Chapter 5

Leaving the chapel in a huff, Tony Scott found no benefit in lingering outside with the hope of having a chat with Moira. He could still hear the mafia boss’s voice in his head, warning him against trying to contact Moira. In addition, the presence of swarms of Angelo’s goons in the vicinity of the chapel made it clear that it was not safe for him to stay put.

Tony only managed to ask a favour from the chapel usher but could not stick around long enough to get his response. Tony could only hope that the usher would grant him his rather desperate request. Apparently, at that point, hope was all Tony had left to revive his chance of seeing Moira again before it was too late for them.

But whatever hope he still had was not enough to put his anxious mind to rest. Tony had to find out exactly what had happened at the last stretch of his otherwise perfectly executed plan to elope with Moira. And there were only two people in the world that could and would give him at least some semblance of the truth.

After waiting at Mario Viscoli’s office for almost a half hour, Tony decided to head to their house. He was in luck, as they had just arrived from the chapel after Angelo had driven off with their daughter.

“I’m sure you remember me from the chapel. My name is Tony Scott.” Tony formally introduced himself to Moira’s parents after they let him into their house.

“So you’re the fool who was going to marry my daughter without her parents’ consent? Didn’t your parents teach you any manners and respect?” Mario snarled at Tony.

“Oh, just give him a break, Mario; the boy is going through the same frustrations as us… perhaps even worse. Don’t take out your frustrations on him, he’s also just trying to find out what the hell happened back there, don’t you young man?” Isabella rescued Tony from what could have been a torrid time with his would-be-father-in-law.

“I’m sorry about what happened at the chapel, Mr and Mrs Viscoli. But I will not apologise for wanting to be with your daughter. Moira and I are responsible adults and we had decided to be together. I can only hope that once we get over this hurdle you can at least support that decision.” Tony’s remarks were followed by an awkward silence as Moira’s parents processed his frank words.

“If you came here to lecture us then you better leave before we both say stuff we’ll regret later.” Mr Viscoli said.

“I came to find out what exactly went down back there. I just need to understand what’s going on, please.” Tony asked.

Mario and Isabella exchanged gazes before Isabella asked, “Have you spoken to anyone about this, yet?”

“Why…? No, I came straight here. What’s going on Mr Viscoli?” Tony could already sense the gravity of the matter at hand.

“I can’t give you all the details but Angelo says we owe him big. And he is demanding payback.” Mario started explaining.

“How much? And what does that have to do with what happened at the chapel?” Tony was confused, understandably.

“Slow down; don’t get ahead of yourself, young man. You know Angelo’s kind, don’t you? In his world, debts are rarely paid back with money. He asks for special favours- like the one he just asked of us. And about Moira, he forced her into a contract marriage as insurance for the deal… in case we try to screw him over.” Mario explained the situation without divulging too much to the young man he had just met and clearly didn’t trust much.

“Oh my God, that’s …isn’t that kidnaping?” Tony gasped, covering his mouth with a palm. “Contract marriage, you said? Did Moira agree to this… I bet she didn’t.. she wouldn’t agree to such a …”

“You don’t quite understand our predicament, do you? Nobody says ‘no’ to Angelo. You really didn’t expect me to risk my entire family to save your little fairy tale love affair did you? You really think Moira would be dumb enough to go against that monster at a time like this?”

Tony suddenly realised the folly of his remarks and rephrased, “What favour do you have to do for him? I would like to help so we can rescue Moira as soon as possible. He will let her go once we do our end of the deal, right?”

“The only ‘we’ involved in this is my wife and I; I hope you’re not counting yourself as part of that equation just because you almost ran off to marry my daughter without my consent. And no, there’s nothing you can do to help, either.” Mario barked; his dislike for Tony becoming more apparent with each exchange.

“I don’t understand, why would you stop me from helping you get Moira back home sooner? Please don’t let your anger cloud your judgement. I could…” Tony tried to negotiate.

“You really can’t do anything, Tony.” Isabella interjected, “The contract is fixed so you really can’t do anything to get Moira back home any quicker. He has her for six months and he ain’t negotiating no more.”

“Six months? Oh my God, what kind of favour takes that long to do? This is not happening; please tell me this is just a screwed-up joke?” Tony literally jumped off his seat, holding his head in both hands; a sure sign that he was deeply disturbed by the unexpected news.

“Seriously…? You think we would be in the mood to play silly practical jokes with you right now… while our daughter is God-knows-where with the most dangerous mobster to ever walk on the face of the planet?” Isabella was also offended by Tony’s careless remarks.

“I hope you’re not crying over your spoiled honeymoon plans. We have much bigger problems to take care of. So if you don’t mind, we best get to it and widen the chances of getting our daughter back in one piece.” Mario said with the same irritation garnishing his tone.

“It’s just… I can’t… I have to marry Moira like right now. I’m sorry if I’m upsetting you but I really need to know what that favour is because I must get it done so I can marry your daughter; whatever it takes.” Tony said, looking straight into Mario Viscoli’s eyes to express just how serious he was.

Both Mario and Isabella were stunned by Tony’s sudden outburst. The look on his face gave away his desperation and assured both of them that the young man was ready to do anything to get Moira back.

However, what they couldn’t immediately read from Tony’s facial expression was the reason why he needed to marry Moira so badly and so urgently. Now, that was the billion dollar question that suddenly became of prime interest to Moira’s parents.