Chapter 26
Chapter
Twenty-Six
“You ready?” Rex stood next to Hope, and she nodded at him.
“Yeah, I am.” It was an understatement. She was ready to get out of Las Vegas and move on from this shoot. Julian had plagued her every waking thought lately, and she was damn sure that Angelica hadn’t slept a wink since they’d arrived.
“I added extra stationary cameras around the hotel, ones that Julian wasn’t aware of.” Rex put his hand against the small of Hope’s back and guided her toward the conference room. “You’d be shocked at what we saw.”
“What?” Hope blinked at him.
“He’s handsy.” Rex stepped into the conference room with Hope. No one else was in there except Angelica, and she didn’t exactly seem pleased to see them. “Ange, I want to double check that you’re okay with the footage.”
“I’m fine with it.” Angelica didn’t even look up at him when she answered. It wasn’t until Hope put her hand on Angelica’s shoulder that she stopped working and made eye contact. “Is it time?”
“Yeah.”
Angelica pulled herself upward to stand. She swayed lightly, so Hope put a hand on her arm to steady her. Angelica pursed her lips and shook her head. “I’m sorry for what you’re about to see.”
“What?” Hope didn’t have a chance to say anything because Julian stepped into the room with Josef.
Angelica stiffened instantly.
Hope tried to stay as relaxed as possible, but it was a struggle.
And she was tired. She just wanted to protect Angelica from everything that was happening or about to happen.
But again, that was impossible. She stood shoulder to shoulder with Angelica, facing off against the two men that were giving them the hardest time over the last week.
“What’s going on?” Josef asked, immediately on the defensive.
“I wanted to show you some footage that we’ve taken.” Rex pulled the laptop over and pointed at the projector and screen.
Angelica drew in a sharp breath, but she held perfectly still. Hope wanted to reach over and entwine their fingers to show Angelica support, but with Josef in the room, she didn’t. Instead, she stayed where she was.
Video footage started playing. Hope recognized some of it as stuff the crew had shot, just simple moments. Most with Julian and Angelica, where he was far too close to her and she would either jump and move away and he would follow her. But nothing could be seen explicitly as to what he was doing.
However, what he said was damning.
That skirt makes your ass look good.
You like to have all the attention, don’t you?
I bet you’d like my attention.
If only that dress was a little shorter, I’d have better access.
Hope’s stomach churned with bile. She flicked her gaze to Josef to see if he was actually paying attention, but he didn’t seem concerned about it at all. Julian’s face, however, had turned a deep shade of red.
But then it changed into what looked like surveillance footage. It was from these angles that she saw everything Angelica didn’t want her to see. Julian’s hands sliding along Angelica’s leg, her back and down to her ass, under the edge of her dress.
God damn it. Angelica hadn’t said it was that bad.
Hope grabbed Angelica’s wrist tightly, but it was more to prevent herself from launching over the table and giving Julian a piece of her mind. When the video stopped playing, Hope looked around to find the majority of the film crew in there with them, flanking Angelica and Hope.
“We have a zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment and assault,” Rex said. His shoulders were squared, and his jaw was stiff. “Don’t we, Josef?”
Josef’s lips thinned into a line, his cheeks puffing out. But he didn’t say a damn word.
Rex then threw a folder onto the table and tapped it. “This has a written record from thirteen other women you did the same things to, and more.”
Hope stayed still and quiet. This wasn’t for her.
She was here simply as a support, to be the barrier line between Angelica and Julian if she needed to be.
But Rex and Angelica had planned this out.
She looked to Sy and then realized that they were filming this entire interaction.
Their microphones were all turned on still. Everything was being recorded.
“We know what the problem is in your hotel.” Rex pulled the folder back toward him and then came to stand next to Angelica and Hope. “You are.”
“I haven’t done anything.” Julian’s jaw dropped.
So that was the route he was going to take.
“You can’t prove they didn’t want it.”
“I can,” Rex answered. “And I have. Whether you want to believe me or not is your choice. I don’t care if you do.” Rex pointed at Josef. “And I don’t care if you do, either.”
Josef stepped back from Julian, effectively distancing himself from the situation. But was he actually doing that? Or was he just trying to avoid the brunt of the heat?
“We’re done filming,” Josef stated loudly, his voice booming through the room. Then he turned to Julian. “We’re canceling the contract.”
“You can’t do that!” Julian screeched.
“I can. And I am.” Josef nodded and then took another step away from him and closer to where Rex was standing.
Angelica was suspiciously quiet. Hope wanted her to talk, to scream. She wanted any kind of reaction from her, but she wasn’t getting that.
“You’ll pay for this. All of you.” Julian spat the threat at them.
Hope didn’t care. He could sue them all he wanted.
She’d take the brunt of it. He turned around and stormed out of the room.
In his wake, no one said anything. The silence was so loud.
And Hope was fairly certain it was all in respect to Angelica and everything that she’d endured since they’d arrived there.
Hope should have put an end to it sooner.
She should have pushed Rex and Josef to do something about it.
Rex finally broke the silence. “Sy, I want you to get that footage and make a copy of it for the police report.”
“Report?” Hope asked. Now that the silence had been broken, the room seemed buzzing with murmured chatter. But she didn’t stray more than two feet from Angelica.
“We’re filing a police report. Angelica spoke with several of the other women who were also harassed and they’re all going to file today.”
Hope breathed a sigh of relief. Josef shook his head and came closer to them. His face was soft now in a way Hope hadn’t ever seen from him before.
“I’m sorry, Ange.”
Angelica looked at him square in the face, but she didn’t soften like Josef did. In fact, Hope would dare to say that she’d hardened even more. “Do you know how to tell the difference between a narcissist and a manipulative asshole?”
Hope tensed. Angelica’s words were filled with mirth.
Josef’s jaw dropped, and he trembled in front of her.
“A narcissist doubles down on their lies. A manipulator will eventually admit them when presented with facts.” Angelica leaned in slightly, lowering her voice in a threat. “Don’t think you’re any better than Julian, because you’re not.”
She spun around and charged out of the room. Hope’s heart raced as she watched Angelica leave. Josef sighed heavily and sat down at the table.
“She’s right,” he said. “Two years ago, I would have believed her.”
Hope crossed her arms and glared at him. “What changed?”
But Josef didn’t say anything else. She sighed heavily and looked to Rex.
“We’re going to clean up and pack up,” Rex said. “We’ll leave tomorrow.”
“No,” Hope said, lifting her chin.
“What?” Josef frowned at her. “We need to cut our losses and get out.”
“No,” Hope repeated. “We didn’t just put Angelica through an entire week of this for nothing. We can stay tomorrow, finish filming and set up the staff who are still here for as much success as we can and then we’ll leave. Angelica wouldn’t want to leave them in a bind anyway.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Rex said.
“I’m not giving you a choice. And if you don’t want to film it, then don’t.
But I’m not going to walk out of this hotel without at least making sure that the people here are going to get paid for the work they’re doing and know what and who they’re working for.
You can film it or not. But I’m sure you have enough to edit to make a reasonable episode without all of this.
That or I severely underestimated your ability.
” Hope crossed her arms. She was pulling her weight as Rex’s wife, and she knew that, but it was deserved this time around. He had to be aware of that.
Rex nodded at her. “Okay. And yes, we do have enough.”
“Good. Josef?”
“If Ange agrees to it, then I’ll make sure it happens.”
Oh, so now he was going to roll over for her? Hope wanted to cuss him out and put him in his place again, but she held back. It wouldn’t do her any good to be that person right now. In fact, it might be better if she or Angelica remained on Josef’s good side. And for now that was still her place.
Rex helped pull the microphone from Hope’s skin and set the pack onto the table before they left the conference room. They walked together toward the elevator, and she stopped before she hit the button and looked up at him.
“Thank you,” Hope said.
“For what?”
“I know this couldn’t have been easy for you.” She reached for his hand and laced their fingers together. “Considering the situation.”
“You’re treading on a slippery slope with her. I hope you know what you’re doing.” Rex looked down at her directly. “Because if this goes sour, it could ruin all of us. And after today, we’re all in this together.”
Hope hummed and nodded her agreement. “You’re right. And I think I know partly why she’s so upset about all of this.”
“Julian’s an asshole.”
“He’s more than that.” Hope bit her lip and looked around them to see if anyone was nearby who could hear what she had to say next. “He’s a mirror into a side of her that she didn’t want to see.”
Rex sighed. “I’m not going to begin to understand what you see in her, Hope. I just don’t.”
“I think she’s misunderstood.”