Sex and the Billionaire Crime Boss - Season 2

Ch. 14: Then and Now

"My mother was abused," Max says, and I just stare at him.

"Your mother?"

"She nearly died before anyone did anything. It was almost too late to save her."

A million thoughts are running through my mind. Why is Max loyal to his father - carrying on his business - if his father was an abuser who almost killed his mother? It doesn't make sense.

Max must see the confusion on my face.

"My father never hurt her."

"Then who?"

Max leans back in his chair, starts to lift his glass of champagne, then sets it down and waives the server over and orders a bourbon, and asks for menus.

"It's a long story," Max tells me as the server walks away. "I was planning to head back to the hotel and order room service then finesse you into bed, but if I'm going to tell you this we might as well have dinner here."

"Okay." I'm still reeling from the shock of what he's telling me. Max never shares anything about his past, and I'm wondering why he's suddenly decided to open up to me.

The server hands us the menus.

"You order for us," Max says, and I scan the prix fixe menu and make selections, mostly seafood and he nods in approval but seems distracted. Then I wait for Max to speak again.

"How much do you know about the Irish mafia?" he asks me.

"Pretty much nothing. I mean, I've heard stories about South Boston and Whitey Bulger. There was that movie with Johnnie Depp awhile ago."

Max nods. "That's the Irish mob in the U.S. It's a whole different thing in Ireland."

"I don't really know anything about that."

"Back in the 1970's and 80's the Irish mafia in Dublin was heavily into the drug trade. There were multiple factions, though, and constant wars between them, jockeying for control."

I listen to Max, but I'm wondering what any of this has to do with his mother being abused. He seems to want to tell the story in his own time, and I don't want to interrupt him with questions. He pauses as our server comes back with a tray and sets the plates on the table.

I ordered the yellowfin tuna and the scallops as appetizers, and we're sharing both of them. But at the moment I'm not sure I have much of an appetite. I'm not expecting this to be a pretty story.

As soon as the server leaves, Max continues.

"My grandfather left Italy and came to Miami in the 1950's, with little more than the shirt on his back. It didn't take him long, apparently, to realize that illegal gambling was where the real money could be made. He soon expanded from that to hotels - where much of the gambling took place - and the construction industry as the population in Miami grew and the need for development increased.

"By the time my father was born in the 1960's the name Bennett was well known and respected in organized crime."

"You grandfather was part of the Mafia?"

"Not exactly. He was only half Italian - his mother was English - and he compounded that by marrying a Cuban American woman. You couldn't be a "made man" in the Mafia unless you were fully of Italian descent, but he associated with Mafia bosses and controlled some key economic resources that meant he was the man to deal with. He'd also made significant inroads in putting local politicians on his payroll."

I'm wondering now if that's why Max isn't actually in the Mafia but instead has business dealings with actual mob bosses like Gino and Joey D, but I don't want to interrupt him to ask. His father wasn't pure Italian, and Max already told me before that his mother was Irish. I finger my Claddaugh bracelet and watch Max's gaze settle on it for a moment, then flick away.