Chapter 33
Chapter
Thirty-Three
“What do we do now?” Sydney said, his face slack and pale.
Angelica swallowed the raw emotion Hope had just pulled out of her and sat down across from them in the main office. “I did mean to talk with you before I fired her.”
“We understand what happened,” Lisa chimed in, covering Sydney’s hand with her own and lacing their fingers together. “We’re not surprised. Her behavior toward you was atrocious. I’ve never seen her act like that before.”
“I was her biggest threat, because she knew that I wasn’t going to stand back and let her walk all over me.
” At least Angelica hoped that was why Kayla had pulled out all the punches at the start of the argument.
The name calling and tearing down had been a bit much, but nothing that Angelica hadn’t handled before.
“As for what to do now, there’s several things that need to happen. ”
“We’ll do anything, really.” Lisa frowned.
“You need to start with rebuilding the environment. Kayla did a lot of damage with the current employees who are here. They saw her behavior and your lack of response to it, and that’s divisive.
I’d suggest being honest with them.” Angelica looked from Sydney to Lisa, testing to see if they were ready for this conversation and the answers she was going to give them.
They both seemed open to it, so she forged on.
“You need to admit that you were wrong. I think they’ll understand. ”
Sydney shook his head, covering his face with his hands and rubbing his cheeks hard. “I really didn’t want it to come to this.”
“I don’t think anyone doubts that,” Angelica answered.
She ignored the fact that Rex pushed the camera in closer toward her, making sure to get the close up.
Some days she really hated being on a set.
She’d much rather handle this situation in privacy, where everyone could deal with their emotions and the repercussions of drama on their own.
But they were here for the drama.
At least, that’s what Josef constantly reminded her of.
Sydney groaned and dropped his hands to the table, finding Lisa’s and squeezing hers again. “Where did we go wrong with her?”
Angelica kept her mouth shut. Parenting conversations weren’t something she often participated in. She held silent while Lisa shook her head, her eyes watering.
“I don’t think we did anything wrong. I think she fell into drinking and addiction, and we need to admit that as much as she does.”
Angelica would have applauded Lisa for saying that out loud if she’d thought it’d do any good. Instead, she stayed still.
“You’d tell us we should have fired her months ago.”
“From a business perspective, yes.” Angelica lifted her chin, glancing around the room.
Her eyes locked on Rex as he stood in the far back corner.
“But I’m not cold enough not to understand that family comes first in many ways, and that when you mix family with business, the complications are endless. ”
Rex’s eyes widened in surprise, but she didn’t keep her gaze on him.
She looked back to Sydney and Lisa. She should have known better than to start a relationship—or whatever they hell they were calling it—with Hope.
It wasn’t a relationship. Hope was still married to Rex, and she wasn’t looking to leave him any time soon.
And Angelica wanted more.
She’d always wanted more.
That was her own burden to carry. Focusing back on the couple in front of her, the one she could maybe offer some comfort to, she gave them a small smile.
“I’d suggest starting with the staff to rebuild the environment.
Admit your wrongs, restate the rules, and start fresh with as many of them as will let you. ”
“And the rest?”
“They’ll go their own way eventually. I don’t think any of them will give you too many issues.
” Angelica had spent hours working with as many of the staff as she could, and they were all competent.
It was probably the one reason that Desert Paradise hadn’t caved yet.
“We’ll work on setting you up so that you can succeed and perhaps reduce your debt on this place again.
Make an income since I know neither of you has taken a salary in three years. ”
Sydney’s jaw went slack. “No one knows that.”
“I do.” Angelica gave him a hard look. “Both you and Lisa have sacrificed tremendously for the people who work for you, and they need to understand that. You’ve put them first for the most part. You’ve wanted to pay them first before yourselves, and that’s honorable.”
“Then what?”
“Then you work on your relationship with Kayla. At least as much as you can.” Angelica folded her hands in her lap.
“You get her into rehab if she’ll go, and you go to therapy with her.
Work on it, do it slowly. But don’t let her back in this hotel to work.
She’ll be the black hole that she was before here.
She needs to be out from under your thumb, and she needs to face the consequences of her decisions. ”
Lisa wrinkled her nose, her lip curling up in a cry. “I don’t know how to do that.”
Honestly, Angelica didn’t either. She’d never been in a situation like that because she wasn’t a parent. But she did understand it from the daughter’s side of things. She held herself steady, not budging an inch. “You need to set the boundaries she’s unwilling to set for herself.”
Which had been exactly what she’d done with her family years ago. And still, they’d pop up when she least expected them and impose their will on her life. Or at least, attempt to. That’s what this week had been for her father, and Angelica was finally ready to admit that.
She loved him.
But they weren’t good for each other.
Angelica nodded at them. “Take a few hours to calm down and we can make a plan to talk to the staff when you’re ready.”
She took her iPad with her when she stood up. But she didn’t say goodbye as she left. She needed the break as much as they did, and she was going to take it.
When she reached the main lobby, the workers eyed her before shifting their gazes back down to their computers worriedly.
She sighed heavily. She had her own repair work to do.
Then again, she probably wasn’t ever going to come back here, so did it ultimately matter if they weren’t scared of her?
Not really. Sydney and Lisa needed to be that for them now.
“We’re leaving,” Christian’s voice rocked through her.
Angelica shivered, looking to her left to find Christian leaning against the wall by the elevator, arms crossed as he clearly waited for her to reappear.
“Leaving?” Angelica asked, clenching her fingers tightly around the iPad to keep herself grounded.
“Dad’s already in the car waiting for me.”
Angelica frowned and stared toward the front doors of the hotel. He didn’t even want to tell her goodbye? Not that she’d expect anything less from him. As much as she knew her mother was the narcissist, her father also had those same tendencies.
“He doesn’t want to get in your way.” Christian sighed heavily, pushing off the wall and coming closer to her. “I tried to convince him to at least talk to you.”
“And?” Why did she ask that? She didn’t need to know the reason. It was only going to hurt. But she still couldn’t stop herself from asking.
“He said if you wanted to talk to him, then you knew how to find him.”
Angelica sighed and closed her eyes. Pain seared through her chest. It was always up to her, wasn’t it? It was always on her shoulders to be the one to give in or change. Neither of their parents could ever see what they’d done wrong in the relationship.
“Come here.” Christian put his hand on her shoulder and pulled her in.
Angelica moved with him, pressing her face against his chest and breathing in his scent.
Christian held her in the hug, arms wrapped around her back and his nose buried in her hair.
She stayed there, relaxing into his familiar touch and scent, remembering that it hadn’t always been this bad.
Christian at least loved her, even if he often seemed to side with the family instead, leaving her all out on her own.
She’d been so excited when he’d been born, only for it to turn around on her in a matter of months when she was no longer the golden child who could live up to their expectations. She was the one who wasn’t new, who wasn’t malleable, and she never would be that young girl again.
On instinct, Angelica wrapped her arms around Christian’s waist and hugged him tightly.
He might be nearly a foot taller than her now, but he’d always be her little brother.
She’d spent years helping to raise him and loving him, and she wouldn’t give those days up for anything.
And she wasn’t sure, at this point, when she would see him again.
Christian pulled back and smiled at her. “I wish we’d get to see more of you.”
She nodded, eyes watering.
“The kids are growing up so fast, and you’re missing out on everything.”
“Yeah,” she agreed, but she didn’t know what else to say. She kept her distance for a reason, and this week proved that had been the right decision. But she hated that Christian was lumped into the same category as their parents.
“Please consider coming for Christmas.”
“I’ll think about it,” she said, even though she knew she wouldn’t. Christmas was for families, happy families, and she wasn’t a part of one. So no, she wouldn’t be going home for Christmas or any other holiday.
“Love you, Sis.” He smiled at her as he walked away.
Angelica watched him go. The little boy she’d loved so hard when he was a kid was completely gone, and Christian was an adult with a family of his own now.
Which meant, if he really wanted to have a relationship with her, then he’d find a way to do that.
She wasn’t going to make the effort anymore, not when she’d put forth so much effort for years to never have it reciprocated.
She was never going to catch a break, was she?
“That was some great drama.” Josef let out a boisterous guffaw as he rounded the corner and locked his eyes on her. “I didn’t even have to twist your arm for it.”
Angelica pursed her lips, her entire body tightening.
“Guess your protégé is finally learning.” She nearly rolled her eyes at what she said, but how else was she going to phrase it?
Her devastation with her family, the hard lines she’d had to paint for Sydney and Lisa, had all been in the name of drama for the show?
No.
But Josef would see it that way. He was so fucking self-serving sometimes.
She clenched her jaw and stared at him. Filming had been so much easier when he wasn’t there for it.
The entire mood of the set had been different, simpler, less fraught with unnecessary divides and tension.
Or perhaps it had just been her. Perhaps she really was the problem here as much as she was the problem at home.
And perhaps if she wasn’t involved any more…
She stopped at that thought. She couldn’t go down that road. Not right now. Not when she did have actual work to get done.
“The clothes are working for the ratings,” Josef commented and then pointed his finger up and down her outfit. “People are liking you more this season than they did last season.”
“Wonderful.” She wanted to roll her eyes at him, but she resisted the temptation, just barely. He was such a misogynistic asshole sometimes. “Then I suppose you’ll keep me around for season three.”
“At least one more, until it’s time to renegotiate your contract.”
Right. They’d keep Hope before they’d keep her.
She had to shake that thought again. When it came to filming, they were a team.
But when it came to everything else, Josef wanted them pitted against each other.
Or perhaps he also wanted that when it came to filming and the two of them had just managed to completely kill that argument.
Angelica squared her shoulders. “If you’ll excuse me, I have work I need to catch up on.”
She didn’t wait for a response from him.
Instead, she slipped out of his sight and out of the main lobby.
There hadn’t really been a place to escape here, and she needed one.
Angelica swiped her keycard to get into the stairwell and walked up one flight before stepping out and hitting the button for the elevator.
Twenty minutes in her room alone and she could pull herself back together, couldn’t she?
As soon as she’d locked herself inside, she let the silence encompass her completely. It comforted her, the way it surrounded her like the warm hug her brother had given her. The only one the entire time he’d been there.
Angelica pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed heavily.
What the hell was Hope doing with her?
Hope managed to have healthy and strong relationships.
Angelica couldn’t even handle having a relationship with her own family.
And any previous romantic relationship had been a disaster.
Hell, Leanne had left her without a second thought, told her that she wasn’t worth the change in jobs or being in a formal relationship.
Angelica’s heart shuttered at that memory. The way it popped up and consumed her.
Hope deserved better, and she had what she deserved. So why was Angelica letting her mess it up by entertaining the idea of an open relationship that would never work? It wasn’t what she wanted. It hadn’t ever been a part of what she’d wanted.
Her cell phone buzzed, and Angelica glanced at it, noting the text from Rex.
She had another scene she needed to film with Sydney and Lisa that night, and they wanted to prepare for it.
She’d told them that she would do it. Standing up, Angelica sauntered toward the bathroom and leaned over the counter, staring at herself in the mirror.
Who the hell was she?
Certainly not someone worthy of family and love.
That much she’d learned throughout her life. And seeing her father and brother this week was only a reminder of the things she couldn’t have.
But that didn’t stop her from wanting them.