Marco noticed the man in front of him was looking at something so he followed he's line of sight to see what it was. He turned around to see his daughter looking down at them from the balcony and started panicking a little, thinking of what she could have heard or possibly understood. Andrea might have been terrible at speaking Italian but she was still a very sharp girl, who right from her childhood picks up on things easily. He knew she was bad at Italian but it doesn't mean she couldn't understand a single word. God, what did she hear? He begged the heavens to reduce her high IQ so she wouldn't use it to figure out what was going on. Even though he knew she was going to find out someday, he still wanted to be the one to break the news to her gently. Marco turned to the man who he was having a conversation with but man was still looking at the girl on the balcony and no longer interested in he had to say.
Matteo Vitale, the man Andrea's father was speaking to, tilted his head a little to take a better look at the woman who had been watching them silently.
Matteo was discussing details about the house that would soon be his boss's but then he felt someone's stares from afar and now that he saw who it was, he didn't want to look away. She was beautiful, definitely a great sight to behold but looking at beautiful woman wasn't why he was here so late at night. Marco Scaffoni was his boss's debtor, owing his boss a lot of money but still haven't paid it off. As Marco's debt kept accumulating, his boss kept giving him time to pay back and still even granted him more loans and this was because they had history together. It was more of a 'scratch my back and I will scratch yours ' type of situation. His boss's long lasting grace on Marco's case was due to the way Marco had treated him in the past, Marco had been one of he's boss biggest supporter back then but everyone's patience had a limit and he's boss had reached his with Marco. Personally, he felt disappointed with how Marco turned out, Marco used to be such a prideful and successful businessman but lost it all and because of what? Heartbreak? Gambling? What useless excuses! They weren't even good enough to justify his stupidity because last he checked, heartbreak doesn't make people forget that they have children to feed, to provide shelter for. Last time Marco came to he's boss for a loan, he had put his own house up as collateral and since he wasn't able to it pay back the loan or even the previous ones, there was nothing he could do. His hands were tied. Matteo came tonight to take a look at the house before his boss claims ownership of it tomorrow and to be honest, Marco's house wasn't even worth half of the amount he owned his boss. But seeing as the man had nothing else to trade, his boss was willing to settle for the house and all the furnitures in it. Marco had tried to reason with Matteo's boss to give him a little more time but it wasn't possibly, he had already given enough. It was pitiful how Marco had allowed himself to become like this. Helpless.
Marco looked at his daughter and gave her a order with his eyes that she knew all to well; ' Go inside and stay there!'. Andrea instantly walked back into the house at her father's command with the unanswered questions still running rampant in her mind. She decided to leave them for now and ask her father about it later. After Andrea went back, Matteo finally snapped out of his trance and returned his attention back to Marco who was still standing next to him. He sent Marco a sheepish smile as he knew Marco saw him staring at a woman in his house.
" Who is she?" Matteo couldn't help but ask as he was sure he had never seen her here before, he would definitely remember if he was fortunate enough to have gotten a glimpse of such beauty. He was smitten.
" She... She's me eldest daughter." Marco answered with a slight stammer. He was being very cautious of what he says right now because people like Matteo don't ask random questions. Everything he did was highly calculated and his boss was even worse, if he is asking about Andrea it wouldn't be just to satisfy his curiosity, It had to be something more, something deeper. It always has been.
" Hmmm" Matteo hummed, looking deep in thought. " Ok, I will get going now. See you tomorrow, Mr Scaffoni." Matteo said and Marco nodded in response. He turned and walked out of the compound to the car that was parked outside. Opening the front door, he hopped in and put on his seatbelt then felt the cold dark presence of his boss, the person who sat in the backseat of the car.
" What took you so long? what did you find out?" The harsh voice of his boss asked.
" As you already know, the house isn't worth anywhere close to the money he owes you and just like you predicted, he did beg for more time but I refused him." Matteo reported.
" Is that all?" His boss's uninterested voice asked again.
Then the image of Andrea flickered in his mind. " Actually that is something else, a person really, he says she's his eldest daughter, who looked about 20 years old. She is gorgeous and looked very innocent. Simply beautiful." Matteo said as he remembered how breathtaking she looked under the midnight sky, like an angel wearing pajamas.
His boss, Jerome Montenegro, who didn't seem to be paying much attention raised a brow. A daughter, huh? And a beautiful at that, looks like all hope to get his money back wasn't lost after all. Mateo peeked through the rear view mirror and saw that his boss was deep thought. He wasn't surprised by that as he was already used to seeing his boss in this state. Utterly focused, carefully planning his next move, he knew how strategic his boss was. Jerome Montenegro never did anything without thinking of all the possible outcomes and how he could control them. That's how he was, he liked things under his control.