41. Chapter 34
Lorenzo
Carlo said that if we are going to meet, it has to be some place that Giovanni won’t find out.
Ever since my conversation with Yuri Volkov, I’ve been trying to talk privately with Carlo to get information about my father’s private dealings in the months before his death and to see if he knows anything about this Saturn Industrial Holdings.
When I brought up that name, Saturn, after a meeting with some capos yesterday, Carlo went white and said, “Not here. Not now.”
So now, I find myself on the top level of a public parking garage in the Outer Sunset. Wind pushes off the ocean, carrying with it a cold, salty smell. Fog rolls low over the rooftops below me.
Carlo arrives four minutes after me in a car I don’t recognize. He told me to come alone, without Wolfe, and he arrives alone, too.
The first thing I notice about him is the dark circles under his eyes.
He also seems to have lost weight in the last few weeks, his expensive suit loose on his frame.
“Thanks for coming,” he says, stopping a few feet away from me, his hands in the pockets of his trench coat.
“I know this is all a bit cloak-and-dagger, but we needed a private place to talk.”
“Of course,” I say slowly. “Thanks for agreeing to talk about this.”
He glances around the empty rooftop of the parking garage. “No one should be listening here.”
“You’re worried about Giovanni, aren’t you.” It’s not a question.
Carlo sighs. “I am.”
I lean against the side of my car. “Why?”
The consigliere hesitates.
“You can trust me, Carlo. I’m worried about Giovanni, too.” I decide to lay my cards on the proverbial table. “I have a suspicion that he might’ve had something to do with Father’s death.”
Carlo looks at me sharply. “So you no longer think it was the Volkovs?”
“I don’t. I met with Yuri Volkov the other day. He told me some interesting things. And he convinced me the bratva isn’t to blame.”
“You met with Yuri Volkov?” Carlo hisses. “Does your brother know?”
“He shouldn’t. I kept it off-book.”
“You should hope he doesn’t know. Did Volkov tell you about Saturn?”
“No.”
“Where’d you hear about it, then?”
I trust Carlo, but even he doesn’t get this piece of information. I cross my arms. “That’s need-to-know. And you don’t need to know.”
“Fair enough.”
“So, what is it?”
Carlo looks out at the foggy city. “I’ve worked for this Family for almost forty years, Lorenzo.
Your father wasn’t just my boss. He was my closest friend.
I didn’t always agree with his choices, but near the end of his life, he started to change.
You may have noticed that he became more withdrawn. ”
“I noticed. And when I went to Yuri, he said that Father asked if Yuri had ever considered his ‘legacy.’ Is that what Father was thinking about, near the end?”
“He was.” Carlo turns to me. His expression is equal parts grief and hope.
“He wanted to leave behind criminal enterprises and legitimize the Family. He saw the harm that had been done by so many of our operations, and he wanted to change. He knew such a big change couldn’t happen overnight, but he had begun the work.
He’d been working on it, in fact, for the last two years.
He was converting a portion of the Diamante income into real, legitimate businesses.
Commercial properties, mostly, with actual tenants, actual books, authentic tax filings and all that.
He used a few different shell companies to manage everything, the biggest one being—”
“Saturn Industrial Holdings,” I finish.
“Yes. Massimo believed that the Family had to change if it was going to survive past his lifetime. He didn’t want to dismantle everything we’d built, but he wanted it to become something better.”
“Who else knows about this?”
“It was supposed to just be Massimo and I. He wanted to tell your mother, but he was waiting until the time was right. Until he was no longer the Don.” He looks briefly away. “He wasn’t sure she would support the idea.”
“You say it was supposed to be just you. Did someone else find out?”
“I don’t know for sure, but a few months ago…” Carlo hesitates.
“The fires,” I whisper.
He closes his eyes. “Yes. A few fires in properties owned by Saturn. Someone seemed to be strategically targeting the Family’s legitimization ventures.
Massimo didn’t know who, and if he had any theories, he didn’t share them with me.
But that was one of the reasons he played this so close to his chest.”
“Do you have any theories about who was responsible? Do you think they had anything to do with his death?”
“I do, and yes.”
We’re both silent for a moment, like we’re waiting for each other to say a name.
“Giovanni,” I finally say.
“I have no proof. But…”
“But?”
“But there is one more thing. Massimo knew that Giovanni would never support the idea of the Family going straight. He was too enamored with the power a life of crime could give him. For that reason, Massimo didn’t want Giovanni to take over the Family.”
Something cold and heavy hits me in the stomach. “What are you saying?”
“The night he died, Massimo called you to meet him at the house, didn’t he?”
“He did.”
“Do you know why?”
I shake my head, unable to speak.
“In the weeks before his death, Massimo decided officially that you would be named his successor instead. He was planning on stepping down and letting you take over. He knew you would support the legitimization of the Family. He knew that you could finish what he started. I think—I don’t know for sure, but I think—that Giovanni found out, and that he killed your father before he could meet with you. ”
Below us, weekend traffic moves through the city. I wish, just for a moment, that I could be one of those people, unbothered and driving to some fun weekend hangout. Rage is building inside me, rage against my brother.
“After your father died,” Carlo says, “I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know if I should tell you, or if I should keep it to myself. I still don’t know if Giovanni is guilty or not, but I’ve been trying to find proof.”
“Giovanni had the most to lose if Father lived, and the most to gain if he died,” I murmur, half to myself. “It makes sense. Do you have a list of the other properties owned by Saturn?”
Carlo reaches into his coat and produces a manila envelope. “Everything you need is here. Be careful who you let see this. And tell no one in the Family that we met. It’s far too dangerous.”
As I reach to take the envelope, his eyes flash. “And Lorenzo. You should know that one of the biggest and most successful properties Saturn is invested in is Lo Scandalo.”
“Pepe’s club,” I breathe.
“Yes. I swear on your father’s grave, if anything happens to my son, I don’t care who is responsible. I’ll kill him myself.”
“Nothing will happen to Pepe,” I promise. I look down at the folder, wondering just how big a can of worms it’s about to open. “I’ll finish this before anyone else can get hurt.”