Page 32 of Demo

Paige lowered her hand to look at Keys, who was standing by the reception desk like a deer in the headlights. “No,” she said, almost breathlessly. Paige closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them, they were all staring at her with different levels of sympathy. “Look, I can’t deal with this right now. Abby, please, head into the therapy room to get ready. I’ll be next door cleaning up, so take your time.” Before she turned to leave, she faced Keys. “Can you go, please? I just… I can’t deal with this right now.”

Then she walked into the first therapy room and closed the door.

“Dude,your lady is really pissed off.” Keys’ voice came over the speakers of his Bronco as Demo headed towards Main Street.

“What are you talking about?”

“Paige,” Keys said like Demo was an utter moron. “She’s really pissed off.”

Demo tried not to let out a frustrated sigh. He’d known who Keys meant with ‘your lady’ and he honestly liked the way that sounded. Not just the ‘your lady’ part but that it wasPaigewho was his lady. That hadn’t been what he was questioning. “That wasn’t what I meant,” he snapped. “Whyis she pissed off?”

“Um… Well, there might have been a talk about her being yours and then you bulldozing your way through her life and, um, her not being able to afford the new equipment and not wanting to be a part of the club.”

Demo jerked the wheel to the right, grateful no other cages were on the road, as he skidded to a halt on the snow-covered shoulder. He was maybe ten minutes from Main Street and the clinic, but he needed a moment to process what Keys had just said. He threw his gear shift into Park.

“The fuck did you just say?”

Keys stammered out in a ramble, “Look, man, I am not a people person! I deal with software, not soft women! I tried to give the line that everything was a gift from Steel and the club, but then she started on about how she’s not a member of the club. I thought calling her your woman would calm her down.”

Demo pinched the bridge of his nose. “Let me guess, it didn’t.”

“Yeah, not so much.” At least Keys sounded sympathetic.

“She’s not my woman,” Demo told him emphatically. “Iwanther to be, but she’s not. Paige needstime, man. I was trying to give that to her.”

“Well, how was I supposed to know that?”

“Why was I even brought into the conversation at all?” Demo asked, though it was more rhetorical than anything. “Where are you now?”

“In my cage outside the clinic. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to stick around or not.”

“Go home,” Demo sighed. He straightened up and put the Bronco back into Drive. “I’ll be there shortly. Just…”

“I know, man,” Keys said when Demo paused. “Iamsorry.”

Demo nodded, though Keys couldn’t see it. “She doesn’t even know she’s a widow,” he finally said. “She wants to go on a date with me, I know she does, but she thinks she can’t or shouldn’t because she believes she’s still married.”

“I’m working on that,” Keys told him with a bit of hope in his voice. “Steel’s got me figuring out if we can either bring Richard back to life virtually or fake his death.”

That was something at least. Demo winced as his shoulder reacted to his body’s stiffness. He felt looser since his treatment the day before and the pain was more distributed instead of localized to one part of his shoulder. In a weird way, it felt like his shoulder blade was flexing without him consciously doing so.

“Also, you should know she got another threatening text from her stepbrother.”

Demo’s jaw tightened. “Bulldog’s at the clinic with Abby?”

“Yeah.”

Good. He needed to speak with his SAA. Demo thought Clifton Barrington would make a particularly good hanging ornament in the club’s cellar.No onethreatened his Paige and got away with it.

“I’m pulling in now,” Demo told Keys. He didn’t see Keys’ cage as he parked in front of the clinic. “Have you found any of the Barringtons’ skeletons yet?”

“Too many to count,” Keys drawled. “I’m on my way to show Steel. Between what I found and Paige getting a restraining order, there’s no way they can take the boys.”

That was really good news. Demo turned off his Bronco. “Has Paige filed the restraining order yet?”

“No, and frankly, she might not have to with what I found. But I still think it’s a good idea.”

Demo agreed. “I’ll talk to her.” The snow had stopped coming down. Based on the forecast, they weren’t due to get anymore until that night.

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