He leaned back in his chair and sighed. “How much do you want?”
“What do you mean?”
He just stared at her and waited for her to get to the point. He had known this day was coming. Jasmine had called it weeks ago too.
Carol Ann shifted and folded her arms in front of her on the table, now all business. “Five million.”
Despite being prepared for this, Will’s temper was running hot. He had to make a concentrated effort not to tear into her.
“Five million,” he repeated. “You’re asking for five million dollars to drop your suit?”
She lifted a hand as though the sum was paltry. “It’s nothin’ to you,” she said in a reasonable tone. “That’s the equivalent of your signing bonus for the year. It’s not like you don’t get another fourteen-mil on top of it, never mind your bonus if y’all win the World Series. And that little property company of yours is already averagin’ over a mil annual.” She leaned forward, her gaze steady on his. “I’ve done my research.”
“Your attorneys have done that research,” he countered. “And how much did that cost you?”
She gave a jerky shrug. “Doesn’t matter. When I win my suit, you’ll be payin’ my attorney’s fees plus more than I make in a year in monthly child support payments.” She gave him another smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “But neither of us really wants to put Katie through all that, do we?”
His neck hurt from the strain of controlling his anger. “So you want the five million for Katie’s sake,” he said slowly.
“Well, it would spare her havin’ to go back and forth between us, wouldn’t it? I can be reasonable about all this, Will.”
Unable to listen to her another minute, he mirrored her posture by folding his arms on top of the table and leaning closer to her. “How about this, Carol Ann,” he said in the same reasonable tone she had used. “I don’t give you a fucking dime and instead let you go into complete financial ruin pursuing a custody case you’re never going to win.”
Her mouth fell open.
“Your entire petition is based on an event that happened almost two months ago,” he went on. “The paparazzi lost interest weeks ago, and Katie’s security was never an issue even when they were around. She’s in school now. She has friends and a normal social life. She’s happy and well cared for. You have no case. In fact, my attorneys expect this to be settled in the next week or so, which is why I figured you’d show up any day now.”
“I do so have a case,” she argued. “Just because you can care for her doesn’t mean I can’t. I’m healthy now and I’m prepared to at least share custody.”
“And what do you think the courts will say when Katie’s medical records are entered into evidence?” Seeing her reaction, he nodded. “My attorney did her research too. I know Katie received medical treatment while she was in your care. Treatment consistent with abuse.”
Her nostrils flared. “Don’t you even,” she said, her tone filled with indignation. “I never laid a hand on that little girl. Maybe I didn’t have the money for fancy childcare and settled for the wrong help on occasion, but that’s nothin’ money won’t fix now.”
“My money.”
“So what? You’re her father. You should be helpin’ to pay for her care.”
“I’m paying for it in its entirety, as I intend to keep doing. Whether or not you hurt Katie—and God help you if I find out you did—the courts are going to learn that she suffered more than just abandonment while she was with you. You can throw every excuse you want to in there, it won’t matter. And let’s face it. If anyone asks Katie what she wants, we both know what she’s going to say.”
Her face flushed with color as she tried and failed to come up with an argument. When it fully registered how deeply in trouble she was, her lips trembled. Her eyes filled.
“But Katie needs her mama,” she said.
“She has one.”
She issued a dark laugh as a tear leaked from the corner of her eye. “Please. You think that dancer of yours actually cares about Katie? She’s the one who got our daughter onto YouTube by teachin’ her those routines. Then she went and got herself all over YouTube too. Convenient, don’t you think?”
She was referencing the viral video he and Jasmine dealt with not long after the