"Of course," she said, voice solemn but gray eyes dancing. "I'm sure if they ever found out what terrible taste in nail polish he has, they'd be mortified."
Liander scooped up a bit of chocolate cake and tossed it at her. I laughed as she ducked, her movements vampire-fast. The cake splattered across the counter behind her.
"I was testing it for an upcoming movie," he said. "The heroine has red hair."
"Yeah, believing that," Riley said drily, then glanced at me. "As to why those men would attack you rather than follow, we really won't know until we track down the people behind the attack and talk to them."
"What about talking to the thugs themselves?"
"If we find them, we will. But given their propensity to attack rather than talk, I suggest you keep out of their way—at least until we know who they are and what they're up to."
It might be the sensible option, but it wasn't one that was likely to get me any answers. I whirled the Coke bottle around again, watching the reflections dance in a dozen different directions. Sort of like my thoughts.
"Risa," Riley said sternly, "don't even consider going after them. It's far too dangerous."
My gaze jumped to hers. "I wasn't—"
"Not believing that, either," she commented, voice wry but a smile on her lips. "Wait until Rhoan tracks down the car registrations. Then we can plot our next course of action."
"As long as you promise to let me in on it."
"I will."
"Good." I pushed to my feet. "In the meantime, I'll talk to Mom."
Though personally, I doubted it would help. Mom had never kept many secrets from me, and I'd certainly never sensed that she was holding back when it came to my father.
"Will you be at lunch on Thursday? We should know more by then, so we can plot over cake."