Page 21 of The Billionaire's Temptation

“Great!” she bubbled up again. “You’re going to love my other friends. You’ll fit right in! I’ll send a list of supplies to Martha, so she can do the shopping and create the menu for the night. Don’t stress about anything! It’s going to be a blast!”

A moment later, Blaire was gone.

Clarissa knew that this was a terrible idea. Although, she couldn’t put her finger on why. “I’m getting paranoid,” she whispered to herself.

Even though it was her day off, Clarissa found Martha in the kitchen whipping something in a bowl. “What are you making?”

Martha paused, smiling as she brushed her hair out of her eyes with the back of her hand. “I’m making some muffin mix. I mix it up and have it ready to pop into the oven if you ever want something fast.”

Clarissa smiled, fascinated by the process. “You really enjoy cooking, don’t you?” she asked.

Martha smiled and nodded. “ I love it. There’s just something magical about putting together a bunch of ingredients and coming up with something entirely new.” She started measuring out the batter into portions. “Your father used to throw massive galas and smaller dinner parties.” She sighed, shaking her head at the memories. “I loved finding different ways to tempt that man. Especially towards the end of his life.”

Clarissa slid onto one of the stools. “Will you tell me more about him? I never knew he existed until Levi came and gave me my father’s will.”

Martha put the batter into the freezer. “He was a hard, demanding man, but very fair.” She turned to start mixing up other ingredients while telling Clarissa stories. Some of the tales made Clarissa smile and others caused a longing deep in her chest, an ache for the father she never knew.

“You’re making another batch?” Clarissa asked.

Martha stopped, her hands hesitating over the bag of flour. “Oh, I suppose I shouldn’t waste ingredients.” She grimaced and wiped her hands on her apron. “I just…well, I know that you’re–”

“Martha,” Clarissa stopped the older woman’s protestations, “There were a bunch of people standing on the street corner about a mile away from the police station yesterday.”

She nodded and started to put the ingredients back onto the shelves. “Yes, those are migrant workers. They stand on the corner waiting for someone to offer them work.” She closed the lid on the flour and sugar bins. “Some of them probably don’t have a place to sleep at night. They might be homeless but they are all hard workers.”

“Why don’t you bake all of those muffins you just put into the freezer and we can bring them down to the shelter? Wouldn’t it be better to bake the muffins now? Looks like you’re able to whip them up pretty quickly.”

Martha hesitated again, her eyes wide. “You want me to bake all of them now? You don’t want to keep them on hand for yourself?”

Clarissa shrugged. “You like baking and those people need food. Why not give them a bit of a break today?”

Martha’s features bloomed into a delighted grin. “I would truly enjoy that!” And moments later, she was pulling out not just the muffin batter that she’d mixed up, but about twenty other containers filled with frozen muffin batter.

Clarissa smiled and started helping, the two of them chattering away happily while they baked the muffins. An hour later, they loaded up the Range Rover and set off to the homeless shelter.

Levi came out of his headquarters, thoroughly irritated at the ass who had attempted to swindle him. When were these elitists pricks going to figure out that he wasn’t an idiot? Sure, he came from a rough background. And yes, he knew that his damn father had abandoned him. But…!

His thoughts froze as he watched Clarissa driving down the road in front of his building. In the passenger seat was Martha and they seemed to be chatting away, oblivious to the rest of the world. And they were smiling! In all the years that Levi had known Martha, she’d never smiled. The expression made her look twenty years younger.

Or maybe it was Clarissa’s impact on her? As Clarissa waited for the light to turn, the duo chatted, laughing together. Then they drove off, heading towards…he had no idea where.

On instinct, Levi slipped into his sedan and sped after them. He followed Clarissa for twenty minutes, until she turned into one of the city’s homeless shelters. Why the hell was she going there? She had five houses! Plus the apartment she hadn’t given up yet.

On that note, why hadn’t she given up her apartment? The thought niggled at him as he parked across the street. However, Levi was unprepared for what he saw next. Clarissa and Martha stepped to the back of the Range Rover and pulled out trays of something. They carried the trays into the shelter, returning three times for more trays.

Fifteen minutes later, he saw several people coming out, each with a muffin. Muffins? Clarissa and Martha were handing out muffins?

A strange sensation settled in his chest. Starting his sedan, he drove out of the city, heading to TBC.

Walking into the building, Levi felt a surge of pride and humor as he spied several of the club members sitting in high-backed chairs, reading newspapers. Some of the members preferred to think of the club as a throwback to the old gentlemen’s clubs from London. They considered themselves “gentlemen”, even if they didn’t have the title to back up their slovenly inattention to their inherited businesses.

Levi and his two friends used the club for other efforts.

“Stop it,” Sean Byrne commanded when Levi walked up to one of the club’s the polished, wooden bars. He reached out and grabbed another glass from under the counter, then poured Levi a beer from the tap.

“Stop what?” Levi countered, taking a sip of the beer before he sat at the bar, gazing out at the others in the club who had stopped by for an afternoon of relaxation. Some had just come in from the golf course and others were already drinking heavily. There were poker games and blackjack being run by the watchful eye of Emily Lazarus, the waitress that Levi had promoted after taking ownership. As soon as Levi had inherited the place and decided to fix it up, Levi had promoted Emily from waitress to Club Manager. She was extremely talented, plus, she’d put herself through business school and was sharp as a razor!

“Stop smiling. It’s annoying.”

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