“A little.”
“Money?”
Sophie smiled faintly.
“You’re very direct.”
“I was poor once.
We always recognize the face.”
Before Sophie could answer, the library door opened.
Lorenzo entered alone.
The cold authority from the ballroom seemed muted here.
He approached his mother first, kissed her forehead, and spoke quietly with Nurse Hopkins.
Then he looked at Sophie.
“Your agency supervisor has been asking whether he can speak to me.”
Sophie braced herself.
“I’m guessing that’s not good.”
“For him? Probably not.”
Despite herself, she laughed.
Lorenzo pulled a chair across from her.
“You thought you were going to be fired.”
“I still might be.”
“No.”
Sophie frowned.
“You can’t know that.”
“I can.
The hotel’s event director offered you a permanent position ten minutes ago.”
She stared at him.
“What?”
“Apparently several donors complained about the way your supervisor handled the situation.
He has discovered principles very quickly.”
Sophie shook her head.
“I don’t want someone losing their job because of me.”
“Neither do I.
The complaint concerns his conduct, not yours.
What happens next is between him and his employer.”
She studied Lorenzo, perhaps surprised that he was not promising revenge.
“And the hotel position?”
“Yours to accept or refuse.
No obligation to me.”
Sophie looked toward Isabella.
The older woman had closed her eyes, the photograph resting against her chest.
“Why are you doing this?”
Lorenzo’s answer came slowly.
“Because I spent years building a world where everyone reacts to my name.
Tonight you showed me what people do when they don’t know the name.”
Sophie said nothing.
He looked at his mother.
“I needed to see that more than I realized.”
Nurse Hopkins gathered her things.
“She should go home soon.”
Isabella opened one eye.
“Sophie comes tomorrow.”
Lorenzo almost smiled.
“Mama, Sophie has her own life.”
“Everyone has a life.
She can still have lunch.”
Sophie laughed.
“I could probably manage lunch.”
