“Victoria,” he said, his voice smooth and cold.

“I didn’t expect to see you still here.”

I stood my ground, though my heart was hammering against my ribs.

“What are you doing here, James?” I asked.

“I have some late-night committee business,” he said, stopping a few feet away.

“And I wanted to check on a small matter.”

He adjusted the cuffs of his shirt.

“Your ex-husband brought some very interesting information to my attention tonight.”

“It’s a shame,” James added, looking at me with mock pity.

“I thought you were a professional.”

“Mark is lying,” I said. “He is trying to cover up his own corruption.”

James smiled, a small, patronizing curl of his lips.

“Corruption is a very strong word, Victoria.”

“In the business world, we call it resource management.”

“And right now, you are a resource that has become too expensive for this hospital to maintain.”

“You can’t do this,” I said. “The board won’t let you.”

“The board does what I tell them to do,” James said softly.

“Unless, of course, you want to make this easy on everyone.”