Page 41 of Operation: Valiant Angel

“You’re forty-two years old, for God’s sake!” Wilson said. “Isn’t it time you grow a pair and tell your father who you really are?”

“It’s about respect. It would kill my father if he knew I was gay. He’s old-school Italian. In his world, a man just isn’t attracted to another man,” Bianchi said. “And he sure as hell doesn’t act on his feelings or urges. No, in my father’s world you marry some poor woman who hasn’t a clue that you’re thinking of sticking it into some guy’s ass when you’re having sex with her, make a few babies, and live unhappily ever after.”

“That sounds pitiful and extremely dishonest. And what about you? Don’t you deserve to be with who you want to be with?” Wilson asked.

“I will when my dad is gone.”

“You could have a boyfriend or even just a lover and keep him under wraps from your dad, you know,” Wilson suggested.

“Tried that. And look what happened to me. I thought I found a guy who was like me. But he wasn’t. He turned out to be a married guy from Saudi Arabia looking to get his company’s goods pass U.S. Customs inspections quickly. He couldn’t romance me into doing it for him, so he tried blackmail instead.”

Wilson felt bad for Bianchi. Bianchi thought he’d found a kindred spirit, a potential partner. What he’d really found, though, was a corrupt Saudi businessman looking to get his company’s imports into the country more quickly. And it hadbeen picked up on by the CIA, and here they were, following up on it and making this guy feel even worse.

“Worst-case scenario, he follows through on his blackmail threat. What happens?” Madison asked.

“What do you mean, what happens?” Bianchi demanded. “My life is over.”

“It’s not over,” Cooper argued. “Being gay isn’t a crime. And most people don’t give a damn who you love.”

“You know, I was jealous of you when you walked into the Falcon, a gay man living his life, his sister openly talking about his boyfriend. You don’t know how lucky you are,” he told Cooper. “And now to know that you’re a Federal Agent, and openly gay. You’re an inspiration. I can’t be like you.”

Wilson was surprised Bianchi hadn’t put it together that Cooper was faking being gay to try to have an in with him. This guy really was naïve. He hadn’t learned a thing from being catfished.

Cooper wouldn’t ruin it for him. “I get that you respect your dad and don’t want to cause the kind of friction you would if he knew. You’re a good son. You help pay for your mom’s care. You let your dad move in. With his gambling debts, he obviously isn’t in a financial position to pay for your mom’s care or probably even keep a roof over his head.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Bianchi said.

“There’s more?” Cooper asked.

“Well, yeah,” Bianchi said in a dramatic fashion.

“So, Dad, what?” Cooper pressed.

“He crossed some very dangerous people,” Bianchi said. “He came across some money that wasn’t his. He should have left itwhere it was, but he didn’t. And the owners came up with the way for him to return it to them all cleaned and legit looking.”

“Mob money,” Wilson filled in. “He’s returning it to the casino in the form of losing it back to them.”

“But it worked too well, and it’s now taken on a life of its own. He paid the initial back years ago. Now, he’s being forced to help them launder other money by losing it at the tables,” he said, making air quotes as he said the word losing.

“What’s the source of the other money?” Madison asked.

Bianchi shrugged. “Who knows? Drugs, racketeering, illegal betting, prostitution? Does it matter?”

“And does Bashar know about this?” Wilson asked.

“No, I never told him, and he never brought it up. My dad’s problem is separate from mine.”

“Walk us through how your dad came across money he shouldn’t have taken?” Cooper prompted.

“It was years ago. He was still coaching. One of his former students’ sons was on the team. You know about the families, right? They run everything around here. Vinny Aiello Senior was at the school watching Junior play. Vinny Senior isn’t involved in the family business, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t opportunistic, either.”

“Aiello, who is the foreman at MRG?” Wilson interrupted.

“Yeah, he’s Vinny Senior, knows my dad from when he went to that school and played ball,” Bianchi explained. “So, he’s in my dad’s office after the game, blah blah blahing about old times with his uncle, his mom’s brother with the last name Palumbo, yeah, those Palumbos. The Feds, I mean federal agents, had been following Uncle Palumbo and picked that moment to try to arrest him, but Uncle Palumbo had seen them coming and hidthe brief case of money before they moved in. Later, my father found it, thought he could keep it and the Palumbos would be none the wiser.”

“But they weren’t none the wiser,” Cooper deduced.

“You and your father both have got to be two of the unluckiest people I’ve ever met,” Wilson said.

---