are my wife.’ He stepped towards her, the words coming out slowly and firmly, the air around her becoming thick and heavy as he towered over her, making breathing normally difficult. ‘And you will come back with me.’
Amber sighed. When was he going to get it? To understand he couldn’t just dismiss her from his life then drag her back into it when it suited him? ‘That little boy needs me.’ She pointed towards the bedroom door where Claude lay sleeping.
‘And why is it so important that you are here, when you are not his mother?’ He sounded angry now, as if his patience had slipped away to nothing. ‘If I didn’t know better, I would question exactly whose child it is.’
How could he even think such a thing? She had never been intimate with a man. All she’d done was heed her mother’s warning of Kazim’s reputation with women and had tried to be something she wasn’t. A seductress. The disgust she’d seen on Kazim’s face plagued her still.
Amber groaned heavily, tired of talking in circles, and repeated herself. ‘I’m staying here, Kazim, where I’m needed and wanted.’
‘Why?’ Suspicion laced the word and she knew he wouldn’t give up until he knew the truth.
‘Claude needs an operation. A life-changing operation, one that will mean he can walk and grow up as normally as possible.’ As much as she tried, she couldn’t keep the passion from her voice. Meeting Claude and Annie had been life-saving for her and she wanted to give something back to the two people in the world who’d stood by her when nobody else had. If they hadn’t come into her life when they did, she would have been homeless.
He stood tall and firm, his handsome face furrowed into a frown as he digested the information. ‘That is no excuse at all. Why do you have to stay?’
‘Have you no idea of real life, Kazim?’ Now she was angry. ‘Annie is a single mother. One who works hard to provide for her son, and yes, she works as a dancer in the club. Do you know why? Because Claude needs to go to America as soon as possible for operations that will cost more than Annie can ever dream of earning in a regular job.’
‘So why are you involved?’ he snapped angrily. ‘What about her family? The child’s father?’
Amber remembered the day Annie had told her that she and Claude were alone in the world. All of Amber’s own pain and misery at Kazim and her parents’ rejection paled into nothing. Helping Annie had become her focus in life.
‘They disowned her.’ She stood fiercely, looking into his eyes. ‘And I know exactly what that feels like.’
‘Your family disowned you?’ Shock resonated in his deep voice and he came closer to her—too close.
‘After you sent me away, yes, I was disgraced in my family’s eyes, forced to leave Quarazmir to avoid the scandal. I was disowned. Just as Annie was.’ It was that one connection that had created a very strong bond between the two of them. ‘Because of that, I intend to do all I can to help her.’
Amber watched as Kazim took a deep breath in through his nose and could see the anger bubbling inside him. His lips pressed together in a firm line as he exhaled and she felt a dart of satisfaction rush through her. Finally, he was realising the implications of what he’d done.
A key turning in the front door drew their attention and he looked at her in question. Seconds later, Annie breezed in, her usual buoyant self. ‘Oh, what a night,’ she whispered then stopped as she saw Kazim, her eyes wide with shock.
‘Annie, this is Kazim. I was just telling him about Claude.’ Amber saw the usual sadness wash over her friend’s face and hated that she’d had to mention it.
‘I’ll just go and check on him and leave you to it. If you want me to, that is.’ Annie looked from Kazim to Amber, a worried expression on her face.
Amber’s heart warmed at the genuine concern her friend was showing. It seemed that Kazim didn’t completely intimidate her and that, if need be, she’d stand by her friend.
‘I’m fine, thanks, Annie,’ she whispered and gave her a reassuring smile, all the while feeling Kazim’s eyes on her.
‘If you need anything, though,’ Annie said softly before she slipped into Claude’s room and they were alone again.
Amber felt drained, too tired to deal with Kazim, too tired to talk any more about something she had no intention of doing. ‘You need to go now.’
‘Not until I have your word that you will come back to Barazbin with me.’
She shook her head slowly, drawing on new reserves of determination. ‘No, Kazim, I can’t; this is where I belong.’
Amber opened the front door of the flat and stood back, her chin held high, waiting for Kazim to leave. She had nothing more to say. Their marriage was over.
He walked towards her and stopped. In hushed tones, he threw everything into turmoil. ‘The child will have the operations he needs; I will see to that.’
Kazim’s words rushed at her and she could hardly take them in. Claude was going to get the help he needed—from Kazim?
Amber’s breath shuddered in and she clutched the door for support. ‘You mean you will help us?’ Hope soared inside her. Claude was going to be able to walk.
‘On one condition.’
She frowned, her eyes searching his handsome face. ‘Condition?’
‘That you return to Barazbin with me.’
She shook her head, small frantic movements of disbelief. ‘No.’ How could he ask that of her?
Kazim stepped so close that he towered over her, dominating the very air she breathed. ‘He will have all the operations he needs as quickly as possible and I will set him and his mother up in a home, wherever she wants to be. They will be secure and safe whilst the child grows up.’
‘But...’ She couldn’t even put a sentence together. To be given everything she wanted and to have all she’d fled from forced on her at the same time was too much.
Finally she could breathe and think. Would he be so ruthless? ‘What if I say no?’
‘Then I will walk away from here. We will have nothing more to do with each other—apart from a divorce.’ There wasn’t a second’s pause before he answered. He was as mercenary as ever.
‘That’s blackmail.’ Her fingertips touched her lips as she looked at him, totally unable to believe he could be so callous, so unfeeling.
‘No, Amber. It’s just a way of getting what we both want.’
‘You’re unbelievable.’ She fought hard against the urge to pummel her fists on his chest as frustration erupted like a volcano inside her. How could he put her in such a position? Claude would be well and Annie would have a home, but it wasn’t just Kazim who would give them that. It was her too.
‘The decision is yours, Amber. I will return at first light and I expect you to be ready to leave.’
