Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
That evening, they all gathered at Auntie Athena’s for dinner.
“All right, while y’all were doing your thing, Stryker and I were doing ours,” Harrison told the group that was assembled on the patio and into the backyard. The smell of grilled meats still hung heavy in the air. “We made a few calls and it wasn’t hard to get Rita’s guest list.”
“That’s an understatement,” Stryker added. “She’s practically posted it on social media. I guess she likes to brag about knowing some industry heavyweights.”
Riley nodded as she finished the bite of burger that was in her mouth and said, “Typical Rita. If everyone only knew. They think this is a fundraiser for the children’s hospital. But I bet you anything she’s embezzling some funds.”
“She’s a hundred percent embezzling the funds,” Harrison replied.
“She’s hosted fundraisers for the hospital before.
Get this: her last benefit supposedly raised close to two million dollars.
I reached out to a contact of mine in the hospital’s endowment and charity program that we’ve done some work for, and she confirmed Rita only donated a tenth of that. ”
“Gotta pay for that big mansion somehow,” Katie observed.
Eli took a sip of his soda and then said, “So, she’s stealing from the people who attend her fundraiser and stealing from sick children. Oh, this makes me want to ruin her little party even more.”
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 said hard.”
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 the Riley 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.”