Page 92 of You Know You Wanna

“Like you just said, she is our daughter.” I stared right back at her, not wavering even when her eyebrows lifted higher. “She’s not a toy and neither is Birdie. That’s what you don’t seem to understand about Laurene though, Jacqs. She’s not that little baby you could show off to your friends and put back in her crib anymore.”

“I know that, which is why she shouldn’t be exposed to inappropriate women her father is whoring around with,” she said, snooty as ever. “She’d be better off coming back to London with me tomorrow and you know it.”

“No, I don’t know that,” I said evenly, doing my best not to take the bait she was throwing out in every other sentence. “She’s with me through the end of August and that’s final.”

Her hands found her hips and she lowered her chin just the tiniest bit, letting me know she knew I had her beat. “Very well. If you insist, but if you want to make a big deal about this, then you’re going to have to be willing to give me something in return.”

“This is a deal we’ve already made,” I said. “I have her for the summer. The terms of our agreement didn’t change just because you got bored on the yacht by yourself.”

“I didn’t get bored, and you’ve been making noises about wanting to talk about boarding school,” she said. “There might be a little something you can do to sweeten the deal for me.”

“Laurene isn’t some object we’re fighting over,” I snapped. “She’s not my yacht, or my car, or one of the holiday houses. She’s a person and a smart one at that. For your sake and hers, I hope you realize that sooner rather than later.”

She rolled her eyes at me, her fingers turning white on her hips as she squeezed them. “Don’t patronize me, Remi. She’s not smarter than I am and neither are you.”

I blew out a frustrated breath, realizing again that there was no point to this. “Fine. I won’t patronize you and you’re smarter than me. Let’s say I’m interested in hearing how to sweeten this deal, what would you ask for?”

“Money,” she said simply, her eyes lighting up. “More than you’re giving me right now. A sum big enough to compensate me for the suffering of spending the summer without my child.”

“You agreed to spend the summer without your child, and if you get your way, she’ll be going to boarding school soon. You’re going to be spending a lot more than just the summer without her. What’s going on, Jacqueline?”

Her full lips pushed into a pout that made her look like a snobbish child. “I can’t be expected to live on a pittance each month. It’s not working.”

“I’m already paying you alimony,” I said. “Definitely more than a pittance. If it’s not enough, you might consider getting a fucking job.”

She let out a dramatic sigh. “I’m not used to having to budget, Remington. It’s not fair that you got everything and I have to make do with a monthly allowance.”

“I offered you a lump sum payment,” I said. “You refused because you wanted to keep me on a leash, but let’s be clear about this. I gave you the yacht, your car and mine, two of the three properties, and you’re getting more money in alimony each month than most people earn in a year. How is that not fair?”

“I want more,” she said stubbornly.

I drew in a big breath, focusing on the sensation of feeling my lungs expand with air. She wanted more money and I wanted Laurene to stay with me for the school year. If I refused to give her what she wanted, my daughter wouldn’t get what she wanted either. What I wanted.

This conversation had also made it clearer than ever that she didn’t give a damn about our child. There was a way we could all get what we wanted, and I could offer it to her right here and have an answer by tonight.

“Alright, Jacqs. Let’s talk money,” I said, watching as a slow smile ghosted across her lips.

She thought she’d won, which was a good thing because it meant she hadn’t realized yet that I didn’t care about the money anymore at all. “I’ll give you what you’re owed in alimony in one lump payment if Laurene can stay in New York for the school year instead. It’s what she wants, she’ll be out of your hair, and I’ll take care of all her expenses. You wouldn’t have to spend a cent on her all year.”

She laughed at me, but there was a glimmer in her eyes that gave me hope. The promise of more money and less expenses was appealing to her, as was the way I’d phrased the arrangement. It wasn’t about me at all, with only her and Laurene as beneficiaries of this deal.

I’d done it that way for a reason, but I didn’t know yet if it had worked. Once she stopped laughing, she swiped her tongue across her lips and nodded.

“I’ll think about it.” She moved toward the door and turned back to me. “In the meantime, I’ll postpone the flight until next week to give myself some time to think. I hope you know what you’re doing, Remington. Being a single father and trying to start a new relationship with some girl who will never understand you won’t be an easy feat, so take my advice.”

“What’s that?”

“While I’m thinking, you should do the same thing. If you let her come back to London with me next week, you’ll have a lot more time to spend with your precious Birdie before you go back to your real life.”

With that, she opened the door and disappeared, shutting it with a decisive slam behind her. I slumped against the counter, staring at the phone in my hand. Was it time to get the lawyers involved after all?

There was a decent chance of her taking my offer, but in the event she didn’t, I wanted to be ready to fight and it was going to have to be a quick one. Despite what she’d advised, I wasn’t going to consider sending Laurene to London early.

I wasn’t going to consider sending her at all. She wasn’t going. The only question was whether Jacqueline was going to get money in the process, or if she was going to spend some of her own on her lawyers this time around.

48

BIRDIE