Page 147 of Fly's Path

“There has to be something. I love her.” And now I said it out loud for the first time to…Vex.

Vex leans back in his chair and stares at the wall for a long second. “If you really love her, and she’ll know the difference, go to Viola and plead your case. That’s the only course I see open to you. It still might not work if she’s already found the match for Sheridan, but you can try. The grandmothers love love stories.”

***

This doesn’t feel like the best idea. It’s more like walking into the tiger’s den and waving around a piece of meat then saying, please don’t eat it or kill me while you do it.

Should I have gone through Don Vincenti?

Is he going to view this as a slight?

The family is very sensitive about how you treat their women. As in trigger-happy at the slightest hint of disrespect to a Vincenti woman.

This was a bad idea. Sheri is worth dying for. I ring the doorbell and wait.

Antonio, the former don’s son, answers the door with a scowl on his face. “What do you want?”

To turn away and run. “I’m here to see Viola. I have an appointment with her.”

“About what?”

“It’s a personal matter.”

“There are no personal conversations that need to happen between you and my mother. Do you understand me?”

Be the liar who isn’t afraid of anything. “The conversation is of a private nature. It does not personally relate to your mother’s person.”

Antonio stares at me like I just started talking in a foreign language.

“Antonio is Fly here? He’s a biker from Chaos.” An elegant woman approaches the front door. “There you are. Come in.”

“Why does he want to talk to you, Mother?”

“We need to discuss something privately. Come along, Mr. Fly. We can talk in the library. It should be nice and quiet in there.” She raises an eyebrow at her son…If I were him, I’d take ten steps back and agree to whatever she just said. But then I don’t have a death wish.

He just glares at me and takes a step back, letting me through the door.

As soon as the library door closes, Viola turns to me and asks. “So what can I do for you?”

You can do this. All you need to do is convince her that you’re in love. “I’m here to ask you to please stop playing matchmaker for Sheridan.”

Her eyebrow raises. “Why would I do that?”

“Because I love her, and I plan to convince her she loves me too. But that would be hard with you distracting her with other men.”

Viola laughs. A full, deep belly laugh filled with far too much mirth.

Does this mean she isn’t going to stop?

As the laughter trails off, she smiles at me. “Well, that explains so much.”

What? What does it explain?

“Sheridan is a delightful young lady who would make a nice match for one of my grandsons.”

My hope disappears.

“She has a strong desire for a home and family. Can you provide her with that?”