Though I suppose I shouldn’t complain, since it’s currently functioning as a tourniquet around my skull. ”
The woman from the alley. “Ma’am—are you all right? ”
“I am alive, thanks to you.
I’m at Mercy General. I need you to come here immediately. ”
“I have my son with me. No money for a taxi.
And my life has been dismantled today. ”
“I am not asking for help. I am offering mine. Where is your bus?
”
“Just crossed 43rd and Elm. ”
“Get off at the next stop. Wait on the corner. ” The line went dead.
Augustine got off with Toby. Two minutes later, a black SUV with tinted windows pulled up. A man in a dark suit opened the door. “Miss Nelson requested I bring you safely.
Please get in. ”
Nelson. Viani Nelson. CEO of Langden Enterprises.
The SUV took them to a private entrance at Mercy General. They bypassed the ER, used a biometric elevator to reach the penthouse level. Armed guards stood outside double doors. Inside, the woman from the alley lay propped up in bed, monitors beeping, a thick bandage around her head.
She was dictating an email. She dismissed her assistant and fixed her steel-gray eyes on Augustine. “You figured it out,” he said. “I despise the gilded cage my wealth built,” she said.
“Every Tuesday and Thursday, I walk alone. Today, it reminded me the real world hits back. ”
She pressed a remote. A monitor showed lobby security footage.
Augustine covered in blood, pleading with the receptionist. Gregory Hayes laughing in his face. “When I regained consciousness,” Viani said, “I had my head of security find the man who ruined his jacket to save my life. Imagine my shock when I discovered you were scheduled to interview for a director position.
I watched you plead. And I watched Gregory Hayes, the man my board selected, mock someone covered in another person’s blood. ”
She paused. “You cannot train a man to sacrifice his own future to kneel in the dirt and hold a stranger’s skull.
Gregory would step over my body. You threw your life away for me. ”
“I just did what anyone should have done. ”
“Ten people walked past that alley.
You were the only one who stopped. ”
She tossed a manila folder onto the bed. “I made calls. Fired the receptionist.
Rescinded Hayes’s offer. Told Caldwell his judgment is flawed. And I don’t need a director of strategic operations. ”
His heart sank.
“I need a vice president of European acquisitions. Starting salary $450,000 plus stock options. A $50,000 signing bonus payable today. ”
Augustine’s knees buckled.
He grabbed the bed for support. The eviction was over. Toby’s future was secure. “Is the boy hungry?
” Viani asked, her voice softening. Toby stepped forward. “Are you feeling better? ”
“Much better.
Your father promised you extra pepperoni pizza. I have the best private chef in the city. Would you and your dad stay for lunch? ”
Toby looked at Augustine, who was openly weeping.
“Only if my dad says okay. ”
Viani smiled. “Toby, from now on, you get whatever toppings you want. ”
Augustine picked up his son, held him tight.
He looked at the silver-haired titan of industry and understood: his decision to be a good man had not cost him his future. It had built it. “Thank you,” he choked out. Viani settled back against her pillows.
“You’re already twenty minutes late for your first executive briefing. ”