He finally raised his eyes, and for a few seconds he looked genuinely confused, as though she had suggested something faintly absurd.

The gala that evening — the Coastal Vision Benefit, held in a restored waterfront hotel in Sarasota — was one of the most important business and charitable gatherings on the Gulf Coast.

Investors, hospital executives, architects, and reporters had come from across the country.

And the guest everyone had come to glimpse was the founder of Danforth Capital, the private investment firm known for funding hospitals and housing and schools, a woman almost no one had ever seen and even fewer could place.

Lucius adjusted a cuff link.

“Tonight is important for the company.”