Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Hello, Riley. Darling, what’s… going on?”
Rita wore a perplexed expression as she stepped into the backyard of Riley’s Burbank home.
“Hey, Rita. Just having a party.”
“At noon on a Monday?”
Talking loudly as to be heard over the chatter of other people and the music coming from the sound system Stryker had set up, Riley said, “Hell yeah! I’m taking your advice. You told me to have a little more fun. Right? I’m young and I’m a movie star. I have some money. Why not?”
Rita looked past her, and the look in her eyes told Riley that this was not the kind of fun she had been talking about.
Littles were everywhere; floating in the pool, having a water gun fight in the yard, and dancing on the patio.
Iris, Cami, Samantha, Annika, and Lana were there, along with Harrison and Stryker.
But more had come in for Operation Brat.
Delegates from Mountainville had arrived that morning on an early flight from Texas. Harrison and Stryker had called them and let them in on what was going on, and eager to help—and always eager to be naughty—they’d agreed to come right away to ensure the mission was a success.
So now, Eli, Katie, Stella, Chelsea, Penny, Leah, and Michael were there, making sure it was a proper Monday afternoon party.
“Are all of these people—Littles or whatever you call yourself?” Rita asked.
“Yep! Isn’t it great?” Riley replied. She loved not hiding her true self. And, more than that, she loved taking Rita’s power away.
You won’t blackmail me about being a Little, she thought. Because I’m going to freaking own it!
It took the agent a moment to respond. “Well, this wasn’t quite what I—Riley, I can’t sell this to the press. It’s too—”
“Heads up! Incoming!” someone yelled.
A water balloon landed right on top of Rita’s head and exploded.
“What the hell?” she growled.
Eli—a trim, brown-haired man who was somewhere in his forties and had large brown eyes—hurried over. The diaper he wore beneath his shortalls crinkled loudly. “Sorry about that. Water wars get out of hand sometimes.”
“Get him!” someone else yelled.
That was Katie—a beautiful, curvy Little with long brown hair. The short babydoll dress she wore flipped up as she ran, revealing the thick disposable diaper beneath it.
Her water gun was leveled in their direction and she yelled, “Drink this, Eli!” before squeezing the trigger.
Only it wasn’t Eli who took the deluge.
A jet of water pounded Rita in the face before the stream lowered and soaked her designer blouse and jeans.
“Stop it! Stop it!”
“Everyone! Look out!”
That was Harrison yelling and Rita barely had time to finish wiping the sheen of water from her face before he came barreling by in the rocket go-kart.
Harrison wasn’t officially out as a Little in Hollywood, so he wore a backward cap and sunglasses that shielded his true identity. Plus, he whizzed by too quickly for Rita to catch a good look at him.
That speed had another desired effect, too.
Pool water splashed loudly as Rita fell in while trying to sidestep the oncoming vehicle.
“Woman overboard!” Stella yelled as she ran to the pool and dove in.
Stella’s tall, athletic body hit the water a second later, her dark hair sticking to her head as she swam toward Rita.
“I’ll save you,” she said. “Just hold on.”
“I… don’t… need… saving,” Rita huffed as she jerked her arm away before Stella could grab it. “Everyone just stay back while I get out of this damn pool!”
Stryker stopped the music.
It was silent as everyone watched the irritated agent make her way onto dry ground. Water dripped loudly from her clothes onto the concrete below as she stood at the edge of the pool, her fists balled and anger burning in her eyes.
“You all are brats!”
“Hey, hurtful,” Eli said. “You’re the one who crashed our party.”
“I didn’t crash anything. I was invited here by my client, whose best interest I work on behalf of.”
Riley nodded. “She’s right, guys. I invited her here. She wanted to talk to me about something.”
Tugging on her wet blouse, it looked as if Rita was trying to save what little dignity she had left. “That’s right. An opportunity. But it’s private.”
Shaking her head, Riley said, “These are my besties. Whatever you need to say to me, you can say to them.”
“Riley, darling, we need to—”
Nearly screaming, Riley told her, “Do you know who the fuck I am? I don’t have to do anything! I’m a rich movie star! Who the hell are you? Nobody without me!”
She surprised a satisfied grin. It was a pretty good performance, if she did say so herself.
“Riley. Where is this coming from?”
She stepped closer and answered, “I’m a fucking star, Rita. I’m tired of not getting my dues. Do you know how much money my movies made for the studio last year? You better check the figures.”
The other Littles cheered.
“That’s right,” Iris yelled. “Riley Fucking Hartwell, bitch. You better put some respect on her name!”
They all kept cheering as they jumped into the pool, the party suddenly becoming a free-for-all.
In the commotion, Rita stepped back, probably not wanting to fall in again, Riley figured.
With the group being so loud and the music back on, Rita had to shout to be heard.
“I’m going to email you the details. It’s an event. Two days from now. You need to be there,” she hollered.
Riley didn’t even acknowledge what was said, instead dancing in the pool up against Cami and Annika to the thumping electronica that blared from the giant speakers nearby.
But Riley would be at that event.
She’d show up in a really big way.