Delivering His Gifts (Mountain Men of Liberty #10)- K.C. Crowne Page 0,43
Someone was scaring her, that much was certain. I wondered if perhaps it was that shady ass loan shark. Wouldn’t put it past him. The very idea of that man threatening Danielle caused the rage inside me to boil over. I felt protective of her and willing to fight anyone who caused her any distress.
We walked to her house in silence. She kept searching the darkness around us, her eyes wide as she nearly jumped out of her skin at every shadow. As soon as we walked inside, she turned and locked the doors. Not just the regular lock either, but also the deadbolt. She glanced out the window before turning back to me.
“I don’t even know where to start,” she said, looking at me with a defeated air.
“Well, first of all, why don’t you tell me why Jim King stopped by your place?” I asked.
“Can I get you a coffee? Some tea?”
“Danielle, please stop avoiding the question.”
She sighed and closed her eyes as she blurted out the words. “I took out a loan with him to pay off what I owed the bank for the last few months. I plan to pay him back as soon as I get the insurance money.” She opened her eyes again and waited for my response. “Go on, tell me how stupid I am,” she muttered, pushing past me as she made a beeline for the sofa. “Because I’ve already heard it.”
I took a seat next to her in the chair. “Who called you stupid, Danielle?”
“Greg, of course,” she said, nibbling on her fingernail. “And yeah, it was a dumb move, I see it now. But what choice did I have? It was either that or lose the property and be homeless. If I end up on the streets, my ex will take me to court and get full custody and I can’t lose my daughter.”
“Jim King is a loan shark, a brutal one at that,” I stated matter-of-factly. Danielle looked at me with pain in her eyes, as if she expected me to scold her. “But I can’t blame you for doing what you had to do to protect your daughter and your business. That’s admirable and just proves you’re a good mother.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “You mean that?”
“I do. I’m not going to lie, though - it does concern me that you’re involved with Jim. What was the purpose of his visit tonight?”
“He came by to tell me I already missed my first payment. I didn’t realize there was a payment due within 24 hours of the loan, and my interest rate just doubled.”
“I’m no lawyer, but I don’t think that’s legal.”
“That’s what I said, but my options are fairly limited. I just want to pay him off and get back to normal for my daughter. She’s been through enough already. Not to mention, Jim is also friends with my ex, and I worry they may be working together.”
“Working together?” I cocked my brow.
“Greg’s been trying to get custody of Skyler any way he can. He technically owns this place. I’m paying both him and the bank off, and then the place will transfer into my name. It was the only way to keep my business afloat after the divorce, but now he keeps holding it over my head.” She paused, sighed. “I worry that Jim is going to try to find any way possible to take this place, and then Greg can swoop in and take my daughter. Call me paranoid if you want to, but you haven’t seen the lengths Greg is willing to go to.”
“Don’t worry, Danielle. I don’t think you’re paranoid, and I won’t let that happen.”
She lifted her eyebrows. “You won’t?”
“No, I won’t. I’m here to help you,” I said sternly.
She let out a dry laugh and leaned back on her sofa. “If I had a dollar for every time a man said he’d help me, only to screw me over later, I would have enough to pay off all my debt and move my daughter and me to a private island somewhere, far away from all this bullshit.”
“I mean it, Danielle,” I said.
She eyed me warily. “And what’s it going to cost me?”
“Nothing,” I said. “And I mean that. You’re the mother of my child. You don’t owe me shit for helping out.”
“Yeah, that’s what Greg used to say, too,” she said softly. She let out a sigh and stared off in the distance.
“I’m not Greg,” I reminded her sternly. “So let me help