Page 24 of Palazzo
Allegra and Basile were back at the hotel in time for dinner, and they all left for Harry’s Bar, as Olivier had promised. For Olivier and Cosima, being with Basile and Allegra made it feel like a happy trip and not a sad one. They were going to watch their brothers get sent to prison. It wasn’t a joyful occasion, but Allegra and Basile were such upbeat, ebullient young people that they lifted everyone’s mood by just being around them.
By the end of dinner, Basile had invited Allegra to come to Paris sometime, to watch him work in the street. He worked in a studio too, when he worked on canvas, he explained, but he still liked doing street work also. She thought it would be exciting to see him do it.
“I’m so glad they both came,” Cosima said in a soft voice to Olivier at the end of the meal. “It’s fun just being with them.”
“She’s an amazing woman,” Olivier said with admiration for both sisters, for different reasons.
“She does more than most people who have full use of their legs,” Cosima commented. “She puts me to shame.”
“Basile is full of life too. He always cheers me up when I’m down. We’re going to need them tomorrow. I’m not looking forward to watching Max get dragged off to prison, however much he deserves it.”
“I think Luca lured him into it, by offering to share the insurance money with him.”
“You can’t lure an honest man,” Olivier said, and she knew it was true. She had spoken to Gian Battista the day before, who had alsoheard that Luca was considering pleading guilty, in exchange for less prison time, if the prosecutor would agree. Gian Battista had wished her luck but didn’t offer to come to court with her. She said that she and Allegra were going with Max’s family, and he was relieved. She had promised to call him afterwards and tell him how it went.
They went to their own rooms when they got back to the hotel. Cosima was sharing a room with Allegra, mostly for the moral support, not because Allegra needed her help. She managed fine on her own, which Basile had noticed all day and commented on to his father.
“It’s as if being in a wheelchair doesn’t slow her down at all. She acts like it’s just normal and she makes it seem that way. What does she do in the family business?”
“Cosima says she’s a talented designer, she designs handbags.”
“You should hire her,” Basile said enthusiastically.
“Her sister would kill me.” Olivier laughed. It had occurred to him too.
—
They all went to bed early, met in the lobby in the morning for croissants and coffee, and were on their way to the courthouse half an hour later. The hearing was at the Ordinary Court of Venice on Santa Croce at the end of the Grand Canal, near the train station. Both lawyers were waiting for them, and Luca’s took both of his sisters aside.
“He’s going to plead guilty,” he explained to them. “The prosecutor made a deal with him.” Cosima knew it meant he would have a criminal record forever, but he also would if he pleaded not guiltyand they convicted him. A deal had been his best chance for a slightly shorter sentence. And Max had already made his deal when he made the statement accusing Luca of his crimes. The hearing that morning was more of a formality than a surprise, but it was daunting anyway, as the four of them filed into the courtroom with the two lawyers. The two defendants were brought in a few minutes later, in handcuffs, but wearing suits and ties. Max looked imploringly at his father, as though begging him to rescue him, which brought tears to Olivier’s eyes, and Basile gently patted his father’s shoulder to give him strength. Luca walked in with averted eyes and went right past his sisters without even glancing at them, defiant and hostile to the end, as though it was all their fault and not his own. He took responsibility for nothing and never had.
The judge dealt with Max’s case first. For accessory to arson, and intent to be an accessory to insurance fraud, he was given a year’s jail sentence, followed by a year’s probation. Cosima could feel the tension go out of Olivier’s body. At least they knew now what he was facing, a year in prison, and not five or ten. Olivier thought Max could do that without having it ruin his life. It was a powerful and much-needed lesson about the kind of people he consorted with, and the influences in his life.
The judge turned to Luca then and read off the charges, as Luca listened stone-faced. He knew what was coming, and he was very lucky. Gian Battista had intervened as much as possible on his behalf, reminding the court of the honor of his family, and their position in the history of the city for centuries. He wasn’t sure it would help, but he had tried. Cosima and Allegra held hands tightly as they waited to hear Luca’s sentence, and the judge was kind to him. He got a yearfor the arson, since he was destroying his own home and not someone else’s, because the sale hadn’t gone through yet. And a year for the insurance fraud he was intending to commit but had received no money for yet. Two years in prison, and a criminal record forever. Even Cosima thought it was better than he deserved. Olivier, standing next to her, squeezed her hand, and she held tightly to his, with Allegra on her other side. Tears of relief ran down her cheeks. She had been afraid he would get ten years, not two.
Luca never turned to look at them and made no sign as he was led out of the courtroom to begin his prison sentence. Both he and Max had been sentenced to the Due Palazzi prison in Padua, about forty minutes from Venice. As she watched him go, Cosima wondered if she would ever see him again. She felt as though her brother had just died.
Max was crying when they took him away, and Olivier nodded, praying that this would be the last harsh lesson he’d have to learn.
The two families left the courtroom in silence, each of them digesting what they’d seen and what it meant to them. Max and Basile had never been close. Max had always been jealous of Basile but they shared the same father and had the same blood, which counted for something.
—
They were still standing on the courtroom steps when Cosima’s cellphone rang. She didn’t look to see who was calling her, and just answered it, in case it was Luca wanting to say goodbye. It seemed so odd to see him leave without even acknowledging them. But it wasn’t Luca, it was Sally Johnson, in Aspen, and she was sobbing. Cosimacouldn’t understand her at first, she was crying so hard. She could only decipher a few sentences between the sobs.
“We were having dinner last night, and Bill looked at me and just rolled out of his chair…he was unconscious…I thought it was the altitude…the paramedics came right away and tried to revive him and couldn’t…he’s dead…oh my God…Cosima, he died, right there in front of me….” Bill Johnson was dead.
By the end of the brief conversation, Cosima had understood that Sally just couldn’t buy the house…it would break her heart to be there without Bill. She was so sorry, but she was canceling the sale. Cosima told her she understood completely. What she knew fully by the time she hung up was that her brother had done major damage to the house by setting fire to it, and the insurance company wasn’t going to pay them a penny, because her brother had committed arson and was going to prison for it. Cosima couldn’t afford to pay for the repairs. The Johnsons weren’t going to buy the house, and she now owned a ruined palazzo, with no way to repair it or sell it. She felt like someone had dropped a building on her head.
“That didn’t sound good,” Olivier said gently, as she ended the call.
“It isn’t,” she confirmed, and they walked silently to where the boats were to go back to the hotel. She felt dazed. Her brother was on his way to prison, and her life was falling apart at a rapid rate.
Chapter 10
Cosima had big decisions to make after Bill Johnson died and Sally told her she couldn’t imagine redoing the palazzo without him, and backed out of the sale. Cosima didn’t blame her for it, but it left her in a complete quandary as to what to do.
Without insurance money, which was no longer available to them, she couldn’t do any of the repairs for the fire and water damage. And without the Johnsons purchasing the house at the price they’d agreed on, she had no spare money either. Sally had wanted to undertake the repairs anyway, for a lowered purchase price for the palazzo. Now none of that was possible, and no one would buy it in the condition it was currently in, except at a fire sale price. Cosima didn’t want to sell it for a ridiculous bargain price. But a new owner would have to handle the repairs, and Cosima couldn’t imagine anyone doing so. It would have to be boarded up now, left in its current state of damage and disrepair, and taken off the market. It seemed tragic, and a waste of a once-spectacular palazzo and historic home.But she had no other choice. The idea of selling the palazzo would have to be shelved until she had the money to repair it, and she couldn’t see when that might happen, or if she might sell it at a very low price. She always put any profits they had back in the business. At least she wouldn’t have to support Luca’s extravagant lifestyle now. That was the only blessing, among a series of hard blows and losses.
