No.
She’d found a place to be, a purpose, a reason, and she guessed it couldn’t have happened any other way than it did. Georgina Denise Maverick liked the way her life was shaping up, and even if Dex had interfered in order to save her life, not once, but twice, he’d never meant to turn her into an angel.
He hadn’t done this with malice.
And now that she had all the information, now that she had all the tools in her toolbox, she was going to embrace this—and Dex. And she needed to tell him.
But first, she needed to call the fancy lawyer she avoided like the plague anytime he wanted to discuss her massive finances. The money, the companies, all the things her father had left her could be put to good use, and she knew exactly what she wanted to do with them.
Lifting her head, George wiped her eyes and squared her shoulders with determination. Pulling her phone from her purse, she pressed the number for Williams-Williams and Bean.
“Yes, Miss Maverick?” the surprised voice said on the other end.
“Put me through to Jones, please, Monica.”
“Right away, Miss Maverick.”
A few minutes later, she hung up the phone with a satisfied smile—just in time to be knocked out cold.
Chapter 23
“Wanda? Are you okay?” Dex asked as she came running into the kitchen at Marty’s, her eyes wild, her face flushed.
He’d come over to wait for George to apologize to her and ask her to forgive him. In no way was she responsible for the decisions he’d made, and to be angry with her for reacting to Effie the way she had because he’d done the wrong thing with his wife once, and he was still sensitive about it, wasn’t fair.
“She’s gone! Just like that, she was gone!” Wanda yelped. “I tried to text you guys, but no one was answering!”
“George?” he asked, his heart picking up speed.
“Yes, George! I had my eyes on her the whole time, Dex! I swear! She went back to talk to Effie and I was waiting at the bottom of the pathway that led to her door. I saw her talk to Effie. Then she made a phone call and then poof! She was gone! Disappeared into thin air.”
Dex shook his head. “She went back to see Effie?”
Wanda threw her purse on the counter, her breathing labored, her eyes full of worry. “Yes! She wanted to apologize to her and tell her if she needed her, if she changed her mind, all she had to do was call. I don’t understand where she went! She just disappeared!”
Nina came running down the stairs, her work boots clomping into the kitchen. “What the fuck’s going on and where’s Wings?”
Wanda had tears in her eyes when she gripped Nina’s arm. “I don’t know! I don’t understand how one minute she was there and the next she was gone, Nina, but we have to find her!”
Marty came around the corner, a dishtowel over her shoulder. “What’s going on?”
“Wings is fucking missing.”
Marty’s eyes went wide. “Tell me you don’t think it was the demon? Please tell me that,” she demanded, throwing the towel on the counter.
“We’re gonna go over to Effie’s and fucking sniff around. Literally. I’ll be better able to tell if a demon had anything to do with it. Get ready to roll,” Nina said, grabbing her hoodie from the back of a dining room chair.
“Ladies, do be careful, won’t you? And find George. I’ve grown rather fond of the pretty angel. She’s so lovely and her baking skills are exceptional,” Arch said.
Nina leaned down and dropped a kiss on his cheek and gave him a quick squeeze. “Chill, Papa Smurf,” she said, ruffling his blue hair with an affectionate hand. “We’ll get her back.”
Marty and Wanda each pinched one of his cheeks. “Love you, Arch. Save dinner for us. See you when we see you!”
Darnell skidded into the kitchen, grabbing his baseball cap. “We out?”
Nina slapped the demon on the back. “Yep.” Then she nudged Dex, who was rooted to the spot. “Get it together, man. We have to go save your woman.”
Arch patted Dex on the back. “Fear not, Master Bridger, the ladies are on the case. They’ll find her.”
His stomach flipped and took a nosedive. But what if they didn’t?
What if this demon got hold of her wings and stole her soul?
No. The hell he’d let that happen after everything else she’d been through. Not a chance. He’d let him have his wings first.
But who in Hell could possibly know she was an angel to begin with? What demon could have that information?
Grabbing his coat, Dex followed the women out the door into the snow to Marty’s SUV, praying Titus heard his desperate plea for help.
Praying they got to George before…
He couldn’t think about what before entailed.
He wouldn’t.
As they drove to Effie’s, his chest grew tighter by the second. Nina screeched to a halt at Effie’s condo and he jumped out of the car, almost slipping on the snow.
He ran up to Effie’s door to knock on it, but just as he raised his hand, he saw something on the ground, now covered by a light dusting of snow.
Dex scooped it up, realizing it was George’s phone. The screen was still lit up on a text from Jones Williams.
Drafting up the papers now. Shall be in touch tomorrow with final.
Papers?
“What the fuck is that?” Nina asked, her hand on his shoulder as she looked at the phone.
“It’s George’s phone,” he said with a frown, scrolling up to see the text she’d sent to whoever Jones Williams was.
No, you’ve spelled it wrong. It’s Bridger. Not Brider. There’s a G in his last name. Please make sure you get it right, Jones. I want to be sure both he and the three women I named get all the liquid assets to split amongst them equally.
And Jones replied: I’ll make sure the change is made. Have a wonderful evening.
“What the fuck does
