Page 9 of Palazzo
“What are you going to do?” He couldn’t free up that kind of money without explaining it, but she wasn’t asking him to, she was just sharing her miseries with him, as she always did.
“I’ll have to think of something. He told me to sell the palazzo.”
“He’ll just blow that money too. He knows you’ll bail him out. You ought to let him solve his own problems for a change. You can’t mother him forever. You’ve been cleaning up his messes for fifteen years. I can lend you a small amount, but not that kind of money,” he said.
“I know you can’t, and I wouldn’t let you. I just wanted to tell you that it was so nice to see you last night,” she said. He had been missing her all day too.
“One of these days, you should count this against his shares of the business, so you get something in exchange.”
“He always says it’s a loan and he’ll pay me back one day. I think he believes it but I know he never will.”
Gian Battista agreed. “I’ll see you in Rome soon,” but she knew hewouldn’t. He’d been trying to stay away in recent years, to encourage her to lead her life without him. It was hard for both of them.
“Take care of yourself,” she said sadly. Seeing him was always like having a taste of a drug again. She was still addicted to him, and now she had to solve her brother’s problem. Gian Battista told her he loved her and they hung up. Luca was waiting for her in the lobby, and she said not a word to him as they got into a boat to take them to where they could find a taxi for the airport. They were flying home.
All the way back, she thought about where to find two hundred thousand euros. There were only two possibilities. Take it out of the business or sell the palazzo. Luca was right, and she was furious with him. She left in a separate cab from the airport in Rome, telling him to get home on his own. She had told him on the flight that if this was another “loan,” he should sell his fancy cars and pay her back eventually. She was sick and tired of paying his gambling debts. He didn’t answer. He was never accountable and didn’t want to pay her back.
When she got back to her apartment, she called Sally Johnson to thank her for the fabulous party. And then she hesitated for a moment, and leapt in.
“You know, you’ve done such a fabulous job with the place, you’ve brought it back to life. We’re not ready to do it, but I was thinking last night. If we ever decide to sell the palazzo, would you and Bill be interested in buying it?”
Sally let out a scream before she answered. “Oh my God, yes. We’d love it. And there’s so much more I could do if it were ours.” It brokeCosima’s heart to think about it, after all that she’d seen the night before. How many more pearls and crystals, coral branches and turquoise beads and Roman statues could they add to what their decorator had already done? Cosima shuddered at the thought. But her brother’s life was at stake through his own stupidity, and if she didn’t save him, it could be truly disastrous this time, for that amount of money. She felt responsible for him, as though he were a child, and she, his mother. “Bill will be thrilled to hear it,” Sally went on, breathless with excitement.
“We haven’t decided,” Cosima said quickly, “but my brother and I were talking about it today, and he thinks we should. I’ll give it some more thought and call you,” she promised.
She had a splitting headache after that but went to check on Allegra anyway. Allegra said she’d had a busy weekend and had gone out to dinner with friends both nights. She knew all the young designers in Rome and hung out with them regularly. One of them wanted her to design bags for them, but she knew Cosima wouldn’t like it so she had refused.
After Cosima listened to what Allegra had done all weekend, she told her about Luca’s disastrous loss in Venice.
“What are you going to do?” Allegra looked panicked. “He’s right, they probably will kill him if he doesn’t pay up.”
“It’s so wrong to sell the palazzo to cover his gambling debts. And he’ll do it again, you know it,” Cosima said angrily. Allegra didn’t disagree, but he was her brother and she loved him, no matter how derelict and irresponsible he was.
“You can’t take it out of the business, just borrow it, and pay it back later?” Allegra asked her.
“I can’t run a business that way.” Cosima was frustrated.
“Then I suppose you have to sell the palazzo.” Allegra had tears in her eyes as she said it, and so did Cosima. They both knew that Luca expected Cosima to come through for him. She always had before, but not for an amount like this.
Cosima went back to her apartment and tossed and turned all night. She barely slept, and sat on the terrace looking at the city before the sun came up. She knew she really had no choice, but she would warn Luca that this was the last time she would bail him out. She knew her father would have expected her to help him. Luca wasn’t the head of the family now, she was, and had been since their parents had died. The idea of Luca as the head of the family was a bad joke.
It was all she could think about on Sunday, and she waited until nine o’clock Monday morning, called Sally Johnson from her office, and gave her the good news. For the Johnsons, not for the Saverios.
“We’ve decided to sell the palazzo if you and Bill are really interested. I spoke to my brother and sister, and we all agree.” She didn’t tell her why they were willing to sell it, or what a lowlife her brother was. She would never forgive him for this. “If Bill is agreeable, I’d like to have two hundred thousand fairly quickly, as a nonrefundable deposit and gesture of good faith. We can work out the final price later, after we get a proper estimate of what the palazzo is worth,” which they both knew would be a great deal more than the deposit she had asked for.
“Of course,” Sally said without hesitating. She didn’t want Cosima to change her mind. She knew how much she and her family loved their palazzo. She considered it a great stroke of luck that they werewilling to sell it. She thought the new décor might have convinced Cosima that they were worthy owners and would do an even more spectacular job once they owned it. “I’ll have Bill write you a check today and put it in the mail. Is that fast enough?” Sally wondered for an instant if the Saverios had money troubles. She thought it unlikely. Their family business was such a successful and expensive brand.
“It’s fine,” Cosima said in a dead voice. She texted Luca as soon as she hung up. “You’ll have your money in the next two days. You don’t deserve it. I’m not giving you another penny after this. We’re losing our family home because of you. You’re a disgrace to our name and to yourself. I hope you learn your lesson this time. Don’t ever ask me for money again. And you’ll have your third of the money from the sale. I’ll take the two hundred thousand out of your share, and you’d better not blow the rest at the blackjack table.”
She had a heavy heart all day, just thinking about it. Luca hadn’t answered her text. He’d had an idea and had dug in his pocket for Max’s card. He found it in the pocket of the jacket he’d worn at the casino. He called Max as soon as he found it.
“How did your sister react when you told her what you lost at the casino?” Max asked, curious, still impressed that he could cover such a loss, and that the casino gave him credit. But he imagined that the owners of Saverio were rolling in money, so he wasn’t entirely surprised.
“The usual. She had a fit, and read me the riot act, but she’s going to cover it. I had an idea, though. I’d like to come to Paris to discuss it with you,” Luca said in a silky tone that intrigued Max. He liked Luca. They’d had a good time together, despite their losses. Andapparently Luca’s weren’t a big deal to him. Max had borrowed against his salary as soon as he got back to Paris, so he’d have money to live on for the next month. He had lost every penny he had in his bank account, and he didn’t want his father to know. Olivier would have been furious with him.
“Sure. That would be fun,” Max said with a grin. “I can take you to the casino at Enghien, but it’s not Venice or Monte Carlo. It’s pretty boring. And there’s a small club on the Champs-Élysées.”
“Sign me up,” Luca said enthusiastically.
