Page 26 of The Billionaire's Temptation

“With the amount of drugs visible on that coffee table, and most likely more outside with the others, this party is quickly going to escalate into an orgy.”

Levi nodded again, ignoring the stab of disappointment. Better to know ahead of time about Clarissa’s falsely innocent personality. Still, Levi struggled to get past the brutal disappointment. Hendrix was right though. Sometimes, the allure of wealth and all of the pleasures one could “enjoy” with that money were hard to resist.

“I’ll go find Martha. She’ll show me where the vacuum cleaner is. We’ll just,” he waved his hand over the powder and other drug paraphernalia spread out over the coffee table, “siphon all of this crap up and get rid of it before the police arrive.”

Hendrix stared down at a new message on his phone. “We’d better move fast,” he warned. “My source at the police department says that they are heading this way. We have maybe fifteen minutes.”

Levi stared thoughtfully at Hendrix for a second before he shifted into hurry-mode. “I’ll get rid of this stuff, you have Betty look for other places the idiots might have stashed more drugs.” He headed for the kitchen, where he knew Martha preferred to hang out. He knew that because he’d hidden in there with her on several occasions when he’d come to Arthur’s house for social events. Levi wasn’t a particularly social creature, but he understood the benefits of networking. However, he and his two closest friends had structured the club specifically so that their need for networking opportunities had significantly decreased over time. The information passed along at the tables and in the halls of that club was priceless and far more accurate than anything they’d get at a social event!

Stepping through the door into the kitchen, he froze, the brightly lit area making him pause so that his eyes could adjust to the lights. So it took him a moment to realize the laughter wasn’t coming from outside where the drunken orgy was well underway.

Since he’d been expecting to find only Martha in the kitchen, it took him a moment to realize that Martha and Joseph were sitting at the large island…with Clarissa! She was perched on a tall stool, heels hooked through the rungs, and…they were playing cards?

He blinked again, just to make sure that his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him.

“Levi?” a voice called out.

He looked around to find Martha peering around Joseph, then everyone noticed his presence and stared at him.

“What are you doing here?” Clarissa asked, but her tone wasn’t angry. In fact, if he wasn’t mistaken, she seemed…almost eager to see him? No, that was impossible! The last time they’d seen each other, she’d been…well, he couldn’t immediately remember the last time he’d seen her because she looked so incredibly fresh and vital right now.

And confused!

That’s when he remembered the urgency of the situation. “We need to get rid of the drugs scattered around the coffee table out there,” he announced. “The police are on the way.”

Three startled sets of eyes stared back at him. It wasn’t the reaction he’d been hoping for, so he snapped his fingers and pointed towards the great room. “Martha, can you pull out the vacuum cleaner? Joseph, can you find something to wipe down everything?” His gaze moved to Clarissa. “And I need you to scrub your hands with soap and water, all the way up to your elbows, then race upstairs to change clothes. Can you do that? As quickly as possible?”

Clarissa blinked at him for another moment, then she jumped off the stool, nodding her head. “I’ll be back in a moment to help with the other stuff.”

“Make sure they are your own clothes. Nothing from that closet.”

She paused again, then nodded and hurried out of the kitchen. Martha was already emerging from the cleaning closet, pushing an industrial sized vacuum cleaner. “I’ve got this,” she announced, a determined tilt to her jaw.

Joseph wasn’t far behind. He had several cleaning rags and a bottle of alcohol-based cleaner in his hand.

Levi moved into the other room, helping himself to some of the rags. After Martha came through with the vacuum, suctioning up probably ten thousand dollars’ worth of cocaine that had been spread out over the glossy surface, Joseph and Levi came through with the rags and cleaning solution, carefully wiping down every surface. Martha began vacuuming the carpets next, even getting underneath the furniture.

Clarissa came downstairs moments later and helped to clean, straightening the pillows that had been knocked over. She draped a blanket over the naked, post-coital couple that had fallen asleep on the hard floor. They were behind the sofa now, so their presence wasn’t immediately obvious.

The doorbell rang just as Hendrix led Betty down from the second floor. “I found this in the primary suite bedroom.” He held up a brick of what they assumed was heroine, wrapped up in several layers of plastic. “I did a fast sweep of the other spaces. I’m going to keep going, but I doubt that we’ll find anything else.” He nodded towards the group of ten or so people that were swimming naked in the pool.

Clarissa rushed down the stairs, smoothing a hand over her cargo shorts and the tee shirt she’d bought at the thrift store and paid three dollars for. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but she’d understood the look in Levi’s eyes and didn’t pause to question his instructions.

When she came down the stairs, there were flashing blue lights coming through the windows. Police? The police were hereagain? What in the world was going on?!

Memories of her last interaction with the police rocked her, causing her heart to stutter in her chest. She nearly fell three times in her rush to get back downstairs. When she looked out at the scene, some of her panic slowed, but it didn’t disappear.

The tall guy that had arrived with Levi was calm and stern. He glanced pointedly at her, sending a silent message that she didn’t completely understand.

“Follow my lead,” he murmured. She felt Levi’s strong arm wrap around her waist, pulling her against his side. She unconsciously placed a hand on his chest, but she was completely focused on the tall stranger who was opening the door for the group of police officers who were banging loudly and demanding entrance.

As soon as the door was opened, the same police officer who had cuffed her a few days ago stepped into the foyer. “We have a warrant to search the premises.”

The officer slapped the piece of paper in the middle of the tall stranger’s chest, who stepped aside, allowing the officer to enter. Otherwise, there was no way that the officer could have entered. The stranger was huge! Probably the same height and breadth as Levi.

Clarissa watched as five more officers followed, all peering around suspiciously. The one in charge pointed one officer towards the stairway. “You head upstairs and search the bedrooms.” He turned to the other officers. “Kitchen,” he said, pointing to one. “We’ll do the living room.”

Obviously, someone had tipped off the police. As soon as that thought occurred to her, Clarissa stiffened. Levi recognized the movement for exactly what it was. “Not me,” he whispered into her ear, then nipped the sensitive shell, causing shivers of intense awareness to wash over her.

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