Page 25 of Ravaged By the Dark

“It needs glue,” she tried, but the men ignored her.

“Let me see it,” Arek said, sitting J.J. down. J.J. pointed to the car on the table, and she smiled smugly as Arek picked up the pieces. “I had one of these a long time ago.”

He knelt down to J.J.’s height and held out the car.

“You see this?” J.J. watched, his eyes focused, listening to Arek’s every word. “The little lock needs to move that way first, and then you can snap it in.” A soft click noise reached her ears as her jaw fell open. “There you go.” Arek handed back the toy, and J.J. cheered as he ran out of the room.

She crossed her arms, internally fuming. Now she wanted to yell and scream and throw a fit. Tears welled in her eyes, and she quickly wiped them away, but not fast enough for Arek not to notice.

His hands gripped her shoulders and gave them a squeeze. “Are you okay? I didn’t have to fix the toy.”

“It’s not the toy.” She sighed. “It has been a tough morning.” Renee stepped away from his comforting touch. She couldn’t depend on someone else to fix her issues. She needed to stay strong. Flustered, Renee tried to pick up the rest of the mail quickly, and in her haste to cover up the embarrassing bills, the credit card statement that just came in floated to the floor.

Arek grabbed it before she could. “What’s this?”

She made to grab at the paper, but he kept it from her reach.

“It’s a credit card statement.” Her embarrassment was making her angry. “Give it back.”

Arek stared at the page, his eyes going wide. “Forty thousand dollars? Is this yours, Renee?”

“I said give it back. It’s none of your business whether it is or isn’t.” Annoyingly, Arek crossed his arms and stared at her silently. Her body shook as she tried to hold in the bubbling emotion that was threatening to break free. “Fine! It’s not mine, but it looks like I have another fight on my hands.”

“I don’t understand.”

Renee sighed and flopped into one of the two kitchen chairs. She simply didn’t have the strength to argue with Arek on top of everything else.

“My mother’s name is Rosalind Renee. I was named after her. She took out this card in my name before she took off and maxed it out. Now I have to find a way to prove that it wasn’t me.” Her lower lip quivered. “I hate her so much right now,” Renee whispered. She looked up to Arek, and his features softened. He walked the short distance and sat down in the opposite chair.

“Let me help you,” he offered quietly.

“I’m not letting you pay this for me.” She shook her head no.

“I could do that too, but that’s not what I meant. My brother is a lawyer. Let me call him and see if he can help.”

“I couldn’t pay him.” She looked down to the table, unable to hold Arek’s warm and inviting expression.

“Renee, it would be free of charge. Let me call him, he might not be able to do anything, but wouldn’t that be better than owing a bunch of money on top of everything else you have going on? Besides, she could try it again. He could put some fail-safes in place to help make sure she can’t.”

She chewed on her lower lip as she weighed the pros and cons. She couldn’t take another hit like this. She just didn’t have the funds. Slowly she nodded, accepting she needed help. Some problems were bigger than what one person could handle alone.

“I’ll be right back.” Arek stood and walked outside but was only gone a minute and returned. “My brother is going to see what he can do and will call me back. Trust me. My brother is brilliant. If there is a way to get you out of this, he will find it.”

“Thank you.” She looked up to Arek, and her heart skipped and tripped over itself in her chest. “Why are you helping me? You barely know me.”

“Because no one deserves something like this happening to them, and I can help. And…” He lifted his shoulder. “I like you, and I want to help. And, if you let me, I’d like to help again.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“J.J. can you come in here?” Arek called out, and the sound of thudding feet echoed through the house as J.J. sprinted from the living room. “I was just asking your sister here if the two of you would like to go to the arcade I mentioned and then maybe get some pizza?”

“Really? Nae Nae, please, please, please, can we go?” J.J. gripped her arm and jumped up and down like a wild man. “Pretty please, we’ve never been!”

She couldn’t help but smile, the dark cloud slowly lifting. How could anyone remain upset looking into that sweet face?

“Alright, we will go.”

“Yes!”