VINA IN VENICE (THE 5 SISTERS) (4 page)

What Travis
thought
was that they
had
both lost their minds
.  No way in hell was he going to play chaperone to Vina while she traipsed around Venice looking for a Latin lover.  He’d find a way to discourage any man that came near her
;
w
hether it was with a
menacing glare or a right hook to the jaw
, he was going to give a whole new meaning to the word bodyguard.

“I think Vina is very fortunate to have parents
who love her and
want to ensure her happiness, but…” he paused, searching for the right words, “but I’m just not sure this is the right way to go about it.”

“We
are
sending her to a place where romance is in the very air you breath,” Lucinda replied.  “It will be conducive to finding the one thing she lacks in her life; the love of a good man.  What could possibly be wrong with that?”

His jaws clenched at thought of Vina in the arms of another man.  “
What makes you so sure this man is in Venice?  Maybe he’s right here…in this city.”

Lucinda’s lips tilted into a soft smile.  “Perhaps even in this very restaurant?”

“Or in this room?”  Victor added with a chuckle.

Travis
didn’t know whether to be embarrassed or relieved.
“How
…uh…
long have you known?”

“Probably longer than you have,” Lucinda said.  “You hide
it well, but every now and then…when you look at Vina, your heart is in your eyes.”

“I don’t understand.  If you know how I feel about Vina,
how can you even contemplate
asking me to escort her on a…a…manhunt
?”

 
“
You’ve been a good friend to
her, Travis.  It’s diff
icult for Vina to see past that,”
Lucinda
explained.
  “She’
s
young
. 
She needs time to mature, to learn the difference
between infatuation and love. 
God willing, Victor
and I will be around
to give all our daughters a…nudge in the right direction.  But if anything should happen…if we
are
unable
to…
”

“What Lucinda is trying to say,” Victor interjected, “is that
we
would
love to see
you
r relationship with
Vina
develop into a permanent one. 
And, although w
e respect you for not pushing her into something she’s not ready for
yet, we wanted to help…pave the way.”

Travis’ brows furrowed.  “Pave the way?”

“For when the time is right,” Lucinda said.  “You see, we hatched a little plan for our daughters.  In five years, Victor will be retiring and the girls will take over the company, but we wanted to ensure that work wouldn’t consume their lives.  Hopefully, we’ll be around to oversee it ourselves,
but this Will is our way of making sure it happens regardless.”

Travis bit back a groan of frustration.  “Make sure
what
happens?”

“Have patience,” Lucinda smiled, “I’m getting there.
  Our girls value their independence.  They
are
confident in themselves and their ability to make their own choices, but they
are
also a little hard headed.  If we came right out and told Vina we thought you two would make a splendid match before she came to that conclusion herself, she would fight it every inch of the way.

“Knowing
all our daughters
would react in the same manner, we engineered a way to get each of them alone
with their prospective partners
in a romantic setting.
 
Away from
the influence of friends and family, and without the worries of their job responsibilities, they w
ill
have nothing to focus on but finding their own true love.  We are providing you with the time and place to romance Vina, but it will be totally up to you to make her see that her heart belongs to you.”

Travis had been blown away by the cunning method they
’d
devised to get their daughters to fall for, what they considered, the right man. 
He was also extremely grateful they had seen him as the perfect match for Vina. 
And he certainly wasn’t going to argue against a plan that would stack the cards in his favor.  In the end, Travis agreed to it because he was confident Vina would be his long before Victor retired.

What he hadn’t counted on was Vina’s dogged determination to work her way up the corporate ladder, as well as making a huge success of their
joint
investment project.  She put in impossibly long hours, and when she did manage to have some free time, Travis’
own thriving business prevented him from taking advantage of it. 
Their friendship hadn’t suffered, but their tight work schedules deprived him of
any
opportunit
ies
to
take their relationship any further.

The deaths of Lucinda and Victor Moore provided him with the opportunity he’d lacked before, but the cost to all of them was horrendous. 
I
nitial
ly, his
gut reaction was to tell Sheldon he couldn’t go through with it. 
Essentially, he would be benefiting from their death, and that didn’t settle very well in his heart or mind. 
As
desperate as he was to have Vina fall in love with him, Travis felt he would be capitalizing on her parents’ death and taking advantage of her vulnerability.

Sheldon Davis had talked to him briefly at the funeral services and contacted him a few days later to set up a meeting time. 
Travis hadn’t realized how young the Moore’s attorney was until he sat in Sheldon’s office and observed him as he flipped to the appropriate pages of the Wills.
  He was surprised that Victor hadn’t selected one of the senior partners; given his vast wealth, it seemed logical he’d want to go with someone w
ith more experience to handle his affairs. 
 

His attention migrated to the numerous plaques on the wall behind the desk
.  Travis
quickly retracted his opinion that Mr. Davis was any less competent than the elder members of the firm.  It was an impressive display of the man’s accomplishments, and if Travis had any lingering doubts as to how sharp Sheldon’s mind was, they were dispelled a moment later. 

Sheldon
looked up and made eye contact, immediately picking up on Travis’
reluctance
to follow through with
the terms of the Will
. 
Half a dozen legitimate excuses ran through his mind, including the one where Vina herself w
as likely to
veto the whole idea.  But b
efore
he was able to
voice
a
single
objection
, Sheldon launched into a persuasive argument.

Travis listened in silence while Sheldon reminded him it was what Victor and Lucinda wanted, and that he’d made a promise to them to fulfill their last wishes. 
Guilt was not a factor, he was assured, because their daughter’s happiness was more important to them than anything in the world.  Money wasn’t an issue, either.  The trip and accommodations were already paid for, including an allotment for clothes and incidentals that would be needed for the trip. 

Traveler’s checks, a moderate amount of cash, and a charge card that apparently had the sky as a limit, would be handed over to him the day prior to their flight.  Vina would be armed with the same financial freedom. 
Travis had no choice. 

Victor and Lucinda had thought of everything, with the possible exception of Vina’s refusal to participate.  Although, he imagined they’d coached their young attorney well. 
No matter what
excuse the Moore sisters offer
ed,
Mr. Sheldon Davis w
ould e
ffortlessly
counter
it.
  The phone call Travis had just received was proof of that.  In two weeks, Vina and her sisters would travel to different parts of the world with the escorts chosen by their parents.

Travis pulled his cell phone from his pocket and hit
the
speed dial.  If this was going to work, he couldn’t jet off to Venice and simply hope for the best.  He
needed
to be proactive
, and that meant using the next two weeks to remove the
friendship
barrier
that kept Vina from seeing him as a man she could love.

“
Hey, I was just thinking about you,”
Vina answered on the first ring.

“Hmmmm, let me guess.  You
’re working up
a devious plot to
kidnap me and take me to some foreign country so you can have your wicked way with me.”

“I’ve always known you were a man of many talents,” she said with a laugh, “but I never realized you were a mind reader too.”

Travis smiled into the phone.  “Do you trust yourself to be alone with me for an entire month?  I do have a reputation with the ladies for being irresistible, you know.”

“At the risk of shattering your fragile ego, those women haven’t nursed you through a hangover or got
ten
a whiff of you after a game of racket ball.”

“Now that hurts,”
he
affected a wounded tone.  “And here I was, calling to offer my services out of the goodness of my heart.”

“Uh, huh.  Just what type of
services
d
o
you have in mind?”

“
Well, it just so happens that we
will
be arriving in Venice a few days before the annual Venice Carnival. 
We’re talking operas, plays, parties, masquerade balls…exclusive events where you’ll be hobnobbing with some of the wealthiest and most respected names in Italy.
”

“Hobnobbing?” Vina teased.

“
Hush, woman, you’re derailing my train of thought.  What I’m getting at, is that these people will have attended events like this most of their lives
.  They’ll know
all the steps to the dances of that period, like
the minuet
and
rondo
. 
So it occurred to me that if
Prince Charming
asks you to dance, you would
have to
turn him down
…or chance embarrassing yourself when you tromped all over his feet
.
”

“Are you saying you know
both those
dance
s
,
and
that you’re willing to teach me?”

“
Why do you sound so suspicious?  You know I’ve traveled to Italy several times.”

“I know,” Vina said, “but
I’m having trouble picturing you in
a
feather mask and tights
a
s you lead your partner in
the minuet.”

“Is that a yes on the dance lessons?”

“Only if you’re not afraid of getting your feet tromped on.”

“Bravery is just another one of my admirable qualities,” Travis advised her
.

“Good.  Then you can brave the first lesson tonight.  How does seven o’clock at your place sound?”

“It’s a date,”
Travis replied, silently applauding his own brilliance.  “
Speaking of dates;
there is one more thing
I thought of
.
  Now, I don’t want you to take this wrong, but…” he let his voice trail off and waited for Vina to take the bait.

“
Honestly, Travis,
since when have you held back from telling me exactly what you think?”

Since the summer you turned sixteen and I fell hopelessly in love with you.
 
His chest tightened, trapping the air in his lungs. 
Thank God he phoned Vina instead of meeting her in person because he might have been stupid enough to
pull her into his arms and
blurt
out the words
. 
Just
s
tick to the plan, Malone.

“Okay, but remember I’m only saying this because I care about you.  I know how hard you’ve been working the past few years, which hasn’t left much time for dating. 
I also know you tend to clam up when you’re nervous.  You have a wonderful sense of humor and a sharp mind, but you freeze when you’re on a date, and that’s why…” Travis stopped himself, but the damage had already been done.