Page 11 of The Billionaire's Temptation

Clarissa followed the housekeeper. “I’m so sorry that he spoke to you that way,” Clarissa whispered as they walked down a long hallway.

Martha sighed quietly, then opened a cabinet. “I’m used to it. Those two…” she didn’t finish that sentence and Clarissa wondered what she was going to say.

“There are five cars in the garage. What are you in the mood to drive?” Martha asked.

Clarissa had no idea how to answer that. She was used to her ancient and barely-reliable hatchback. On a good day, it started with just a single turn of the key. On a bad day, she took the bus to work.

“I’ve never chosen my vehicle by my mood,” she replied with a stunned chuckle. “What’s the least expensive?”

Martha plucked a set of keys and handed them to her. “The Range Rover. That will also help you bring back whatever you need from your other place.” She wiped her hands on her apron again. “I can get Joseph to pack up your belongings and bring them here. You don’t need to do this yourself.”

Clarissa laughed. “No, Joseph doesn’t need to pack my suitcase for me. But thank you for the offer.” She glanced back down the hallway. “Will you be okay if I leave you here with those two? I’m guessing they are my step-siblings?”

Martha glanced in the same direction, then nodded, her lips pursed in obvious dislike. “Yes. Chad and Blaire Kinley. Their mother, Debora Kinley, married your father two months before he passed away. She was livid when she discovered that he only left her a million dollars.” Martha leaned forward and added in a conspiratorial whisper, “She threatened to contest the will, but your father put in a clause that, if she contested the will, she’d get nothing. So, she took her million dollars and went to France.”

“Oh, that’s not good,” Clarissa whispered back, glancing down the hallway again. “And what did Chad and Blaire receive?”

Martha straightened, pressing her lips together and Clarissa could tell that the housekeeper was trying not to smile. “Not a penny. The man even wrote in his will that the two were to receive nothing from him, just in case they contested the will out of omission.”

“Well, that sounds like a master plan designed to generate a great deal of resentment.”

Martha waved her hand. “Oh, those two were away for most of the time that their mother was married to your father. Deborah didn’t want her grown children around to remind your father that she was old.”

Clarissa laughed, then thought of something else. “If they made themselves scarce during the marriage, why are they here now that Arthur Fuque,” she refused to call him her father, even though everyone else did, “is gone?”

Martha’s gaze turned angry. “They arrived like vultures after the funeral. Every few days, they come in, pack up whatever they can stuff into a bag, then head out, acting like they are king of the mountain.” She seemed to remember herself suddenly and shifted uncomfortably. “My apologies, Clarissa. I shouldn’t be speaking poorly of your kin.”

Clarissa glanced down the empty hallway and shrugged away Martha’s apology. “They aren’t relatives of mine. If their mother was married to Arthur for only two months before he passed away, then I have no connection to them in any way. They certainly seem to be bothersome brats who need jobs and maybe reality checks.”

“Amen to that!” Martha muttered. “What would you like for lunch?”

Clarissa opened her mouth to tell the kind woman that she’d just have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which was her normal meal on the weekends, then she noticed the eager expression on the older woman’s face. Obviously, Martha was looking forward to cooking for someone other than her husband.

“I’m not used to being pampered, Martha. Why don’t you surprise me for now? I’ll be honest with you about what I like and don’t like and we can build up a repertoire of meals. Would that be okay?”

Martha nodded, an expression of bliss washing over her. “That would be wonderful! I’ll have something ready for you whenever you get back.” And then she was gone, heading into the kitchen, obviously contemplating what she would prepare.

Clarissa smiled and twirled the keys around her finger. Martha was a treasure! The idea of never having to cook again, plus having professionally prepared meals every day was…mind-blowing!

She walked through the door behind her and, voila! Five gleaming, brand new vehicles were waiting for her! The Range Rover was the closest to the door, but there was also a black Mercedes, a silver Porsche, a sparkling red sedan that she didn’t recognize, and a Lexus SUV. Hmmm…two SUVs, two sedans, and a sports car. Odd choices.

And she owned all of them?

Even more weird. Or should she say surreal?

Stepping into the vehicle, she found the remote that opened the garage door. Since the vehicle was facing forward, it was simple enough to drive forward.

Until the police cruiser screeched to a halt in front of the SUV. Two more police cars pulled up behind the first one and police officers, guns drawn, rounded their cruisers, all of them pointing their weapons at her.

“Get out of the car! Now!”

Clarissa, heart pounding, lifted her hands in the air, staring in stunned silence. But the officers kept screaming at her. One of them jerked the door open and then yanked her out of the vehicle, pressing her down onto the stone driveway.

Clarissa couldn’t seem to stop the tears of humiliation as the officer pulled her hands behind her back. “You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to an attorney.” He continued with the rest of her Miranda rights, then nearly jerked her shoulder out of the socket as he pulled her to her feet. But he wasn’t done humiliating her. Nope! He pressed her chest against the vehicle, forcing her to lean over the hood of the Range Rover.

“Where is your identification?” he demanded, rifling through her pockets. “No ID? That’s another offense! Trying to steal a vehicle is a felony, my dear!”

“I wasn’t stealing the car!” she told him, her words choppy since he was pressing her so hard against the hood of the vehicle. “It’smycar!”

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