Page 22 of Her Loving Hero

“Oh, they have twin daughters. They’re all working on their performance for the senior send off. They’re the only three girls in the choir.”

“She’s not answering her cell phone.”

“I’m not surprised. She’s been texting and calling a boy. Harry knows that Christiano is not allowed anywhere her. I swear these Italian boys are so persistent, and Carly thinks she’s in love.”

“How are you getting ahold of her?”

“I call one of the girls. Petra and Mercedes answer their phones. Do you want their numbers?” her mother asked.

Emily rolled her eyes. “Yes please.”

“Hold on.”

Emily wrote down the numbers so she could log them into her contacts.

“Honey, I’ve got to go. Tell Carly to call me. Kristi is acting like a pill. I want her to talk some sense into her.”

“What’s wrong with Kristi?”

“She wants to dye her hair black. Do you believe that? I mean she has the same beautiful blonde hair as you and your sister, and now she wants to dye her hair black? Carly will be able to talk some sense into her, I just know it. Got to go. Tell me if you want me to make those reservations, Baby. Love you.”

The line went dead.

Emily looked at her phone. She pulled up the contact for her mother and looked at her picture. They’d all gotten their blonde hair from Lilliana. She was a wonderful mother, except when she got caught up into the glamour of the diplomatic lifestyle, then... Then not so much.

Emily got up from the couch and strode to her little kitchen. She pulled out the bottle of lemonade and poured herself a glass. She took a long sip and shook her head.

Nope, she wasn’t having any of this. Her mother had come to San Diego and stayed over with her. Her mother had cossetted her, cajoled her and then damn near dragged her to the best therapist in the world. She hadn’t left until she was sure that Emily was actually up on her feet and tentatively re-entering society by volunteering with the kids at the YMCA and had the part time job at the bookstore.

The only bone of contention had been when Emily hadn’t taken any money from her parents for a better place to live. She had insisted on only using the small inheritance she’d received from her grandmother.

Her mother had written a check and thrust it at her, but she’d torn it up.

“I don’t understand why you won’t take it,” her mother had exclaimed.

Emily refused to discuss it. If her mother couldn’t figure it out, then she wasn’t going to bother to explain it to her. It should have been obvious. Her dad had always used money as a way to buy his children’s love, loyalty and compliance. It ended the day he had refused to pay for Emily’s trip back to the states to visit her grandmother in the hospital, instead saying her tutoring job was more important.

Emily had discussed this multiple times with her therapist. Somehow, she couldn’t shake the significance of the fact that her grandmother had ended up dead, and she’d ended up raped. Logically she knew that wasn’t her dad’s fault, but if he didn’t try to bludgeon people with his money to get his way, then she would have seen her grandmother one last time before she’d died. So, there was no way she was taking his money now. It was fine. Her apartment might be small and in the middle of a party district, but it was secure and that’s all that mattered.

Emily shook her head. Enough thinking about the past, she needed to concentrate on the here and now. She plugged in Mercedes number and texted the girl, realizing that she probably wouldn’t pick up an unknown number. The forty-five minutes she waited she spent looking up how much longer she would need to wait for California residency to kick in before she could apply for in-state tuition to one of the state universities. She definitely wanted to know if she could start the application process before the actual requirements started. Emily was knee deep into the research when her phone rang.

“Emily. It’s Carly.”

She sounded out of breath.

“What’s going on. What’s the deal with Christiano?”

“Who?” Carly asked. “Oh yeah, that’s just the cover story I gave Mom.”

All of the hairs on the back of Emily’s neck stood up. She’d been lying to their mother?

“Carly, what in the heck are you up to?”

“We got a lead on the rumors about Yemen. One of the school counselors was talking about it.”

“Who’s we?”

“The twins, Chris and me. We’ve got it figured out.” Carly sounded psyched.