Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
It was ten the following morning when Riley called Rita.
She had debated on whether or not she’d bring up last night’s private investigator incident. Finally, she realized the intruder himself probably spilled it all. There was no reason to act like it hadn’t happened.
The trick, she figured, was finding a balance between her anger—which was real—and her desire to reel Rita into what she and her new friends had affectionally dubbed “the brat trap.”
“Look, I know why you’re calling,” the agent said by way of greeting. “And I get why you’re not happy.”
“Yeah. Someone was—”
“But you need to understand that I’m doing this for you. I’ve had my guys check out this Briggs Mullaney guy.” She paused and said, “That’s right. I know his name. My guys are good.”
Riley rolled her eyes. Finding out Briggs’s name wouldn’t be too difficult. She wasn’t overly impressed.
“He’s a damn painter, Riley. Imagine if the press finds that out! One of the hottest up-and-coming stars in Hollywood is in love with a guy who paints houses.”
Now Riley was pissed. She stood from her couch and started angrily pacing her living room, clutching the phone tighter as she said, “Leave Briggs out of this.”
“That’s what I’m trying to do. Trust me, the last thing I want is for that guy to be in the spotlight.”
That only made Riley angrier, but she remembered the mission at hand. So, she took a deep breath, held the air in her lungs as she counted to ten, then slowly exhaled.
“And who do you want me with?”
“You know the answer. Rowan. There’s so much drama here!”
Riley opened her mouth to explain that Rowan needed treatment before his drinking became a bigger problem, but she knew arguing with Rita wouldn’t do any good.
The greedy agent only saw dollar signs. She was picturing the real-life soap opera of the two young stars together while their behavior became more and more erratic.
Never mind the fact that it would all be fabricated. The public would eat it up.
“All right,” she said. “Do you want to come by and talk about it?” A smile creased her lips. She had to fight a rising giggle.
“You’re going to play ball? That’s great! I didn’t want to remind you, but even though the picture thing is out there, I still have you under contract.”
If you didn’t want to remind me of that, you wouldn’t have just said it, you passive-aggressive witch. Riley kept that thought to herself though. Right now, she was going to catch this fly with honey rather than vinegar.
Instead, she said, “I just want to make money. The same as you.”
Rita must have liked hearing that, because she said, “What time?”
“Well, I’m not on the call sheet today, so I won’t be going into the studio. And I’m about to have some friends over, but they would love to meet you, I’m sure.”
Again, Riley nearly laughed.
Her friends were indeed excited about meeting Rita. But the joy of the encounter would not go both ways.
“I can be there in a bit.”
“Come over anytime.”
The call ended and Riley instantly made another.
It was time to have some fun.