Page 76 of Demo

Lucky and Demo stood. There was a change in their posture and expressions that made Paige want to immediately find her boys and ensure their safety. Steel even moved closer to Jenna, though his attention was on Keys.

Both Carlos and the detective looked around as if for danger, their hands on the holsters guns at their hips.

“You need to see this,” Keys said through gasped breaths. He handed Steel a large tablet. From her seat, Paige could only see a paused newscaster standing outside of a gated lawn.

Carlos, Demo, and Lucky moved closer to also see the tablet as Steel pressed Play.

“…outside the home of Detroit Philanthropist and Entrepreneur, Thaddeus Barrington. At this time, the Barringtons are not making a statement regarding this latest blow to their, up until recently, flawless reputations.

“For those of you just tuning in, in the early hours this morning, a popular adult website,Fan Feet Fun,servicing clientele with a proclivity towards feet was hacked. The names, addresses, billing information,andfantasy requests of both the clients and the models have now been released to the public. On that list, is Thaddeus Barrington’s stepdaughter. Married toBarrington Holdings’former CFO, Richard Hannigan, Paige Hannigan has been revealed as one of the models. She currently resides in Mount Grove, a small town in southern Pennsylvania with her husband and two sons.

“The Barringtons, who have always claimed to uphold Christian-American values and strong family ties, have chosen not to comment on this latest scandal, one that has not been seen on such a global scale since theAshley Madisonscandal in 2015. Politicians, city officials, and even members of the clergy are being named alongside average citizens. Unlike withAshley Madison, no one is taking responsibility or laying out demands. Officials cannot confirm or deny if the once proclaimedImpact Teamis involved again.

“Unlike other adult sites that will accept fake names, profiles, and email addresses,Fan Feet Funrequires all who subscribe to prove their identities before they can model or purchase products. They do this with a picture of themselves holding up their country’s driver’s license or passport with a codeword the site provides to prove the picture was not forged or AI generated. TheFan Feet Funcompany claims this is for the safety of all involved. Their earlier statement regarding this hack did not show any remorse for what their site has to offer, but rather apologizing to those on the list whose lives will never be the same. Back to you, Norm…”

CHAPTER 13

There was a paused shock followed by all present turning towards Paige. This couldn’t be happening.This couldn’t be happening!No wonder her mother, who hadn’t called her in years, had been trying to get ahold of her.

This day, which was already shitty from the news that herrunawayhusband was actually herdeadhusband, had just gotten worse. So, so much worse.

They had her name. She wasn’t just some anonymous poster anymore. They had her name. Thewhole worldhad her name. They’d linked her to her stepfamily and were using her involvement in the foot fetish site to drag the Barrington name even further through the mud. Paige didn’t know what other scandal or ridicule her stepfamily was currently facing, and she didn’t care.

What she cared about was thather namewas now linked to their immoral behavior. Was she proud of being a foot fetish model? Hell no. But she’d done it to survive. She’d done it for her sons. And she would never be ashamed ofthat. She’d done nothing illegal. Unorthodox, certainly, but it wasn’t like she’d robbed a bank.

There wasn’t much she would put past her stepfamily if it meant keeping their wealth and social status.

Paige wasn’t able to look at any of them. Not her in-laws, Harper, Lucky, Jenna, Steel, Keys, Carlos, the detective… And not Demo. Especially not Demo. She never planned to tell him about the foot fetish modeling, but if she had to, she would have wanted it on her own terms. In her own words. In her own time. Not where others saw her humiliation, heard someoneelse’sperspective.

Tears flowed down her cheeks. She swayed on her barstool. Suddenly strong arms were around her, pressing her side into his sculpted chest.

Paige slammed her eyes closed. She clung to him, unsure if this was the last time she would get to do so. What must he think of her?

“What do you know, Keys?”Steel demanded. There was a murderous look in his eyes that Demo knew echoed in his own.

Ivy Benson, former SWAT member of the Atlanta Police Department, looked just as furious. She’d been playing the role as detective as a favor to Steel. Demo wasn’t sure what the plan was to explain her random presence around the clubhouse when she decided to stop in but figured Steel had planned an explanation for that too.

Nearly all of Paige’s body weight was pressed against his chest. Demo held her tightly, one arm around her chest and the other clutching to the side of her head. He pressed his lips against her hair, which she’d left loose. Demo loved seeing her hair down, and not just because he’d learned Richard and her stepfamily had always been on her about taming her unruly curls. He loved it down because he got to play with her hair more easily. But he also loved counting the number of pens and writing utensils she managed to unconsciously store in her hair throughout the day. Bottom line, he loved her hair, up or down.

Fuck, his chest hurt. Whoever the fuck had done this was dead. Dead! He didn’t know what sort of person had the skillset to do something like this and would leave that part up to Keys. But the actualperson? Take away their computer and they bled just like anyone else.

That reporter had also just added his name to Demo’s shit list. Howdarehe name Paige like that? Her name, her hometown, her life, hersons? The boys were far too young to understand anything about this, but there would be a time when they were older that they would.

Paige trembled against him, sobs wracking her body. Demo was helpless to do anything but hold her.

“Not much,” Keys answered Steel. He had his tablet back in hand and was typing one handed on it. “It came to my attention only because I monitor anything that has to do with one of our names. Paige’s name flagged during the report. As difficult as it is to believe, this sort of thing happens all the time. More often than people care to believe. They think their information is secure but there’s always someone like me out there. Average encryptions are breached all the time. I'm not talking National Security level encryptions, but the ones used to protect your phones, devices, even banks and internet sites. Someone hacks in and the company pays their demands so it doesn’t go public. That’s generally how a situation like this goes. For the hacker to publicly post the information without any demands… I’d have to dig deeper but my money would be on that this was personal.”

“Track them down,” Steel ordered him. “Can you take down the list?”

Keys shook his head. “Even I’m not that good. The damage is already done. Do you know how many copies are out there by now? Copies of the copies? Pictures and hardcopies? The first thing someone does when they see something like this is take a screenshot, so they still have the evidence when it gets taken down. There’s no way for me to track all of that.”

“Are you saying there’s nothing you can do?” Demo demanded over Paige’s head.

“To take down the list? No. To find the hacker or hackers?” He smiled mischievously. “ThatI can and will do.”

“What do you need from us?” Steel asked him.

“Nothing. Everything’s in my room. Just don’t be surprised if you don’t see me for a couple of days.”

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