Isabella Viscoli’s mind raced wildly after Moira’s call got disconnected abruptly. Taking a cue from her daughter’s own words, Isabella realised that Tony had left town; just like she and her husband had hoped he would. Although she knew how devastating the news was to Moira, Isabella thought it was also a great time to remind Moira about her engagement to Paulo, which she had almost ruined by her attempt to elope with Tony.
After waiting a few minutes, during which she assumed Moira would have recovered from her initial shock at the news of Tony’s departure; Isabella finally decided to return her daughter’s call. It was important that she updated Moira on what had been agreed at the airport meeting with the De Lucas.
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Meanwhile, Moira’s world had literally crushed down on her. And she couldn’t help but ask God why all those horrible things were suddenly happening to her.
Having tried in vain to reconnect with Moira through the burner phone, Isabella could sense that things had gone off rails. With absolutely no clue what could have happened for the call to end so brusquely, all that was left was space for Isabella’s imaginations to run wild. Instinctively, she called her husband and explained what had happened. However, because she had not told Mario about the burner phone, Mario could not really understand what she was talking about on the phone; so he rushed back home to interrogate his wife adequately.Isabella quickly narrated to her husband how Tony had dropped off a burner phone, how Moira subsequently called then hung up , the weird call which was picked up but nobody spoke and the subsequent unavailability of the number.“I’m telling you Mario, I have a strong feeling something has happened to our daughter. We need to check with Angelo, just to be sure.” She concluded.
After a couple of days of recovering from his run-in with the infamous mob boss, 24 year old Paulo De Luca still could not answer the one question that kept ringing in his mind; who the hell is Tony? Angelo had mentioned that name in relation to Moira; in a way that suggested that this Tony character was not one he should just brush off as ‘a nobody’.For days, Paulo had debated the wisdom of confronting the only other people who could give him answers; his future in-laws. Yet, he also wanted to keep his meeting with Angelo secret, particularly from his parents who had always strictly forbad him from having any sort of voluntary interaction with the mafia boss. Besides, being a man who lived to keep up good appearances, Paulo could not risk scandalising himself over one stupid meeting just to satisfy his curiosity.However, Paulo soon realised why curiosity was often referred to as a real bitch. He couldn’t sleep or concent
From as early as she could remember, Moira Viscoli- the only child of Mario and Isabella Viscoli; had it hammered into her DNA that the Manzini name was synonymous with blood and the darkest evil imaginable. Her father had made it his parental duty to teach her never to get involved up with a Manzini man, particularly Angelo Manzini who had just taken over from his father as the boss of the mafia empire. He figured that Angelo, being young, rich and powerful; could easily lure young ignorant girls into his world of drugs, crime and every social vice conceivable.So growing up, Moira was never oblivious to the evil that Angelo and his family were responsible for all around the country. It seemed like wherever she turned, someone was bitterly complaining about being hard-done by Angelo or someone within his organised crime syndicate. Her father’s warnings about Angelo were proven with each one of these sad incidences; and she had grown to respect her father’s judgement of character.But
After a month of crying and feeling sorry for herself, Moira finally decided that it was time to embrace her reality. Despite being caught up in a very difficult situation, Moira told herself that her fate for the next five months had already been sealed. And so she needed to use that time for something worthwhile; otherwise she was just going to make it much worse for herself.It was exactly one month since the forced marriage; and all she had done over the month was sit around crying and mopping over her problems. She hadn’t left the house even once; and she’d only left her room a few times to go to get snacks, fruits, drinks and other supplies for her solitary living. Still, it had been a month of very little conversation since nobody in the house seemed interested in talking to her; perhaps because she had not created the inviting atmosphere to trigger any conversation .However, that morning Moira woke up with a totally diff
Taking advantage of the slightly more relaxed atmosphere prevailing in Angelo Manzini’s mansion following the day Moira started helping with the cooking, Moira thought it would be a great time to explore the mansion and admire some of its out of this world interior décor and external landscaping.Accompanied by Skinner, who had been opening up to her more each day, Moira took a tour of the mansion, a multi-level work of architectural genius constructed at the top of a small hill and spreading down the sloped side to the foot of the hill. From the front- at the bottom of the hill- all three storeys were breathtakingly visible. But from behind it- atop the hill, only the top floor could be seen; as though it was a small structure perched right on top of the small hill.A massive six car garage, a huge, open plan fully equipped kitchen complete with walk in pantry and breakfast area; and a luxuriously furnished dining room adjoined to an equally luxurious lounge made up the lowest level.
“So, what’s a girl like you really doing here? I know your parents are some big shot business people and you guys have a nice house here in the city; which means you definitely aren’t just visiting here. What’s the real deal with that?” Skinner, turning towards Moira, folded his arms across his chest as Moira helped him prepare dinner a few days after the tour of the mansion.“You mean you actually don’t know why I’m here?” Moira turned and faced Skinner, her face wore a slight frown; highlighting her surprise.“The boss doesn’t talk much, in case you haven’t noticed. Everything is on a need to know basis; I don’t know a lot of things that happen in his life, believe me.” Skinner shrugged; then returned to rolling beef meatballs on a wooden board.Moira found it hard to believe that Skinner was completely clueless about why she was at the
The day after Moira toured Angelo’s mansion was a Friday; and Skinner’s schedule said he had to do the weekly shopping for groceries. His conversation with Angelo, right after another silent breakfast, confirmed the butler was going to be out for at least two hours. Hearing this, Moira knew she was going to be alone in the mansion.Judging from the butler’s demeanour that morning, she was still getting the silent treatment from Skinner; and Moira realised that she might have underestimated the respect that the butler had for Angelo. Though she had been looking forward to the shopping day and expecting to finally be allowed to accompany Skinner on the excursion; the vibe between them told her that it was not going to happen. It was going to be yet another lonely day alone in the most luxurious house she had ever set foot in; albeit the loneliest place she had to endure living in.An hour after Angelo left, Skinner also did.
From a very young age, Moira’s parents could pick up that one of their daughter’s most obvious traits was her inability to suppress her thoughts. If she had something nagging her mind, she’d do everything possible to resolve it. Sometimes, even at the risk of getting herself in trouble. As she grew older, this trait defined who Moira Viscoli became as a young lady; an outspoken, independent go-getter.Moira only managed to keep the secret of her snooping for the rest of the day; exactly how long she needed to get back to talking terms with Skinner. Saturdays were more relaxed for Skinner; mainly because Angelo always ate out… somewhere… and practically spent most of the weekends wherever it was that he ate his meals.So Moira invited herself in Skinner’s room for a chat just after breakfast.“I have a confession to make. But promise me that you will hear me out and not be