Page 71 of Hacking His Code

Ari nods, sniffling.

Cassius looks back into the room. “I’d like you to escort Arinessa in to see her mother.”

“Yes, Mr. Lavinius,” Nurse Agnes says, giving Arinessa a mask.

Arinessa dons the mask and follows the nurse into the ICU room.

Cassius turns to me, a curious look on his face. “I don’t believe we’ve been formally introduced.”

“I’m Hunter Davies,” I say dryly.

“I know.”

“That’s all you need to know.”

“You’re a bit…testy.”

“You may have just killed my friend’s mother. Forgive me if I lack warmth.”

“Yeah, putting her into this treatment was a mistake, but when the world’s most reclusive billionaire asks you for a favor, you say yes.”

Fire pumps in my veins. “So you knew she wasn’t a candidate? You just put her on it to curry some favor, and now it’s going to kill her?”

“No-no-no, that’s not what I meant. The drug is fine, one of the most promising drugs we’ve ever produced, but Ari’s mother wasn’t a good candidate because it looks like she may have had comorbidities we were not aware of.”

“Explain.”

“There is something else going on with her that hasn’t yet been diagnosed, and now, we’re looking at a delay in getting the pill to market if we can’t get her properly diagnosed.”

“Oh, shit.”

“Shit, indeed,” Cassius chastises. “A lot of people are depending on this pill.”

“I’m sorry.”

Cassius sucks in a breath. “It’s not your fault.”

“So, what’s going to happen to her?”

“She doesn’t stand a chance unless we properly diagnose her and see to the secondary condition. Believe it or not, the pill actually made significant progress in eliminating her primary condition, which may have been keeping the comorbidity in check.”

“Shit, this is all confusing.”

“All you need to know is that we’re working tirelessly to get her fixed so we can get the pill to market.”

“How long will she be under?”

“At least a few days, but it could be weeks. If we could just get her out of hostile waters, she could live for years.”

“Do whatever the fuck you have to to make that happen. Forward all bills to me, keep me in the loop on everything.”

“Trust me, it’s within everyone’s best interest that Ari’s mother remain alive. We have a good idea of what’s wrong, we just need to run some diagnostics to confirm.”

The blood rushing through my veins is giving me a headache. I close my eyes and massage my temple. “Fuck! I’m such an idiot.”

“This isn’t your fault,” Cassius assures me. “You couldn’t have predicted this.”

“Not that it will matter to Arinessa.”