Page 48 of Demo

Keys even looked into the possibility that Billy had known Cheryl and the bomb was revenge for her execution but found no evidence there.

Paige and Demo were getting closer every day. She’d accepted his vague excuse of there being an ‘incident at the clubhouse’ and hadn’t pried. Demo was beyond grateful for that, because he didn’t want to be lying to her any more than he already was.

The Sunday following the bomb, Lucky, Harper, Demo, and Paige went out for brunch at the diner. Mikey and Nelly Bean were spending the day with their cousins Conner and Scotty under the supervision of Sissy and Sara, who had both taken on the title of ‘aunt’ to the boys. During which, Paige agreed to tell them everything:

“Richard was not the man you knew,” she told Harper in a sorrowful tone. “I am so sorry to be the one to tell you this. He was horribly in debt. I don’t know what he kept spending the money on, but it wasn’t on me or the boys. I’m drowning in the debts he left me. Some I knew about, but others I only found out after he disappeared.”

Both Demo and Lucky were sitting on the outside of the booth with their ladies against the wall. Demo sat with his back to the kitchen door so that Paige could hold his right hand while she talked. Lucky sat in such a way that a slight head tilt gave him a view of the rest of the diner. Kelly, the waitress, had already come and taken their orders, dropping off their waters and soda glasses when she did.

Demo squeezed Paige’s hand reassuringly. He knew how much she’d been dreading this conversation. Though she had no idea just how informed Lucky and Demo already were about her situation.

“You know how much I hate my stepfamily. What I didn’t find out until recently was that Richard had taken out a loan with my stepfather, Thad. They’re demanding repayment and I don’t have it.”

A tear started to fall from her left eye, but Demo stretched his left hand across himself to catch it before it could.

Harper reached across the table and took Paige’s other hand. “How much does he owe them?” Demo was very grateful Harper phrased it thatRichardowed the debt, not Paige. He’d been trying very hard to get her to stop calling Richard’s debtsherdebts. “Maybe Lucky and I can help out.”

Harper looked to Lucky for support. His answering, “Of course,” was said without hinting to the fact that he knew they couldn’t.

Paige let out a cynical laugh. “Not unless you won the lottery and didn’t tell me. I have no proof that this is the actual number, because it’s not like I ever saw a penny of it, but seven hundred…” Harper looked confused for a second until Paige added, “Thousand.”

Harper’s jaw dropped. “Holy fuck. And I thought three hundred thousand was bad!”

Lucky and Demo exchanged a quick look. As far as Keys could tell, Paige was not aware of Richard’s association with Mateo Castillo or the fact that her husband had borrowed money from a cartel loan shark.

As much as Demo wanted Paige to seek out help, they were treading on thin ice. Demo wondered if Lucky had cautioned Harper not to mention some things about Richard’s past or his connection to the club. Harper knew most of her brother’s past after he’d abducted her. If Scar hadn’t rescued her, there was still the question of what Richard’s endgame would have been that day. According to Harper, he’d seemed a bit unhinged.

Paige’s eyebrows drew down. “That’s very specific. Why did you say ‘three hundred thousand’ like that?”

Harper bit her lip like she hadn’t meant to say those words. “Look, I promised I wasn’t going to say anything, but you have a right to know. I’ve always argued that. Keeping you in the dark was cruel, but they insisted on protecting you and the boys. If I hadn’t found out as I had, I doubt they would have even told me.” Her face scrunched up with anger. “No, Iknowthey wouldn’t have told me if I hadn’t found out on my own.”

“Who’s ‘they’?” Paige asked, her eyes flicking to Lucky but not Demo. She squeezed Demo’s hand even harder.

“My parents,” Harper said with a long sigh. “Moving to Mount Grove had always been the plan. You know that. Mom’s got some land out this way that she inherited when her dad passed. When Mount Grove offered Dad the position as sheriff, he wasn’t going to accept. In fact, he’d already turned down an offer from the town council. But then Richard came to them. He…” Harper picked at the napkin in front of her. “He was in deep with a loan shark and he’d been threatened. You all had.”

Paige’s jaw dropped. “A loan shark? Aloan shark? What? Why?”

Harper glanced to Lucky. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder reassuringly and pressed a kiss to her temple. Harper leaned into her husband for a moment before she turned back to Paige. “Richard had a gambling problem, Paige.”

Paige’s face blanched. “Gambling? No, he’s an accountant.”

Demo refrained from pointing out thathewas an accountant too. Paige didn’t know about his extracurricular activities with the club, though none of that included gambling.

Harper nodded sadly. “He was in deep too. One-hundred and fifty thousand, according to my dad. It was all of their savings, but Dad gave Richard the money to pay off the loan shark. Unfortunately, Richard decided to take that money and gamble it. But he lost and doubled his debt.”

“Three hundred thousand,” Paige muttered disbelievingly under her breath. “I can’t… There’s no way I can…” Tears free fall down her cheeks. “There’s no way I can pay that back too.” Demo reached for her, turning her in the booth to face him. Paige’s eyes were wide with fear and dismay. She looked at him frantically. “A million dollars. I don’t have a million dollars.”

“You don’t need a million dollars,” he told her as sternly as he could.

She nodded her head like a bobblehead. “Richard owes money to aloan shark, Demo. If they don’t get their money back, they come after the person and their family. They—” Paige’s eyes went suddenly wide and she rounded on Harper across the table. “Ronald and Cindy’s attack? Ronald said that it was a criminal from Detroit, someone Ronald had arrested in the past who wanted revenge?”

Shame washed over Harper’s face. “He lied. The loan shark came down to Mount Grove to demand his money. When he couldn’t find Richard, he went to my parents.”

Paige dropped Demo’s hand to clasp her cheeks in both of hers. “I can’t… My God… Why didn’t you guystellme?”

“I wanted to,” Harper defended herself. “I never thought it was right that they kept you in the dark. They made me swear not to tell you. They were convinced that you didn’t need to deal with Richard’s sins after he walked out on you. They wanted you to concentrate on the boys and healing.”

“Healing?” She slapped her palms down on the table. “How the hell am I supposed to do that when a loan shark could come after me or my boys any day for money I don’t have and never had any part of?” Paige demanded harshly.

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