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“Then you’re going to have to talk to Tessa,” my dad clearly said, as we all heard a knock at the door. “Yeah.”
The door opened as Tessa walked in. “Sorry, I thought you were alone.”
Waving her in, I smiled. “Hey, baby. Come on in.”
Cautiously stepping in, Tessa closed the door behind her, walking over to me. Without thinking, I pulled her down onto my lap, wrapping my arms around her.
“Why am I here, Montana?” she asked, looking around the boardroom. This was the first time she’d ever been in this room. I knew she knew what this room was. What went on in here? The boardroom was for officers only. Generally, when I wanted to see her, she would meet me in my office or in the rec room.
“Baby, I wanted to ask you a few questions about your mom. You okay with that?”
Tessa stiffened. “Why?”
“Curiosity.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Your mom played the piano, right?”
“Yeah. She even gave lessons. What’s going on, Montana?”
“Did your mom ever travel after you were born? Did she take you on vacations?”
“We were poor, Montana. We barely had money for food. Do you want to tell me what this is all about or are you going to keep me guessing?”
Snoopy leaned forward and asked, “Did you know your mom received a scholarship to Julliard?”
Tessa nodded. “Yeah. She told me about it. She won a contest. Beat out every other kid in West Virginia. She said there was a recruiter from Julliard there. He offered her a full ride. Only she didn’t accept.”
“Did she ever tell you who this recruiter was?”
Tessa shook her head.
Mercy carefully asked, “Tessa, what do you know about your father?”
“Nothing. My mom never talked about him.”
“You were never curious?”
Tessa shook her head. “No. He was never around. As far as I was concerned, he left my mom to raise me alone. If he didn’t give a damn about me, then why should I care about him?”
I saw Snoopy flinch.
“Is this about me being blacklisted? Do you guys think my biological father is behind it?”
“No!” Snoopy snapped, then sighed. “Sorry for the outburst.”
Narrowing my eyes at the fucker, I calmly said, “We’re just trying to cover all the bases, babe. So far, everything we’ve looked into has turned up nothing. We’re grasping at straws right now.”
“Well,” Tessa sighed, leaning back against me. “Why don’t you share with me what you’ve found out already? I might be able to help.”
Mercy looked at me, and I nodded.
“Alright, Tess,” Mercy said, flipping open the folder. “We’ve found out a charity by the name ofMon Châtimentis making large donations to several hospitals with the stipulation that they don’t hire you.”
“Yes. I know that charity well. But I don’t understand why Mr. Graves would stop me from working. That makes no sense.”
“What!” everyone shouted, including me, as I turned Tessa to face me. “Baby? How do you know about this charity? And who the fuck is Mr. Graves?”
