Page 29 of Laws of Love
“And then, while we eat, we’re going to watch Encanto,” she informed them.
That did not surprise Knox. Since the movie came out, they watched it at least once when he had her. At this point, it was more entertaining to watch her sing along to the songs and come up with her little choreography for them.
Yasmine skipped back down the hall. Knox knew she was more than likely going to get her tablet or one of the books they’d bought a few weeks ago. She’d read two of them and had another two left.
Wolfe sat down on the couch, picking up the remote. When Yasmine returned with coloring books and crayons, he was still flipping through the channels. She placed one in front of him and Wolfe, giving them both a box of colors before she sat on the other side of the coffee table with her own.
“Come on, let’s color. We need to stimulate our minds.”
Knox refrained from chuckling. He’d told her that coloring and reading would stimulate her mind, and that’s why he preferred she did one or the other for a bit every day. Now, it seemed she would use that to get them to color with her.
He slid onto the floor as Wolfe tossed the remote aside before doing the same. He was sure they were a picture. These two men, over six feet tall, sitting on the floor in front of a small coffee table coloring. The things people did for their kids.
15
Knox looked at his phone as it rang. Mia had been calling him almost nonstop for the past two days. He knew it had nothing to do with Yasmine since he had her for the next couple of days, and she was at school. If something had happened to Yasmine, the school would have called him. So, he knew that wasn’t the reason. He sent her to voicemail for what felt like the hundredth time. She’d left him a few messages, but he hadn’t bothered listening to them.
He was sure that she just wanted to get him to give her more money or criticize him for not giving her what she was worth. However, if he did that, she wouldn’t be getting anything. Knox knew that was a fucked-up thing to say, considering he’d married her and had once truly loved her. That was before he realized the person she was, which took him some time to see, but he eventually had.
Knox also knew they weren’t supposed to communicate unless it was about Yasmine. He figured this was not about their daughter because when she wanted to contact him about Yasmine, which was usually to get money out of him for something Mia claimed their daughter needed but didn’t, she would call and then text him when he didn’t answer.
Honestly, he was ready for the entire process to be over with. He knew that didn’t mean he wouldn’t have to continue to deal with Mia. After all, she was still Yasmine’s mother, and while he wanted full custody and for her to have supervised visits, he didn’t want to keep their daughter from her. Knox just knew he would have to deal with her less, which would be a breath of fresh air for him.
Knox put his phone on silent, placing it on the coffee table as he stood. It was almost noon, and he decided to make lunch. He went through his refrigerator and took out everything he needed to make a turkey wrap. He’d just finished washing the vegetables and tomato when there was a knock on his door.
He went to the door, looking through the peephole to find Ezra standing on the other side. Knox opened it, stepping aside to allow him in.
“Hey, what’s up?” Knox asked, closing and locking the door back.
“Nothing. I was in the area and thought I’d stop by.”
The two went to the kitchen, and Knox washed his hands as Ezra leaned against the bar. “You want a wrap?” Knox asked, gesturing to the ingredients he’d pulled out.
“Sure,” Ezra responded. “How are the divorce proceedings going?”
“They’re going. We had one mediation where Mia showed her ass, but Aiva shut that down pretty quickly. We’re waiting on Mia to either take the prenup offer or try to see if she can get more out of court.”
“Which one do you think she’ll do?”
Knox sliced the tomato. “Mia is greedy, but she isn’t stupid. Even if I weren’t her client, I still would have known that Aiva was serious when she told Mia if we went to court, we’d be asking for child support from her, and she’d be risking getting a fifth of the prenup settlement.”
“I don’t know. Sometimes, greed makes you do crazy things.”
“That’s true,” Knox agreed as he chopped some lettuce. “I do think she’ll ask for more, and I have a number I’m prepared to concede with to have it all over and done, but it’s nowhere near what she wants.”
Knox was still prepared to pay her the larger amount that he’d told Aiva he was comfortable with, if it came to that. That hadn’t changed. He would see where they ended up and play it by ear.
Once Knox finished making the wraps, he put them on plates and grabbed two drinks from the fridge. He and Ezra went into the living room, and Knox unmuted the television. He wasn’t sure what was playing since what he’d initially been watching had gone off before Mia’s last call. Whatever it was, he figured it would be fine for them to watch as they ate.
When they finished eating, Ezra told him about a graduating senior his agency was looking to represent. The young man was Wolfe-approved, so Ezra wanted him. Knox couldn’t blame him. As a sports agent, having athletes on your roster approved byThe Analystwas an accomplishment. Ezra was damn good at his job, and keeping his commitments to his clients helped him seal the deal.
Ezra stayed until Knox had to leave to pick up Yasmine from school. Since it was Friday, he would stop by the indoor trampoline park and let her play for a bit before taking her to whatever restaurant of her choosing for dinner.
They had plans to visit his parents on Saturday, and Knox knew Yasmine was excited to help in the garden for no other reason than to get dirty, he was sure. He also knew that his father would have a new birdhouse for her to paint. Knox felt that when his dad knew they were coming to visit, he made sure there was a birdhouse ready. His daughter had his parents wrapped around her little finger, but he assumed that was how it was supposed to be with grandparents.
Knox pulled up outside Yasmine’s school, waiting in the pickup lane. There were only a few other cars, so he wasn’t too far back in line. He waited the next ten minutes for school to let out and for the children to come outside.
He saw Yasmine coming out, and Knox got out to help her into the car. She skipped to him, greeting him excitedly before taking her backpack off and tossing it into the back seat. She got in, sitting in her booster seat, and Knox watched her strap herself in. He checked to ensure it was secure before closing the door and getting back into the car. As they pulled out of the pickup lane, Yasmine told him about what she’d done that day in school, and Knox maneuvered through traffic to their first destination of the afternoon.
