Page 19 of Laws of Love
Finx showed Knox in right at three, and the two greeted each other before sitting down. Aiva could feel his eyes on her when she looked at her screen for the first topic they would be discussing.
“How’s Yasmine?” Aiva asked. She was well aware of how divorce affected children. Though the little girl was already used to her parents being separated and spending her time between the two of them.
“She’s good. I haven’t explained any of this to her since the only thing that would change is her living with me full-time. I think she’s used to Mia and I living separately.”
“So, it won’t be too much of a drastic change for her. That’s good,” Aiva paused for a moment. “The first thing I wanted to discuss with you is visitation. I know you want sole custody, and I don’t think you should lean on that. I was thinking more about Mia’s visitation. Right now, you’re proposing two weekends a month. Would you be willing to give her three?”
Aiva watched as Knox seemed to think about her proposal. She knew Knox wanted what was best for Yasmine, and while allowing her mother to have visitation would keep that relationship going and growing, she didn’t know if he’d give her another weekend. In the same way that seeing Mia would continue growing her and Yasmine’s relationship, it would also give Mia an opportunity to speak ill of Knox to their daughter.
“If it’s supervised as well, then yes,” Knox responded.
“Of course,” Aiva stated, putting a check mark beside the suggestion. “I know that holiday visitations weren’t covered in the original document, but would you agree to allow Mia to come to celebrate some with you and Yasmine or rotate them?”
“Yes. I don’t want to keep Mia from Yas, but I want to make sure every visit is supervised. I wouldn’t put it past her to kidnap her just to get back at me after it’s all said and done.”
Aiva nodded, placing a check beside it before moving to the next item on her agenda. This one, she wasn’t sure how he would take. It was regarding the settlement amount he was required to pay her through the prenuptial agreement. It wasn’t that Aiva thought Knox should give Mia more, but sometimes a little extra went a long way to dealing with difficult people.
“What about paying her more in the settlement? I’m not saying that I think you should, but if it’s an amount, you’re okay with. If it would make it easier to get mediation done, it may be worth it.”
“Mia feels as if she deserves more. She asked me for fifteen million when she dropped by,” Knox informed her.
Aiva blinked at him slowly. Letting what he’d just said to her sink in. She shouldn’t have been surprised that Mia wanted more money in the settlement. Aiva expected her to request it. What she hadn’t expected was for her to reach past the stars into the void for more. Double, yes. Aiva thought she’d request that. But seven times more? She hadn’t expected that.
“That is definitely not what I was thinking,” Aiva responded after a moment. “What amount, if any, would you be comfortable increasing the settlement to?”
Knox thought for a moment before he answered. “Three, if it’ll make the process faster. Five, if she doesn’t fight me on custody and visitation stipulations.”
Aiva nodded. “Okay, I’m going to push to keep it as close to the settlement amount as possible.” She placed a check mark beside it, typing a few notes. Aware of Knox’s eyes on her.
Knox watched her as she typed. His eyes raked over her high cheekbones before slipping down her neck. Taking in the smooth penny-colored skin. His eyes dipped to her breast momentarily before Knox caught himself and brought them back up to her face.
Typically, Knox was a patient man, and while he’d decided to wait until his divorce was finalized to ask Aiva out, he knew the process would take longer than he wanted it to. Mia would drag it out to get what she wanted. For that reason, he’d considered his parents’ idea of giving her more in the settlement if it meant being finished with the entire ordeal. It was why he hadn’t needed to think too long about it when Aiva asked.
Aiva turned her attention back to him when she finished typing, and Knox’s eyes fell to her lips briefly, coming back to her eyes a second later.
“I have a suggestion since you’re willing to go up on the settlement amount,” Aiva started. “As a counterargument to the request, I’m sure Mia is going to make in mediation for more money, I’d like to propose she take the initial settlement amount plus spousal support in the amount of five thousand dollars a month for the next twenty years, or until she gets remarried. To her, it’ll sound like more when, in actuality, she’ll only be getting a little over three million dollars in total.”
“Do you think that will work?”
“Depending on the lawyer she gets to represent her, yes. With people who focus solely on money, they don’t always think about the actual figures if what they’re getting sounds as if it works better in their favor.”
Knox nodded at her. Mia had clarified that the only thing she thought about since being served was the amount of money that she wanted from him. He knew that Aiva’s idea could work with how focused on money his soon-to-be ex-wife was.
“I’ll choose the time to bring out the counter and suggest monthly payments starting at two thousand five hundred a month. They’ll counter and want to double it. I’ll act as if we need to discuss it. They then will more than likely try to pressure a decision. You’ll pretend to think about it and then agree.”
Damn, Knox thought. He was glad that Aiva was his lawyer and not the opposing council because she’d thought of how the entire situation could play out. He could definitely see it happening that way but he still had a couple of questions.
“What happens if she asks for more than five thousand dollars in spousal support each month?”
Aiva sat back in her chair. “To keep you from going over the amount you’ve stated, ten thousand dollars a month for twenty years or until she gets remarried will still keep you under that five million threshold at four point nine. Believe me, I have several variations of this counteroffer, and all of them keep you at five or under. Which one I counter with depends on how deep into mediation we are, and how stubborn I’ve judged the other side to be.”
“Mia is the most stubborn person I’ve ever met,” Knox informed her. “I know you’ve probably already figured it out, but we’re going to be in for several headaches.”
Aiva shook her head. “I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen. If anyone ends up with headaches, it’ll be them. My goal is to make this as painless for you as possible. I just need you to trust me to do so, and not to let them stress you.”
“I have nothing but confidence in your ability.”
Aiva smiled at him. “Do you have any other questions?”
