6-The DNA Demand
1365 Words
Parker barely made it through the rest of the afternoon without falling apart.
Not visibly.
Not where anyone could see.
But inside—
something had cracked clean through.
By the time she buckled Luca into the backseat of her SUV and pulled away from Sutton Holdings, her hands were locked so tight around the steering wheel her knuckles had gone bone-white.
Luca hummed softly behind her, swinging his legs like nothing in the world had changed.
Like his entire life hadn’t just tilted off its axis.
“Mom?”
Parker swallowed hard.
“Yes, baby?”
“That man… was he your friend?”
Her chest tightened instantly.
She glanced at him through the rearview mirror.
Those curls. That face. Too observant for five years old.
Too familiar for her sanity.
She forced her voice steady.
“An old friend.”
“Why did he look at me like that?”
Because he saw himself.
Because he knows.
Because everything I buried just came back breathing.
Instead she said softly, “Sometimes grown-ups get complicated.”
Luca thought about that.
Serious.
Careful.
Like he was solving a puzzle.
“Like Aunt Sophia and Uncle Theo?”
A small, broken laugh slipped out of her.
“Yes,” she admitted. “Exactly like them.”
He nodded like that made perfect sense.
Then leaned back.
“Can we get fries?”
And just like that—
his world reset.
For him.
For Parker, nothing ever would again.
—
The next morning, Parker walked into her office prepared for war.
She found Maxton already inside.
Sitting in the chair across from her desk like he belonged there.
Like he’d never left.
Perfect posture.
Perfect control.
Perfectly infuriating.
Her stomach dropped.
“How did you get in here?”
He lifted a visitor badge without looking guilty.
“Your receptionist likes me.”
“She should be fired.”
“Jealous?”
Parker dropped her briefcase harder than necessary.
The sound cracked through the room.
“Why are you here?”
Maxton stood.
Slow.
Deliberate.
And suddenly the space between them felt smaller than it had any right to be.
“To discuss our arrangement.”
“There is no arrangement.”
“There is now.”
A cold laugh left her.
“You don’t get to rewrite reality in my office.”
His gaze didn’t waver.
“Luca deserves certainty.”
“He has certainty.”
“He has your version of it.”
Her jaw tightened.
“My version kept him safe.”
“From me?”
A beat.
“Yes.”
That landed.
She saw it hit him.
But he recovered fast.
Always did.
“I want a DNA test.”
The room went silent.
“No.”
Immediate.
Sharp.
Final.
Maxton’s eyes narrowed.
“Why not?”
“Because I said no.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“It’s the only one you’re getting.”
He stepped closer.
Now there was no space left pretending this was professional.
“You think this changes nothing?”
“It changes everything,” she shot back.
“Exactly.”
Her breath caught.
He continued, voice lower now.
“It confirms what we both already know.”
“I don’t know anything you haven’t decided for yourself.”
His jaw flexed.
“Then prove me wrong.”
Her hands curled at her sides.
“I don’t owe you proof.”
“You owe him clarity.”
Her eyes flashed instantly.
“Don’t weaponize my son.”
His voice dropped.
“Our son.”
That correction hit like a strike to the chest.
Parker froze for half a second too long.
Maxton saw it.
Of course he did.
He always saw too much.
“If he’s mine,” he said quietly, “I have rights.”
“If he’s yours,” she snapped back, “you’ve already lost six years of them.”
“Because you disappeared with him.”
“Because I protected him.”
A beat.
“From what?”
Her voice cracked with something sharp and real.
“From your world.”
Silence.
Heavy enough to suffocate.
Because neither of them could deny it wasn’t a fair accusation.
Maxton exhaled slowly, dragging a hand through his hair like he was holding himself together by force.
Then his voice changed.
Strategic again.
Controlled again.
“I’ll petition the court.”
Parker blinked.
“You’d do that?”
“If I have to.”
Her disbelief turned into something sharper.
“You’re unbelievable.”
“I’m determined.”
“No—you’re dangerous.”
“And you’re afraid.”
That landed too cleanly.
Because she was.
Not of him.
Of what came next.
Once the truth was official—
there would be no undoing it.
No distance.
No version of her life where he didn’t exist in Luca’s future.
Maxton studied her.
Then softened—just slightly.
“I’ll make you an offer.”
Her laugh was hollow.
“Of course you will.”
“You stay on as lead counsel for my federal case.”
That made her still.
“You’re joking.”
“I’m not.”
“In exchange?”
“I don’t move on custody.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Temporarily.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“And you agree to discuss the DNA test within thirty days.”
The number hung between them.
Measured.
Intentional.
A countdown disguised as compromise.
Parker searched his face for manipulation.
There was none.
Just certainty.
Terrifying certainty.
“You’re trapping me,” she said quietly.
“I’m giving you time.”
“Time for what?”
His gaze didn’t break.
“Time to stop running.”
That hit deeper than she wanted to admit.
Parker hated that it made sense.
Hated more that refusing would escalate everything immediately.
“Thirty days,” she repeated.
“Thirty.”
“No legal action before then?”
“None.”
“No involving Luca without me.”
“Agreed.”
She studied him for a long moment.
Every instinct screamed trap.
But every logical part of her knew—
he was right about one thing.
He would not stop.
Finally—
“Fine.”
A flicker of victory crossed his face.
Gone almost immediately.
Controlled again.
But it was there.
“I’m not doing this for you,” she added sharply.
“I know.”
He turned to leave.
Then paused at the door.
Without looking back—
“This changes everything.”
And then he was gone.
Leaving Parker standing in the middle of her office like the ground had quietly shifted beneath her feet.
—
That night, Maxton sat in the back of a blacked-out car as the city blurred past him.
Silent.
Still.
Unmoving.
Across from him, his head of security spoke carefully.
“You’re certain?”
“I need confirmation,” Maxton said.
“There are cleaner legal routes—”
“No.”
Immediate.
Cold.
Final.
“This stays discreet.”
A nod.
“And the sample?”
Maxton reached into his jacket.
Pulled out a small evidence bag.
Inside—
a plastic bottle cap.
Luca’s.
Still carrying what mattered most.
He stared at it for a long moment.
Long enough for everything to settle into place.
Then handed it over.
“Run it tonight.”
The security chief hesitated.
“And the paternal sample?”
Maxton didn’t flinch.
He pressed his thumb to a sterilized swab.
A small bead of blood appeared instantly.
He didn’t react.
Just handed it over.
The car felt smaller suddenly.
Heavier.
Because everyone in it understood—
this wasn’t business.
This was confirmation.
Final or devastating.
There was no in-between.
Maxton leaned back as the samples were sealed away.
His voice dropped.
“No mistakes.”
“None.”
The car continued forward.
Lights streaking past like blurred judgment.
And for the first time in six years—
Maxton Sutton didn’t think about winning cases.
Or empires.
Or control.
He thought about a little boy with his eyes.
A woman who had once run from him.
And a truth still locked inside a lab—
waiting to decide what kind of man he would become next.
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