The others agreed.
Riley looked at Briggs, who was sitting on the same chaise as her, their bodies bumping against each other. “You still feeling okay about tomorrow night?”
He still smelled of the shampoo and body wash he’d used in Athena’s shower after he’d finished working for the day. Riley had to resist the urge to claw at him in front of everyone, but she wanted him to spend the night at her place—that was for sure.
“Yep. Because I’ll be there to make sure you’re safe. That reminds me, I guess I need to find a tux or something.”
Riley wondered again if he felt uneasy around the Hollywood crowd. “No tux needed. Just a suit will be fine. Or whatever you want to wear.” She grabbed his hand. “You’ll look hot in whatever.”
“Thanks,” he said. “But I can’t show up in my work jeans and paint-covered t-shirt.”
“Why not? That’s when you look your hottest in my opinion.” She put her nose against his cheek and lightly scraped it across the five-o’clock shadow, loving the way it bristled.
“Uh, do we like need to leave?” Iris asked.
“So you two can do it?” Annika added.
As the Littles laughed, Auntie Athena said, “Now, cuties, don’t give them a hard time.”
Samantha snickered. “She saidhard.”
The Littles laughed some more, and even Trevon was joining in, but Auntie just shook her head, though she was smiling, at least.
After the moment passed, Riley looked at Harrison and Stryker. “Will you two be there as yourselves?”
They both shook their heads.
“We didn’t get invites,” Stryker said with a shrug. “Not shocking. I’m not like a Spielberg or Nolan-level director. So no one remembers me.”
Harrison looked a little bashful, like he didn’t want to come across as bragging, when he said, “And I’m on the board of that hospital’s fundraising program. So, it makes sense that she wouldn’t want me there. I might realize that her giving doesn’t match what she raised.”
So that explained how Harrison had been able to find so much out about Rita’s past embezzlement, Riley thought. She should have known.
“We’ll be there as members of theRiley Hartwell entourage,” Stryker stated.
“That goes for us, too,” Athena said.
“Oh yeah,” Trevon’s voice said. “We wouldn’t miss it.”
Riley looked at Daddy and then the rest of the assembled crowd. “Then it’s settled.
“Tomorrow, chaos! And we take Rita down.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Rita knows how to host a soiree,” Riley said.
She was walking through the grounds by herself, admiring the strung lights, nice tables and chairs, and the statues that looked as if they’d been pillaged from ancient Greek ruins.
Of course they were fake. And Rita had rented all this stuff. But it was still nice-looking.
“Okay, I see Rowan,” she said. “I’m approaching now.”
Her smartwatch was picking up what she said, transmitting it to the rest of those involved in Operation Brat. Everyone was wearing inconspicuous earpieces, so they could stay in constant contact throughout the night.
Rowan was sitting at a table on the outer edge of the yard that was sandwiched between two towering palms. It was still early, and the first guests hadn’t even arrived yet. Riley had asked the actor to come early under the guise of wanting to review what Rita expected of them that evening. She’d been shocked when he’d agreed.
But there they were.