Chapter 6

It took an hour of sitting perfectly still on the floor, humming a tuneless melody, before Kevin finally exhausted himself.

Amy sat on the edge of the mattress, the dim glow of the nightlight casting long shadows across the room. She looked down at Kevin's sleeping face. Tear tracks stained his pale cheeks.

She gently pried her index finger out of Kevin's tight, sleeping grip. She pulled the heavy velvet blanket up to his chin, tucking it securely around his small shoulders.

She stood up, rolling her stiff neck. Her muscles ached. She carefully picked her way across the minefield of broken toys and reached the door.

She unlocked it and stepped out into the thick, silent carpet of the second-floor hallway.

She followed the faint sliver of light spilling from beneath a heavy mahogany door at the far end.

She pushed the door open. A thick, suffocating cloud of Cuban cigar smoke hit her face.

Beckham stood with his back to her, staring out the massive floor-to-ceiling window at the glittering, indifferent skyline of Manhattan.

Amy walked straight to the massive mahogany desk. "He's asleep," she said, her voice cutting through the quiet room like a blade. "Now, give me the divorce papers. Sign them."

Beckham turned around slowly. The neon lights from the city painted harsh, angular shadows across his face.

He walked over to a crystal ashtray and crushed the expensive cigar into it. The movement was slow, deliberate, and entirely too predatory.

He walked around the desk and pulled a fresh manila folder from his drawer. His dark eyes locked onto hers, unreadable and deep.

Amy reached into the pen cup on the desk, pulled out a heavy silver pen, and held it suspended in the air between them.

Beckham didn't look at the pen. He picked up the heavy document. He walked past her, his heavy steps deliberate, and approached the steel wall safe hidden behind a painting. He punched in the code, placed the papers inside, and locked it. The heavy click of the metal door sealing shut sounded like a prison gate closing.

Amy's eyes widened in horror. "You lying, manipulative bastard!" she screamed, her voice tearing at her throat. She lunged forward, grabbing the collar of his expensive dress shirt, her knuckles digging into his collarbones.

Beckham didn't flinch. He simply stood there, an immovable mountain of a man, letting her exhaust her fury against his chest. He didn't raise a hand to strike or pin her; he didn't need to. His sheer presence was a suffocating weight. He looked down at her, his dark eyes devoid of any warmth. He slowly reached up and peeled her trembling hands off his shirt, gripping her wrists with a firm, inescapable hold.

"You are not going anywhere," Beckham growled, stepping closer so she was forced to back up. "That document will not see the light of day until Amira is fully recovered. You think you can escape? One word from me, and no hospital in New York will dare to hire you."

He backed her toward the center of the room, his voice a dark, vibrating threat that echoed off the mahogany walls. "As long as Amira is sick, this marriage is a chain around your neck, and I hold the leash."

But then his expression shifted. Something colder, more calculating, slid into his eyes. He released one of her wrists and took a half step back.

"That's not all," he said, his voice dropping to a low, measured tone. "Kevin only responded to you today. He refused food, water, everything-until you walked into his room. Reginald told me. So here's the new deal."

Amy froze, her chest heaving. "What are you talking about?"

"You will come here every day," Beckham stated, each word deliberate and final. "Two hours. Every evening. You'll sit with him, talk to him, make sure he eats and drinks-until Amira's surgery is done and she's out of the hospital. Then, and only then, will I sign your precious papers."

Amy's blood ran cold. "You want me to play nanny for your surrogate son?" she spat. "I'm a cardiac surgeon, not a babysitter."

"I don't care what you call it," Beckham replied, his jaw set. "He's five years old. He's terrified. And for some reason I can't fucking understand, he trusts you. So you'll use that trust to keep him alive. If you refuse, the divorce papers stay in that safe until Amira dies of old age-or until Kevin starves himself. Your choice."

Amy stared at him, her mind racing. This wasn't just extortion anymore. It was something uglier-using a child as leverage, twisting her own unwilling connection to Kevin into a leash. The sheer, cynical cruelty of it made her stomach turn.

"You're insane," she whispered. "You can't force me to-"

"Can't I?" Beckham cut her off, stepping into her space again. "You want your freedom? Earn it. Two hours a day is nothing compared to the rest of your life. Or walk away now, and I'll make sure every court in the state hears about how you abandoned a sick child who begged for you."

Pure, unadulterated humiliation burned through Amy's veins. She pulled her wrists frantically, trying to wrench herself free from his iron grip. The sheer, overwhelming difference in their power was maddening. She could feel the burning heat of his skin through his grip.

Amy turned her face away, refusing to let him see the angry, physiological tears burning in the corners of her eyes.

Beckham's free hand moved up, his long fingers wrapping around her jaw, forcing her face back to look at him.

Driven by pure, animalistic rage, Amy lunged forward. She sank her teeth deeply into the thick muscle of his hand, right between his thumb and index finger.

Beckham let out a sharp, guttural grunt of pain. He yanked his hand back, releasing her jaw, but his body still pinned her to the desk.

Amy shoved hard against his chest with both hands. She scrambled away from the desk, her chest heaving as she smoothed down her rumpled shirt.

"Fine," she choked out, her voice trembling with suppressed fury. "Two hours. But the moment Amira is discharged, you sign. No more tricks, no more conditions. And if you ever try to use Kevin against me again-"

"You'll do what?" Beckham asked, rubbing the bleeding tooth marks on his hand. His eyes were dark, unreadable. "Bite me again?"

Amy didn't answer. She just turned and practically ran out of the study, her slippers sinking into the carpet as she fled the room.