Page 18 of Claiming Tessa

“Do you have an appointment?”

“No, but if he’s not busy, he’ll see me.Tell him his sister is here.”

“All right.One moment.”

Tessa walked over, leaned against the guys, and waited.

“He’ll see you, ma’am.”

“Are you sure you’re okay to do this by yourself?”

She looked up at Gavin.“Knowing you both are here makes a huge difference.”

Diego pressed a kiss to her lips.“We’ll be here.”

Tessa nodded, turned, and followed the woman down the hallway and into a huge office.

Jared stood with a big grin and walked toward her to pull her into his arms.“This is a nice surprise.”

“Do you have a few minutes?”Tessa asked.

“Of course, come here and sit down.Is everything okay?”

She could see the worry in his eyes.“To be honest, I’m not sure.”

Jared sat down in the chair next to hers.

“All right.Tell me.”

“I went to see my father’s lawyer.”

Jared nodded.“Okay.”

She inhaled a breath.“Did you know I own everything?”

He looked confused.“What’s everything?”

“My father willed me his whole fortune and the house.Our mother gets an allowance from my dad as she does from yours.”

Jared sat back in shock.“I don’t understand.I knew she only got a set amount of money each month from my father’s estate, but she’s always said she got everything from Ronald’s estate.”

“Has a lawyer named Franklin Turner tried to talk to you?”

“Yes.Several times.He’d tried to find you, and I gave him all the information I had, which wasn’t much.He hasn’t gotten ahold of me in a few years, so I assumed you two had talked.”

“No.He happened to find out I was back and living with the guys and sent a letter to me there.I just had a meeting with him.”

Jared wiped a hand down his face.“That bitch,” he burst out.“I knew she was cold, but I didn’t think she’d go so low as to steal from you.”

She nodded and stayed still.

“What are you going to do?”

“That’s one of the reasons I stopped by.I need your advice.I also wanted to tell you what the lawyer told me about our mother.”She went on to talk about her family, explaining that she had never graduated and had never tried to go home to see them.

“Thank God for our fathers.If it weren’t for them, who knows how we would have turned out,” Jared said.“Are Diego and Gavin here?”

“Yes.”

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