What Matters Most: The Billionaire Bargains, Book 2 (28 page)

Instead, he was on the verge of losing everything he’d just discovered he needed—his wife, her high expectations, her outlook on life, her friends and family. And not because he’d partied with her brother and not because he tried to buy everything…but because he
couldn’t
buy everything. Not the things he really needed, the things the people he cared about really needed.

Some things couldn’t be bought. And he’d carefully avoided those things for a long time. Reese wasn’t completely wrong about him. He did like things easy. He liked having the power and money to make things happen and he avoided situations where he might need more than his checkbook.

“Well, send your assistant then,” he said to Will. Holly was here, so
someone
had gone to get her. She was back with Maggie. He assumed Reese and Vincent were there as well.

He’d sent food back for Vincent, Holly and Reese—and all the staff working on Maggie. He’d bought Molly and Max milk and cookies and had nagged the front desk attendant until she’d dug up some coloring books. He’d bought Connie and Syl multiple cups of coffee—and he’d called his favorite masseuse and asked her to come over and give the girls each a foot rub.

Because hell if he knew what to
say
to actually make anything better. He’d called and made sure Dr. Wes Foster was on Maggie’s case. He knew Wes from various fund-raising projects Tony had been involved in and because Wes had a similar passion for baseball and baseball memorabilia. Other than that, Tony had no way to actually influence the circumstances.

He knew zero about how to react in a situation like this. When Emily had been diagnosed with cancer, it had become clear very quickly that the best move was the stay the hell out of Adam’s way. Tony did okay with Emily herself, but his job was distraction and fun—they didn’t talk about her cancer, or her pain, or her fears. He was in charge of taking her mind off of all of that. At least, that’s what he’d told himself. And this group—Sylvia, Connie and the others—were not exactly to the point where video games and pudding cups would make them feel better.

“And what about when I need something from you that you can’t buy? Or something that isn’t cured by a quick trip to Vegas?”

God, he would have been feeling completely out of place anyway, but with those words of Reese’s echoing in his head, he felt the pressure rising.

It wasn’t like pressure was completely foreign to him. Business, poker—he knew pressure.

And when the pressure got to be too much, he walked out.

“You want my
assistant
to go after kids’ movies?” Will asked, pushing his black-rimmed glasses up his nose with one finger.

Will always looked the way Tony imagined Sherlock Holmes would look. He wasn’t sure why exactly, but Will had a mix of eccentric and down-to-earth that Tony found intriguing. Will could always get Tony whatever he needed, when he needed it. It seemed he had an endless number of resources and was a master at thinking outside of the box. Will was always a little disheveled but on top of every detail. He was sarcastic and dry, but he kept his humor. He didn’t let Tony get too full of himself, yet he was someone Tony could always depend on.

“Why not?” Tony asked. Hell, maybe
he
should go shop for the movies. At least it would be something he could
do
. And probably not screw up.

Though he knew almost nothing about Disney movies.

He’d always thought the Little Mermaid was kind of hot. But that was probably not a good reason to choose a movie for kids. Besides, that movie was old. Molly probably didn’t even know who Annie was. Wait, Annie wasn’t right. Anastasia? He could have sworn there was an animated movie with an Anastasia, but that didn’t sound quite right.

“I don’t know that my assistant is the right choice for the job,” Will said.

“What’s the name of the Little Mermaid? Ashley?”

Will gave him a look that made Tony feel like an idiot. “Ariel.”

“Ariel,” Tony repeated, nodding. How could he have forgotten? “I think we should get Little Mermaid.”

“That one’s harder to find,” Will said.

“How do you know?” Tony asked. “You’re a Disney aficionado?”

Will rolled his eyes. “My boss has a surprising need for seemingly random bits of knowledge and thankfully, I’m very good at remembering relatively useless trivia.
Little Mermaid
was made in nineteen eighty nine. There have been several successful movies since then. The most recent is
Frozen
.”

“
Frozen
,” Tony said, remembering Molly and Maggie talking about it. “It’s a movie?”

“It’s a
huge
movie. How do you not know this?” Will asked.

“How did you not tell me?”

Will pulled out the digital organizer he carried at all times. Tony had once teased him about sleeping with it—until Will had confirmed that he did, indeed, keep it under his pillow for the middle-of-the-night phone calls. “I didn’t realize that you were in need of the information. I’ll make a note.”

As usual, Tony had no idea if Will was being serious or sarcastic, but he didn’t care. “We need to get
Frozen
,” he said. “Write that down.”

“Got it. I’ll tell Sebastian.”

“Great. Tell him—” Tony frowned. “Sebastian?”

Will lifted his head, pushing his glasses up again. “Yes. You’ll recall he is now staying at your house.”

“Of course.”

“When I needed another person to help out tonight, he offered,” Will said.

“Did he take the limo?” Tony asked.

Will finished his notation in the organizer and pocketed the device. “No. I took the limo so I’d have room for the kids, Connie and Sylvia.”

“So Sebastian went to get Holly?”

“Yes.”

“He borrowed one of my cars, I assume,” Tony said.

Tony was startled to see the corner of Will’s mouth curl up slightly. Will didn’t smile much. Or maybe he did and Tony didn’t see it because they mostly spoke on the phone. He did, however, suspect that when Will
did
smile, it was often at Tony’s expense.

“I gave him the pick of the garage,” Will admitted.

Tony winced. He had several cars. All worth a lot of money. “Which one did he pick?”

“The Lamborghini.”

Tony sighed. Reese’s brother had good taste in cars. “And you’re suggesting that I have him drive my Lamborghini to the video store to buy
Frozen
on DVD.”

Will shrugged. “Sebastian isn’t paid to be at your beck and call.”

“Does that mean
you
want to drive the Lamborghini?”

Will scoffed at that. “I take the Lamborghini out at least once a week. What I’m saying is that if I go to the video store that leaves Sebastian here to see to your every need. I’m not so sure that would go over as well as it does with me.”

Tony didn’t pursue the topic of Will and Tony’s car. Will was probably just messing with him. And if not, Will deserved to drive whatever he wanted to drive.

“Fine. Send Sebastian.”

“Really?”

“Do you think he can handle it?”

Will was the second best people reader that Tony knew. Second only to Tony himself.

Will didn’t hesitate with his answer. “Yes.”

“And ask him to get something Reese will like. Food, flowers, whatever.”

“Do you think Sebastian will know what Reese likes?” Will asked.

“Yeah, I do.” Tony hoped so anyway. Maybe Sebastian was a freeloader. Tony had known several in his life. A few he considered friends to this day. But Tony didn’t think Sebastian was a selfish prick. Not entirely anyway. And Tony had known several of those in his life as well. Once a guy became a full selfish prick, not much could change him—outside of things like near-death experiences or visits from the Ghost of Christmas Future, stuff like that. But Tony didn’t think Sebastian was quite there. Which meant he could still change on his own.

Take that Pollyanna.

Will went to find Sebastian and Tony started back for the waiting area. But he literally dragged his feet. He didn’t want to just sit there. He wanted to make something happen. He sometimes imagined himself as a pebble getting tossed into a pond—things happened when he dropped in.

The exception to that rule was clearly the Children’s Hospital waiting room. All he could do was keep buying cups of coffee and send someone out for a DVD.

Awesome.

Rather than entering the waiting area where Maggie’s family—blood and otherwise—were gathered, Tony paced toward the ER entrance, needing some space. He rolled his head, his neck cracking. He rolled his shoulders. He sighed. And finally admitted that he was feeling pretty worthless.

It was an intriguing insight, but he didn’t really like being worthless.

Not that he thought he was always absolutely
necessary
to any given event or activity, but he always added something—he gave business advice, he threw parties, he instigated adventures. Here, tonight, at the hospital, he had nothing to offer.

He glanced around. He was at the admitting desk. An older man and younger man Tony assumed was his son sat in the chairs waiting. Another man was at the counter with a woman holding a young girl. The man was writing a check.

And Tony felt as if he suddenly had a light bulb over his head.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Will’s number. Sure Will was around here somewhere, but this was faster.

“Yes?” Will answered a moment later.

“Is Ken Michaels the CFO of this hospital or another one?” Tony asked.

There was a pause on Will’s end, and Tony knew his assistant was fighting the urge to say something smart ass.

“Dr. Michaels is the CFO of Children’s Hospital,” Will confirmed.

Okay, so maybe the fact that Tony knew Ken’s favorite liquor and favorite rock band from the eighties but couldn’t keep track of where he worked was sad.

“Do I have his cell number?” Tony asked.

“How did you get a hold of him when you were separated in the airport on your way to Florida for your golf trip?” Will asked.

Tony rolled his eyes. Instead of a simple yes, Will had to give all the details of the last time Tony would have used the number. Of course. At least he hadn’t added in that Ken had—

“He was the one that walked up and kissed you when you were hitting on the Sports Illustrated swimsuit models right?”

Tony huffed out a breath. Will did remember that detail after all. And of course he’d bring it up.

“Make a note to remind me to
not
tell you those kinds of stories,” Tony said.

Will chuckled. “Got it. And for the record, Jeff sent me the photo of the look on your face and filled in the story, not you.”

Yep, Tony thought, he definitely needed new friends.

“I’m calling Michaels now,” Tony said.

“It’s late.” Will knew that wouldn’t matter.

“I’ll be sure he doesn’t mind.”

Tony could hope that the great time they’d had golfing or their shared enjoyment of good scotch or that they both had a passion for green energy alternatives would make Ken glad to hear from him, but if not, Tony had a checkbook that would ensure it.

“Ken, it’s Tony Steele. I want to give you some money and I want to be sure that it goes to certain patient accounts. What can you do about that?”

Twenty minutes later, Tony had everything arranged with Ken and was heading back for the waiting area where Connie and Sylvia were hanging out feeling like maybe he wasn’t
entirely
worthless here.

As he approached the room, Reese and Vincent appeared at the other end of the hallway. Tony’s heart sped up as he increased his pace. He met them at the doorway to the waiting room.

“And?” Connie demanded, coming to her feet before Tony could say anything.

Reese was the one to answer. “She’s still unconscious and intubated. So far, her neurologic signs are good, but it’s going to be a while before we really know anything.”

She looked wrecked. Her eyes had none of the shine Tony was used to. Even her voice seemed flat. She seemed tired and sad and deflated. She was supposed to be sassy and confident. She was supposed to be taking charge and telling everyone what to do.

He hated it. Everything about it.

“Bullshit.” He pulled his phone out and hit the speed dial.

“I’m sitting six feet away from you,” Will answered a second later.

Tony ended the call and swung to face his assistant where he sat on the couch with his arm around Max, the two-year-old, who was fast asleep against Will. God, it was such a habit to call Will when he needed stuff done. “Get John Davis’s number for me.”