Page 111 of Talk Wicked to Me

“Thank you.” She took a deep breath and held on to the charm on her necklace. “Okay. I’m ready.” She read the first name on the list and the note he’d written beside it. Migliore Amica. She knew your parents since you were a baby. With a shaky finger on the laptop mouse pad, she clicked JOIN MEETING and held her breath as an empty couch appeared on the screen.

“I’m coming!” came from off screen seconds before Gwen ran in front of the camera and plopped onto the couch, wild dark hair framing her ear-to-ear grin. “Hey, bestie!”

“Gwen!” Her heart leapt, and she looked at Baz. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

He held his hands up in surrender. “She made me promise not to. She thought the surprise might ease your nerves.”

“Don’t hate me,” Gwen said.

“I could never hate you. Although I should give you hell for being in cahoots with him and keeping it from me. Now, who is this Migliore chick?”

“If you’d taken Italian with me, you’d know it means ‘best friend.’”

“You only took it because you wanted to date that Italian exchange student.”

“Duh.” Gwen laughed.

Baz chuckled. “You guys have fun.” He headed into the bedroom.

“Is he gone?” Gwen asked quietly.

Emerson nodded. “Yeah.”

“Okay, I totally nailed him for looking at your phone, but, Em.” She leaned forward, speaking just above a whisper. “He adores you and Brennan. He wanted to fly us there. All of us—me, Yuri, and Karina—to be with you when you took these calls. He said we could stay at his place. I wanted to be there, but now that I’m back at work, things are so busy.”

“He did?” She looked at the closed bedroom door, her heart swelling. Blinking her damp eyes dry, she turned back to Gwen. “Thank you for helping him.”

“He did all the work. And honestly, how many times did you tell me you wished you knew more about your family?”

Emerson shrugged.

“A billion. I should have thought to do what he did. I’m sorry I didn’t.”

“Gwen, you were there for me in ways nobody else ever could be.”

“Yeah, I was pretty great, wasn’t I?” she teased. “In all seriousness, I know you’re probably nervous about talking to everyone, but you should know, Baz talked to like thirty people, and he chose the ones he felt could help you the most. He reminds me of your dad, Em. Charming, generous, and willing to do anything for you.”

Emerson’s eyes dampened, and she fanned her face. “Don’t make me cry.”

“Sorry. What can I do to help you through this?”

“You’ve already done it.” She had the support of her two best friends. “I think I’m going to be okay. I’ll let you know how it goes.”

“Okay. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

They ended the call, and Emerson took a moment to prepare to speak with Malika Salah, the older woman who had been her father’s assistant for as long as Emerson could remember. She hadn’t seen her since her parents’ funeral, after which Malika had retired.

She clicked the button to join the meeting, and Malika appeared before her. Her hair was shorter and all gray now, her face mapped with wrinkles, but her warm smile and friendly eyes were just as potent as they were years ago. Emerson’s chest tightened.

“Hello, Emerson. It’s lovely to see you.”

Why was she tearing up again? “It’s nice to see you, too. Thanks for taking the time to talk with me.”

“Honey, I wish I could have sat down with you years ago. I have so much to share about your father. You and your mom were his world. Did you know that he made up birthdays and events just so you and your mom had a reason to come see him and bring those cookies we all loved?”

And just like that, the floodgates opened. She snagged a handful of tissues. “No.”