51. Fixing Nothing
Fixing Nothing
Fly
Vex…I’m going to Vex to get dating advice.
It’s hard to let those words sink into my brain.
A man…a legend I thought was going to kill me a few days ago is the person I’m now going to for dating advice.
He probably grunts, ‘you’re mine’ to his wife, and she says ‘yes’ out of fear…
Now I’m just being dramatic. But still, if asked for odds, this is the last thing I ever thought I’d be doing today. Though encouraging Vandal to date during an op would be up there on the list as well.
Today is a day for impossible things to happen.
We can only hope that Vex has an actual suggestion that might work, because I’m not going to kill a little old lady just so that she doesn’t play matchmaker with my girlfriend.
What if he recommends that I kidnap Sheri? I mean, I wouldn’t mind having her to myself all the time, but I don’t think that’s the way to win points with an independent woman either.
Just walk in and talk to the man.
It’s not that scary.
Yes, he is and Viola Vincenti or Allan, whatever you call her now, is even worse.
Why am I flipping out? Sheri either loves me or she loves someone else. It’s just that easy.
When she’s in my arms, I would swear she’s completely and absolutely in love with me. That we’re going to be forever…
A goon, literally this guy’s muscles have muscles, walks me up to Vex’s office in his nightclub. The goon seems familiar, but…“Axe?”
“Yup. It took you this long to recognize me.”
“You look a bit different without all those weapons strapped to you.” And to be fair, my mind might have been elsewhere.
He shrugs, and his neck disappears. “Could have brought a few more, but they weren’t needed. Go right on in, the boss is expecting you.” Axe walks away.
I stand there staring at the door, feeling like this moment is going to be pivotal in my life.
Which is stupid.
“Which do you like better, diamonds or pearls?” Vex holds up a jeweler’s tray filled with diamonds and pearls. “The theme of the wedding is flowers, so I think she’d prefer the diamonds, but the pearls feel classic and elegant.”
WHAT? “Huh?”
“Keep up. I’m trying to pick a gift for Dahlia for our wedding. Do you think she’ll like the diamond set? Or the pearl set? Maybe I should buy both and let her pick on the day. Why do they make this so hard?”
My mind needs to make the mental shift from my slight freak-out to his. “What color is the wedding?”
“The theme is spring flowers, so there are dozens of them in all shades of pink, yellow, orange…Why?”
“Then get the diamonds, but have them replace the plain white stones with some colorful diamonds to look like the real flowers.”
Vex glances down at the sets and back up at me. “That’s brilliant. How did you do that? You know what? I don’t care. Whenever I’m buying her jewelry, you’re going to be my first call.”
Um. Great. I think.
He sets down the trays and turns his attention to me. “What brought you here?”
“Your advice…No, your warning. She’s doing it. Viola is making friends with my woman and trying to play matchmaker. What do I do to stop it?”
Vex’s rough chuckle grates on my nerves. “There’s nothing you can do. I warned you.”
“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?”
Oh…“Yes. I can build whatever home she would like. Wherever she would like to live. Though I hope that home might be in Silent Valley, where my family lives. But if we needed to become snowbirds, I could deal with that to keep her warm and comfortable.”
“We do have heat here.”
“Sheri likes to run outside.”
“Oh, does she? What else does she like?”
“Chocolate milk. Silly movies. Her friends. Games. Kissing me. Falling asleep in my arms.”
“That is quite a list. You’ve been paying attention to her.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“If I were to give you this opportunity, would you do everything in your power to give that woman everything she needs?”
“And everything she wants.”
Viola nods. “Well then. That’s it. I’ll expect the two of you to start attending Sunday dinner in approximately two months. If you don’t, I’ll be forced to take drastic measures. Do you understand?”
No. “Yes.”
“Good. Now go work on your plans. I have things to do.”
“Plans?”
“How you’re going to convince Sheridan to build a family with you.” Viola walks away without another word.
It worked...sort of.
My phone rings as I step out of Viola’s home.
Bear’s name flashes on the screen. Why would he be calling…Torque. He’s babysitting Torque. “What’s up?”
“Did you forget something?”
Huh?
“A short little thing with angry eyes and funny shoes? She’s asking for the pickpocket. Said she had plans with him.”
Jett. I can’t believe it. “I forgot all about Jett. Can you do me a favor and distract her for a while? I’ll be there as fast as I can.”
“Distracting her won’t be a problem. How am I supposed to distract the teenage boys that are now standing here in the great room staring at her and flexing on occasion?”
I groan silently. Why did I say yes to mentoring a teenage girl? Except we want to steal her from Maddox. “Have the boys show her their bikes.”
“What? Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
It’s a terrible idea. “Yup.”
Bear chuckles. “Maddox is going to hate you. I’ll take care of it.”