Page 54 of Saltwater Promises
“It wasn’t a scumbag. It was your dad.”
Lenny flinched but responded almost naturally. “Oh, good one, FBI, but I don’t have a dad. If they find him, maybe they can let me know what he’s been up to the last thirty years?”
“They know, Lenny. He’s working with them too.” Mike let out a heavy sigh. “I knew that this was going to be hard for you to hear.”
“Come on. I can take it.”
“I don’t know.” Mike stood up and started toward the kitchen.
“Hey, what is it? Don’t walk away from me.”
Perfect. It was working. Lenny was asking for the information.
Mike came back, sat down, and put on his best serious face. “It’s Marco, Lenny. They know that he’s your dad because he’s the one who offered to sell you out.”
Lenny stared at him, jaw going slack. “No way, man. There’s just no way. How would the FBI know that? Nobody knows that. Nobody!”
Mike frowned. “He told them, Lenny. He cut a deal with them so that once Antonio and Anthony are gone, he can keep the business going. He’s promised to keep it clean and out of the news. And he told them that the Sabini family wouldn’t be a problem for them anymore.”
Lenny stood up, pointing a finger into Mike’s face. “You’re full of it!”
Anger. This was good. Lenny was moving through the stages of grief.
Mike shook his head. “Why would I lie? They were trying to see if I already knew any of this. But I was shocked. I had no idea Marco was your dad.”
After a moment, Lenny sat down on the couch again. “How could he do this to me?”
Despair. Mike decided to fan the flames. “That’s what he’s like, you know? That’s what Marco’s always been like. He uses people. You can’t trust him. I know that you want to, but – ”
“No. There’s no way. He’s my dad! He said we’re going to finally do something together. He’s been waiting for this.”
Mike was quiet for a moment. “Maybe. But think about all those years that you and your mom had to get by on so little. Where was he then?”
Lenny buried his face in his hands. “No, no, no,no. He wouldn’t do this.”
“Yeah, I guess the FBI could be lying. But why would they?” That was, perhaps, Mike’s biggest lie of all. One of Mike’s greatest weapons was when people mistakenly assumed that the FBI couldn’t lie to them. He could lie endlessly, say anything he needed to. He could flat out deny being a Fed. It didn’t matter.
“They don’t know that we’re working together,” Mike said with a heavy sigh. “I just – I had to tell you.”
“What am I supposed to do?” Lenny dragged his hands down his face. “Do you really think he’s going to hand me over?”
Mike shrugged. “Not if you hand him over first.”
“I can’t do that.” Lenny stood up and started pacing the room, comically stepping over plates and empty pizza boxes.
Mike kept his seat on the couch. “He has no issue doing it to you.”
“No, man, I can’t do this. I can’t do any of this. I need him, I need the rest of the family.”
“Why, though?” Mike paused. How thick could he lay it on before Lenny caught on? “You’re running everything out here on your own, from what I can see. And whatever you’ve got going on with Benzini will bring in millions, right?”
“Yeah. A hundred, maybe two hundred million.”
Interesting. “You could live off of that. Go and buy a private island, and then crown yourself king if you want.”
A flicker of a smile. “Yeah, right.”
“Listen, man, this is your way out. Leave everything behind, start over.”
