedly that her shoulders were tight and raised up, nearly to her ears. She purposely dropped them down and pulled her iPad over so she could pull up the finances for the bar.

She’d never dealt with a bar quite as extensive as the one here, which made sense all things considered. And she’d never been hands-on with a casino before. But the casino was the only reason that Julian was managing to stay afloat financially. They’d applied not because of financial drain but because of the turnover in his employees and low customer satisfaction.

She knew why.

But she could also see where he wasn’t maximizing the potential of the rest of the hotel, all the different parts of it, which meant that he wasn’t making nearly as much money as he could. Angelica clenched her jaw, her molars grinding against each other as she flipped through the financial records and statistics.

Hope finally arrived, seemingly confused. But she sat down next to Angelica and leaned over the table. “We’re talking about the bar?”

“Yes,” Angelica said, relaxing slightly because Hope was finally here. She kept her back to Hope and her front to Julian so she could face him down. “Looking over the numbers, you’re losing money at the bar.”

“Because my staff is clumsy.” Julian laughed lightly, as if this entire process was a joke.

“No, because they’re overpouring drinks and because they’re using the high value alcohol instead of the wells.”

“What?” Julian at least seemed genuinely surprised by that.

“When they were interviewed,” Hope jumped in, “they didn’t know it was against policy.”

“And when I dove into policy, it’s not in there,” Angelica added. She and Hope were good at tag-teaming like this. She wished they could do it more often. “Further, they’re overpouring drinks because they’re untrained. They shouldn’t be at the bar by themselves.”

“That’s because I’m so short staffed.”

Angelica was about to tell him why that was when his hand landed on her knee again. But with the way she was facing and the table, there was no way Hope would be able to see what he was doing. And instead of just leaving his hand there, he started to move it up her thigh, brushing his fingers against the inside of her leg in small circles.

Fuck.

“It is in part because you’re short-staffed,” Hope said, shooting Angelica a confused look. “But that’s why we need to solve the real problem behind why that’s happening. Are you up for that task?”

God, now Hope was trying to take over where Angelica would normally hardball it because she wasn’t capable of speaking right now. She couldn’t say anything. She couldn’t move. She could barely even breathe.

“Of course,” Julian agreed. “When do we get started on that?”

“How about tomorrow morning?” Hope looked at Angelica, sending her another confused glance. “Does that work for you?”

“Y-yes,” Angelica stuttered. She pushed back her chair and stood up. “In the morning.”

She made it to the doorway, but Josef’s hand on her arm spun her back around.

“What the hell, Ange?” He nearly splattered his anger in spittle all over her.

Angelica shook her head at him and then stepped in closer. “Did you see what he did?”

“He didn’t do anything.” Josef glared at her.

“He grabbed my leg, Josef.”

“No, he didn’t.” Josef tightened his grip on her arm. “And even if he did, what does it matter to you? You don’t swing his way, Ange.”

God, she wanted to puke. She shook her head at him. “You know, I thought you couldn’t get any worse, but you’re only proving how much of a conceited asshole you really are.”

She ripped her arm from his grasp.