the Made Men

CHAPTER 5

In Detroit, Marco Tarantino was happy the attention was kept away from him. He, like all of the bosses, knew the Government was conspiring against them. Although the death of Ricardo Gambino came as a surprise, Marco assumed the bombing was a hit by the government. A gift from them meant to be a message and that they all were next. Unlike the others, Marco's brother, Paul Tarantino claimed he was paranoid and potentially going through a midlife crisis.

Midlife crisis or not, Marco had a secret that the others knew nothing about. Once a week he flew out his mistress, Francesca Ferrero, to his waterfront home at Lake Michigan. The same waterfront home he and his family stayed at during the summer months. Francesca, the wife of Dino Ferrero, claimed that life in Chicago was no longer exciting and that Marco was her only thrill. They also knew that if Dino ever found out there would be chaos amongst the families. Yet they both knew the risk and continued the long-term affair anyway.

Marco, like Leo De Luca, had his role handed to him on a silver platter after his uncle, an ex-boss, moved back to Italy. Marco was known to have an old soul. He had black long hair that he normally kept in a neat bun and golden skin that he achieved at a tanning salon. And though he was a college dropout, he loved to cook. On paper, he owned three food trucks where he and his employees made authentic Italian food from scratch. His clients being mostly white-collar corporate types in the financial district, made it a fact to always recommend that he should open his own restaurant.

But Marco disagreed. He thought it was too cliche and he didn't want the commitment that came with it. But mostly he didn't want the financial burden if the restaurant did well. His wife was already doing everything in her power to bleed him dry during their divorce.

Though Marco had three beautiful kids with his wife Mackenzie Tarantino, she finally had enough of his shenanigans and filed for divorce. She despised him even more after it took her months to find a lawyer who would represent her. Marco made it his mission to make the divorce as difficult as possible, starting with having his wife blackballed by every notable lawyer in the state. But after a recommendation from a Facebook friend, Mackenzie was able to be paired with Efron & Sons, a family firm in DC that accepted out-of-state clients.

The problem that Mackenzie thought was the biggest flaw in her marriage was that she knew about her husband's infidelities. The problem was that Marco wouldn't accept her peace offering. She was willing to avoid lawyers and the idea of divorce if he accepted her terms as a life partner. She accepted Marco for who he was and wanted to have it both ways just as he was. She wanted to be in an open marriage. But Marco consistently declined the offer even while he continued to step outside their marriage.

Mackenzie felt she had no other choice but to file. Though she wanted a smooth separation, Marco made it clear that he wasn't going down without a fight. He stayed at the lake house while she stayed at their townhouse in downtown Detroit. They each kept the kids every other week. The arrangement seemed fine until it wasn't.

Mackenzie's lawyer told her the mediation wouldn't be pretty. All because Mackenzie knew where to hit Marco where it hurt. She didn't care about his assets. She wanted full custody of their three kids. Seated next to Marco was his lawyer. Teddy Benton was the best divorce lawyer in Detroit and was highly compensated in exchange.

Marco made his stance clear during mediation. He smiled though he wanted to jump across the table. "You'll have to kill me with your bare hands before I ever agree to that."

"Just sign the papers, Marco." Mackenzie shook her head and then looked at her lawyer, Ruth Efron. They already talked about this. They expected high emotions. Ruth told Mackenzie to show none. "You're making this harder only on yourself."

Marco was furious yet tried to remain calm. "You ungrateful bitch. I gave you my heart for years and this is the thanks I get?"

Mackenzie's lawyer looked at Marco's. "Teddy, if you can't control your client in mediation, I'd love to see him in front of the judge." Ruth took notes on her notepad.

"I don't want a divorce. We should be able to squash this like civilized adults." Marco pleaded to Mackenzie. Then spoke passionately in Italian. "Avremmo dovuto essere migliori."

Mackenzie rolled her eyes. "Solo così tanto una persona può sopportare."

"Il divorzio è accigliato. Abbiamo bisogno di un altro modo."

"Ti ho dato un altro modo." said Mackenzie. "Just give me the kids and you and your whores can live happily ever after."

"We're done here." Teddy packed his things and led Marco outside. Once there he said, "The dissolution of your marriage can only be finalized by a Judge. The hope here is to settle all conflicts before then." Teddy spoke quietly to Marco. "We have her right where we want her. We now know her angle and we know it won't work. In the meantime, stay away from her."

Teddy and Marco shook hands and then went their separate ways. Back in the conference room, Mackenzie strategized with Ruth.

Ruth told her. "Your husband's lawyer is playing the long game. While he might be the best in Detroit, he's never gone against me before. From what we've seen, they want to drag this out as long as they can. This is how some divorces take two, or three years to be finalized. We aren't going to let that happen. We control the narrative and change the playing field entirely."

The duo had other ways they planned to settle the divorce sooner rather than later. Since Mackenzie knew of her husband's infidelity, her lawyer recommended that she hire a private investigator to gather proof. The PI recommended was none other than legendary investigator, Shawn Wright.