Page 11 of Palazzo
“That’s not possible. What about his sisters? They’d never give their consent, at least not the sister that I met with, and she runs it.”
“He doesn’t need their consent. According to their father’s will, they can sell to whomever they want. And he wants to sell to you.” Olivier stared at him as though he didn’t understand.
“Why does he want to sell to me, an outsider? According to his sister, that’s not how the family operates.”
“I guess he wants the money. He probably won’t want to sell cheaply. But he flew here from Rome to offer it to me. I had told him that you’re in love with their business. He researched it after I left and offered to sell his shares to you. It’s an incredible opportunity that might never come again.”
“Does his sister know? Cosima, the one who runs the business.”
“No one knows right now, except you and me,” Max said proudly, waiting to see the look of victory, elation, gratitude, and pride on his father’s face. It didn’t happen. Olivier frowned, looking gravely concerned.
“I would like to see documents showing me that he has the right to sell. I seriously question it, and he’s walking himself, and me potentially, into a massive lawsuit. That’s the last thing I want, or hostile partners. I told Cosima Saverio myself that I would love to invest in their business, and she brushed me off immediately. There’s something very smoky going on here. What kind of guy is he? You met him at the casino?”
“He’s a great guy and the head of the family. He can do whatever he wants.”
“But he hasn’t told his sisters. It sounds like desperation or an act of war to me. How much did he lose at the casino?”
“Not that much,” Max lied to him, as he did about his own gambling debts. “He’s a smart guy, and he wants to make a deal with you. What should I tell him?” Max was getting nervous. His father hadn’t reacted as he had expected him to, which surprised him. He’d been sure Olivier would leap at the deal and thank Max profusely for making it happen. Instead, he looked like there was a bad smell of something rotten in the room.
“Tell him I’ll think about it,” Olivier said noncommittally, and looked busy at his desk. “Thank you for making me aware of it. Tell him I’ll be in touch very soon,” was all Olivier would say to him, and he waited for Max to leave. After he did, Olivier closed the door to his office, took out his wallet with Cosima’s card in it, and dialed the number in Rome. He called her cellphone, not wanting to alert anyone in her office to the nature of his call, and she sounded surprised when she answered. She had just left a meeting and was on her way back to her office. She was going to let it go to voicemail until she saw who it was.
“Cosima? Olivier Bayard.”
“Hello, how nice to hear from you.” She was surprised.
He got straight to the point. “I’d like to have a private conversation with you.” She was back in her office by then and sat down at her desk.
“On what subject?” She was curious, although she thought she could guess. He wanted to dazzle her with an offer to invest in her business. She needed the money, but she wanted no outside investors, and what they would want from her in exchange.
“It’s a private matter, and I’d rather discuss it with you in person. I can fly in to see you for a few hours if you tell me when you’re free. I don’t want to discuss it on the phone.” She could tell that he wanted to convince her about something and thought he could do so more effectively in person.
“I don’t want to waste your time, Olivier. I meant what I said last weekend. I won’t sell participation in the business to anyone outside the family.”
“I understood that,” he said, “but I’ve become aware of some facts I think you ought to know about.” His call was sounding more mysterious by the minute, and it was clear he wouldn’t discuss it on the phone. “Would you be free anytime tomorrow?”
She glanced at her calendar before she answered. “I can cancel my appointments in the afternoon,” she said hesitantly.
“I’ll do the same. I’ll let you know when I’ll be arriving, and I’ll try not to take up too much of your time,” he said politely. What he had heard from Max he wanted to tell her face-to-face, and offer his help to deal with her brother, who was clearly a loose cannon. If Luca was offering Olivier his shares, he could offer them to anyone else, and sell them to the highest bidder. For the safety of her business, Olivier wanted to warn her. Her brother, who was offering Max the deal, sounded like a scoundrel, and Olivier was sure it wouldn’t be good news to her. “See you tomorrow then,” he said. His gentle, friendly, warm tone when they’d met had disappeared and he was all business. She couldn’t imagine why he was coming to see her, except to try to pressure her to let him invest in her business. Before he hung up, he said something that frightened her. “Don’t tell anyone I’m coming until you hear what I have to say and decide how you wantto proceed.” His mission remained a mystery to her, and it was a long twenty-four hours waiting to see him. She couldn’t guess what it was about, but she followed his request and didn’t tell anyone she was meeting with him. She canceled her afternoon meetings for the following day, claiming a schedule conflict, and Olivier did the same. He had his secretary book him on an early flight to Rome and sent Cosima a text with what time he’d be at her office. He told his secretary not to tell a living soul that he was leaving town for the day. She was to tell people that he was at their factory outside Paris, resolving problems with the union.
He arrived at Fiumicino Airport at twelve-thirty the next day, and was at her office an hour later, right on time.
Cosima had skipped lunch and was waiting for him when her secretary ushered him in, and stood up to greet him with a warm smile. He looked serious and businesslike. He was carrying a briefcase with papers he had to read on the plane. He was thinking of going up to Florence the next day to visit one of their factories there, as long as he had come this far and was in Italy.
“You’re very kind to come and see me,” Cosima said politely. “I have to admit, it’s a mystery to me. Would you like coffee, by the way? Or something to eat?”
“I’m fine,” he said, relaxing a little as she led him to a couch and comfortable chairs in her office, where she held informal meetings. They both sat down, and Olivier took a deep breath. He hated telling her what he felt he had to, out of fairness to her.
“As I mentioned to you on Saturday, I have a somewhat badly behaved son,” he began, “or let’s say he has some bad habits. He likes to gamble. He was in Venice with me when I came for the Johnsons’party, and I believe he met your brother, by pure chance, at one of the casinos in Venice the night of the party.”
“I’m sorry about your son,” she said kindly, and then frowned. “My brother has the same bad habit, to a rather extreme degree. He’s in disgrace with me at the moment. He lost a great deal of money that night, which he expected me to cover, since I often do. This time the amount was exorbitant, and I had to pay his debt to protect his life.”
“I’m sorry to hear that too,” Olivier sympathized. “I think the two of them hit it off. Your brother came to Paris to visit my son a few days ago and made him a proposition, which was actually meant for me. I learned of it yesterday, and wanted to make you aware of it immediately, face-to-face, because I suspect you’re unaware of it, and it could put you and your business in serious jeopardy. Your brother offered—via my son, I never met him—he offered to sell me his share of your business, a third, I believe.” His words hit Cosima like a bomb as she stared at him in disbelief.
“What? But that’s not possible. He has said nothing to me, and he would require my permission and my sister’s to sell his shares to anyone outside the family.”
“He claims that’s not true, and that he can sell his share of the business to anyone he wants, without your or your sister’s consent. He seems very definite about it, or he may be lying to my son.”
“Then he’s lying. I’m sure there’s a clause in my father’s will that he can’t sell his shares to anyone outside the family, although I haven’t read the will recently.” She looked devastated and as though she were about to cry, just at the thought that Luca would try to sell his shares to strangers. It was the ultimate betrayal in her eyes.
