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"You are the way and the wayfarers. And when one of you falls down, he falls for those behind him, a caution against the stumbling stone. Aye, and he falls for those ahead of him, who, though faster and surer of foot, yet removed not the stumbling stone." - Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet THE STORY SO FAR... "Birth." Alderney City. 1987. Vincent James Torelli was born into a household wrought with moral decay, veiled under secrecy and fear. His family's involvement in the North Alderney cosa nostra was kept hidden during Vince's early years. He was a child of the nineties, and the RICO predicates had delivered a clear and blistering blow to his grandfather James. It was obvious to those who experienced it that the golden years of the American mafia were over; shot dead suddenly and buried shallow, in the event that one day it could be dug up once more to produce forth its stink upon those who come upon its rotted cadaver. It wasn't brought up at the dinner table. It wasn't ever mentioned directly. The mafia was like an inherited, genetic disease for many in the Torelli household. Like a diagnosis of cancer, it was more a solemn, pitiful truth than the status of pride and arrogance it was less than ten years prior. Vince wasn't lied to when he was curious. He knew his grandfather was in prison on RICO indictments. He knew his father was connected. However, he never asked directly. He never took it as a thing of pride, yet he never took it as a thing to be fearful of. It was part of him, and as he aged he simply lived with it. "College." Columbia University, Liberty City. 2005. Vince ascended into the Ivy League, no doubt thanks to his father's many "friends" in Liberty City. Life was looking up for the young Vince, despite it not going in the direction he had hoped. Dreaming his entire life of being an astronomer, he dared not challenge his father's wishes for him to eventually work among the many millionaires of Wall Street. Come what may, Vince knew that with his girlfriend Abigail by his side, nothing could stop him from success. By late-2005 Vince was secured a full time position at Faraday Securities Corporation, located high up within 100 Wall Street. As he progressed through university, so did his portfolio. Married in 2007. A father to a daughter and a son in 2008. A Master of Business Analytics in 2011. Torelli's family thrived in North Caldwell. He drove an Albany V-STR. He was successful, but he was unhappy. He wasn't an astronomer. "Security." Wall Street. 2014. Rumors swirled in early 2014 about outsourcing. Faraday Securities Corporation was in turbulence. Vince started developing alcoholism, brought on in part by his hereditary double-genetic tendency for it. He'd spend many lonely nights zoned out in the Carpe Diem bar in Berchem. His wife was less concerned with wealth and more concerned with his happiness. He didn't belong where he was. He wanted to move to North Yankton. He never did. By August, Vince's position was targeted in the outsourcing layoffs. Cheaper analytical staff could be found overseas. By November, Vince was bleeding money. His wife was disgusted with him. He knew he was about to lose everything, as he sat within a house he could no longer afford. "Loss." Alderney City. 2016. Vince had sold most of his assets to afford those he actually kept. However, after a night of arguing with Abigail, the act of throwing a wine glass at her was justification enough for her to file for divorce and win with flying colors. Alcoholism. Domestic abuse. Marijuana usage. To the jury, Vince was a bad husband and an even worse father. A danger to himself and obviously to his own children. By 2017, all that was left in Vince's life was a Kanjo SJ and enough willpower to work odd jobs to satisfy his lust for whiskey. "Freelancer." Alcoholics Anonymous. 2021. A wealthy sponsor in Vince's AA group signed him up for a two-month long furlough in a rehab facility in the sunny city of Los Santos. On a bus bound for the land of milk and honey, he arrived one late summer's night in 2021 and immediately went to work as a garbage hauler for a company based out of El Burro. Many lonely nights were spent as the sole driver of a route from El Burro to Del Perro, idolizing the rich and successful members of Los Santos' high society. Clad in a polyester weatherproof poncho and beaten up jeans, Vince swore to himself that one day he would be like them. After several cases of harassment on the job, Vince acquired a gun from a man named Tyrone during a chance encounter at the Pacific Standard bank. Vince was robbed of the gun shortly after. Knowing he couldn't turn to the police, Vince embraced, in his small pathetic way, his status as a criminal. As the weeks rolled on, Vince became less concerned with sobriety and more concerned with survival. He eventually stopped showing up to the AA meetings altogether, instead opting to drive up to Paleto Bay. In Paleto, Vince met a mysterious figure by the name of 'David', who showed Vince how to grow marijuana in several public growing spots up north. Vince also met a lady named Charlie Bankshot, who would go on to show him the gang politics of the county. Many times, he was robbed at gunpoint by redneck gangsters. Vince later added to his trade the art of car theft, breaking into the parking lot of a mechanic shop in Paleto Bay and stealing cars right from under their noses. This is how he first wound up in Twin Towers. Vince knew the risk far outweighed the reward, and if he were to make any money he'd need to join an organization. By chance, he met a man named Christoph Wellerman. A suit-donning and clean shaven fellow, Wellerman had an aura of leadership about him as he rambled on subtly about crime. Vince was determined to work for Wellerman. "The Underground." Del Perro Pier. October 2021. In early October 2021, a cancer awareness gala was held on the Del Perro pier. Vince picked up a random hitchhiker and the two set off to the event. Upon arrival, it was filled to the brim with individuals wearing pink. On the far side of the pier was Wellerman, Charlie and a mysterious lady in pink camouflage. This lady would come to be known as Melody Frey, the leader of an anarchist organization known simply as The Underground. Seeking employment, Vince began to work for this group, which identified itself with pink clothes and cars. Vince's first murder committed for The Underground was that of a clown on the eve of Halloween. As he sat on the sands of Vespucci Beach cutting up the clown with a bowie knife, Torelli knew that his choice to enter into this life was permanent. Later that month, Vince and David were mugged in Paleto. Vince was shot at three times with a .50 pistol. The rounds were deflected by the car's metal, which sent shrapnels of lead, glass and metal deep into Vince's skull. By the time the doctors removed it from his frontal lobe, they concluded that enough had already seeped into Vince's blood to blind him. They also said that what couldn't be removed would lead to his own death from lead poisoning in a maximum of three years. Torelli's next few weeks were spent committing petty crimes, or chasing after the daughters of Misha McQueen with his friend and co-member, Sean O'Malley. Misha was actually the woman who inspired Vince to initially leave The Underground, as she told him of the moral corruption of Melody and her apathy towards her own members. Vincent left The Underground a few weeks later. Initially wanting to join Marcus Falcone's crew of Italian-American heist men from Liberty City, he opted instead to join a loose crew of Mexicans from Jamestown Street. They robbed stores, chopped cars and eventually targeted Melody. By mid-December the crew was in tatters, and it was obvious to Vince that he made the wrong choice. He sold them out to Melody, in exchange for forgiveness. "Grace." Del Perro. January 2022. Vince's life was back on track. He was earning regularly with The Underground. He still lacked a basic human component to survival - companionship. Vince encountered Grace Adams, who joined The Underground during Vince's hiatus. By chance, the two fell for each other during a night of sightseeing at the Kortz Center on a chilly winter's night, January 28th. For the next several weeks, the couple lived together in Del Perro. They'd spend their days fishing at the pier, getting high from hippie kush. Grace was a 27-year old widow from Arizona, who worked as a car mechanic in Los Santos. Eventually, an FBI investigation into the kidnapping and murder of a prison guard by The Underground forced Vince and Grace to leave the group. Instead of laying low, Vince was contacted by his father James Jr., and tasked with establishing a crew of Italian-American burglars based on Bay City Avenue, on behalf of Alderney City. He did this, recruiting mob associates Benjamin Benito and his brother Joseph, as well as Vincent Bozzi. Other associates included Misha McQueen, Diego Gonzel and Samuel Spade. In mid-March, as the Torelli Crew prospered, Vince proposed to Grace on the Chumash pier. The short-lived crew was eventually disbanded for unknown reasons, with several members absorbed back into The Underground, including Vince and Grace. Even within The Underground, Vince wasn't making enough money to support himself and his habits. Grace was making far more money working as an executive mechanic, and she repeatedly bought him cars and fancy clothes, leading to ridicule from members of The Underground. The pair moved into a condo in Eclipse Towers. Vince was still a lowly street thug, barely making enough to pay for the week's food. On April 11th, the couple separated and Vince was kicked out of the apartment. Alone again, Vince was broken and without a tribe. He couldn't stay in The Underground for as long as Grace was there. He had to find a new home. "Benny Diamonds." Mission Row. May 2022. Vince's initial time directly after the breakup was either spent in bars, or in the Richman Hotel as he stalked Grace online. Fate would blow in Vince's favor when he entered into Damiani's Diamonds and Fine Jewelry one late-May afternoon, the 7th. He had a chance encounter with a man named Benjamin Ruggieri, who quickly inducted him into a shadowy Italian-American community. He was introduced to a man named Samuel Villione and was tasked with chopping cars. The next few months were spent slowly working his way up the borgata's food chain. Members of the family would come and go. Benny Diamonds was shot twice in the head, as John Aparo came to take his place. Death became an accepted part of his new lifestyle... the Tarano crew... the DiFiore brothers... even a random bloke named Raymond Cirillo, whom Vince murdered with Brandon Conradina and Rocco DiFiore, one starry July night. "Chloe." Pillbox Hill. July 2022. Vince received a call late one night from a girl he happened to meet outside the Pharaoh beauty shop. Her name was Chloe Hill. She was out of friends and she wanted one. The two soon bonded, before they found themselves in love. Much like Grace, the two became closest when sharing their troubles with life. However, unlike Grace, Vince and Chloe shared solidarity in the fact that they were ill. Chloe - a PHMC-diagnosed schizophrenic with early-onset Parkinson's who had been in Pillbox's psych ward countless times... and Vince - a depressive, sociopathic loner with lead poisoning and frequent strokes. Vince and Chloe's affection for each other was unconditional. The two became engaged on July 31st. Vince stole Chloe's engagement ring from Damiani's. It was around this time they also went on a week-long trip to Liberty City on a sightseeing tour. During the trip, Vincent also made contact with an old Faraday associate who could help him with a phantom billing scheme in LS. "On Record." Mission Row. August 2022. Vince was put on record into the Martorano crime family by John Aparo on August 6th. Chloe was impregnated by Vince that same day. On August 7th, Chloe was taken from Vince's life in the middle of the night by men in white jumpsuits. She was taken to a psychiatric facility in upstate Flint County, San Andreas. Vince was once again alone in his day to day life. His thirty-fifth birthday approached quickly. He was broke, and he needed to make money. He continued to work with the Martorano crime family for the next several months, primarily as a bartender at Goldie's or making an attempt at a phantom billing scam through Horizon Construction, LLC. "Chloe, Part II." Flint County. September 2022. The days dragged on for Vince as he maintained his role in the Mission Row borgata. Regular weekly trips were made to the Flint County Psychiatric Facility, where he would visit Chloe and witness the abuse she would sustain at the hands of the orderlies. It wasn't her first time in a psych ward, having spent long months in Pillbox Hill and Mount Zonah. However, Chloe's unique illness of claiming to recall "past lives" attracted the attention of a Eurasian organized crime group who's leader, Nikolai Kalinov, shared the same disease. Together with a cabal of elite arms-dealers known only as "La Fuente Blanca", they kept Chloe prisoner in the ward, eventually attempting to murder Vince when he got too close. He survived a nearly-fatal stabbing from Kalinov himself, ending up in the San Fierro Medical Center. "The Maccaviti." San Fierro. October 2022. As Vince laid either in a comatose state, or so paralyzed that he required assistance to take a shit, he longed for his days on Mission Row. It was evident the first week that he was stripped from his whole life he built for himself and Chloe in Los Santos... he was stuck in the small, cramped hospital due to Nikolai Kalinov's attack. However, while Vince rotted away in the hospital, Chloe had found new friends in an equally powerful and secretive organization of private counter-terrorists with a focus on extra-sensory perception (ESP), of which they believed Chloe to be a possessor. This group was known as "The Maccaviti." They had the resources to not only bust Chloe out of the hospital, but also her daughter Layla who was trapped in a foster home in Los Santos. They also rescued Vince from San Fierro, taking the family to a shelter in the Queens district. In return, Chloe would be recruited into The Maccaviti to hunt Kalinov. On October 30th, the plan was set into motion. Simultaneously, and initiated by shortwave radio signal, three teams converged on the psychiatric hospital, the foster home and the San Fierro Medical Center, freeing Chloe, Layla and Vince. Originally wanting to go to Liberty City, their plans changed... their new identities would be in Paleto Bay. "The Maccaviti, Part II." Paleto Bay. November 2022. In November 2022, The Maccaviti "disappeared" Vince, Chloe and Layla to a small apartment in Paleto Bay, giving them new identities, clothes, cars and livelihoods. It's as if the answer to every gangster's proverbial prayer - the ability to walk away - had struck Vince and his family in an incredible display of luck. However, with the rebirth of the Martorano crime family in Los Santos, as well as Vince's close contact with an old Cuban-Mexican friend of his, how long Vince and Chloe could maintain their act was uncertain... though several altercations happened with John Aparo's men, Vince and his family remained untouched in Paleto. Their daughter, Olivia Marie Hill, was born on January 3rd, 2023. "A Quiet Life." Paleto Bay. April 2023. Today, Vincent, Chloe, Layla and Olivia live outside of a two-bedroom apartment unit in Paleto Bay. Chloe works as a stay-at-home mom, spending her days attempting to improve her own mental health, all the while making an attempt to be a mother to Layla and Olivia. Vincent works odd jobs, often moonlighting in the service industry and making extra cash selling small amounts of pot to his close associate network. Long gone are the glorious days of life in the American Mafia as he lives a quiet existence in the county, spending most of his free time with his family. Despite the otherwise normal and stable condition of the Torelli household, the threat of Kalinov and the return of The Maccaviti lingers over their heads. It's like a muffled, ever-present tension that refuses to release itself. With each passing day, life grows more comfortable... something potentially detrimental if those unseen forces ever came back into their lives.