Keep Them Close(58)

“Okay, but I like the idea of separate,” he says. “Separate seems better.”

“My salary, half my salary would automatically divert to your account,” I say. “It’s not like I’d walk over a check every month. It’s all electronic. Routine.”

He allows for that, chews on his lip.

It’s in my best interest right now to keep Finley happy. I’ve got that wire transfer to Marlow Luckett I just made, which I’m hoping he’ll never notice. The quicker we reach a settlement, the less he sticks his nose in our finances, the better.

“Well, okay, Fin,” I say. “A one-off. A lump sum. What number were you thinking?”

His eyes fall down to his hands. “I think, taking everything into account, future earnings and whatnot…two million.” He peeks in my direction. “And I take the condo. You keep the house, which is much more valuable.”

First of all, I’m not sure our house is worth more than that condo in one of the toniest parts of the city, right on the lake. But he can have the condo for his swingin’-single lifestyle.

“You want a lump-sum payment right now of two million dollars? Do you know how much money we have currently?”

“Well, I’ve looked at some numbers and done some back-of-the-envelope calculations.”

I would love to see the back of that envelope. Does he even know what we have invested and where? I’ve handled all of that. Has he ever seen a tax return in his life?

“You’ve been a partner at the law firm for five years now,” he says. “You’ve made close to a million dollars a year. Plus they gave you that huge signing bonus.”

“Yes, Fin. We’ve done well. We’ve been incredibly fortunate. I never dreamed of making money like this. But,” I say, “we used the signing bonus, after taxes, as a down payment on that condo as an investment. And speaking of taxes, we’ve paid them on all that income. I’ve tried to be frugal and save and invest wisely. And remember that massive life insurance policy in case anything happened to me, so you and Grayson would be fine?” I let out a sigh. “We have a lot of money saved up, but it’s nowhere near two million dollars. And Grayson’s college education is just starting. That’s a hundred grand a year right now. It will only go up.”

“How…” He plays with his hands. “How much do we have?”

“I…don’t know. Most of our assets aren’t that liquid. There will be tax consequences if we liquidate, penalties and capital gains taxes. I mean, if we sold off everything, which is a really bad idea…”

“What about the life insurance policy? You can cash that out, right?”

I sit back in the chair. I can’t believe that’s even up for discussion. “Grayson’s only eighteen. I’ll reduce the life insurance someday, when he’s done with school, when he’s on his feet, but not one minute before. That’s off the table.”

He deflates.

“Fin, do you really want this? I mean, if you take half my salary annually, that could be anywhere from two-fifty to five hundred a year for you. God willing, I’ll be working another twenty years. You’re willing to give all that up for a lump sum of two million right now? Even if I had that much, that’s not smart for you.”

“I just…don’t want to feel like I’m accepting charity from you.”

You seemed okay with it the last five years, I want to say, but that’s cruel and not entirely fair. Not entirely. “It’s not charity,” I say instead. “It’s alimony. They call it ‘maintenance’ now. It’s how this stuff works. You’re shooting yourself in the foot if you take two million now.”

Finley’s wine arrives. He takes a long swallow. “You’re assuming I don’t have plans for the money,” he says. “That I won’t invest it. That I won’t grow it. That I don’t have some interesting ideas.”

Oh, for God’s sake. He’s gonna blow any lump-sum amount I give him on some stupid start-up venture. I know he will. And then he’ll be back with his hand out again.

“If this is something you really want, I’ll think about it. I can divide the assets in half and see what we could cash out of your half. After taxes and penalties, it’s not going to be anywhere close to two million, though. And investments are there for a reason. They’re our future.”

“You mean ‘your’ future and ‘my’ future. There’s no ‘our’ anymore, is there?” His mouth twists up, his eyes going cold.

“No, there isn’t, Fin. Because you couldn’t keep your dick in your pants.”

Shit. I’m supposed to be placating him, making him happy, trying to wrap this up, not dialing up the acrimony. Not blurting out insults.

I drop my hands on the table. “Believe it or not, I’m trying to think of what’s best for you,” I say. “I think you’d be crazy to take a lump sum on the front end. But if that’s really what you want, I’ll think about how I can make that happen. I’ll see how much I can scrape together. But it won’t be two million.”

He nods, his eyes on the table. “I guess I’m at your mercy,” he says. “Just the way you like it.”





After April Fools’ Day