"Dibdin, Michael - Aurelio Zen 02 - Vendetta UC - part 01" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dibdin Michael)

by the underground vault containing hundreds of video
tapes, as well as computer discs all carefully shelved and
indexed. Like all good libraries, Oscar's collection was
constantly expanding. Indeed, shortly before his death a
complete new section of shelving had been installed to
accommodate the latest additions.
'But do you actually ever watch any of them'?' the guest
might ask.
'I don't need to watch them,' Oscar would reply,
smiling in a peculiar way. 'It's enough to know that
they're there.'
If the six people relaxing at the water's edge were in any
way uneasy about the prospect of having their antics pre-
served for posterity, they certainly didn't show it. An
invitation to the Villa Burolo was so sought-after that no
one was going to quibble about the conditions. Quite apart
from the experience itself it was something to brag about at
dinner parties for months to come. 'You mean to say
you've actually been there?' people would ask, their envy
showing like an ill-adjusted slip. 'Tell me, is it true that he
has lions and tigers freely roaming the grounds and that
the only way in is by helicopter?' Secure in the knowledge
that no one was likely to contradict him, Oscar Burolo's
ex-guest could freely choose whether to distort the facts
and I solemnly assure you, I who have been there
and seen it with my own eyes, that Burolo has a staff of
over thirty servants -- or rather slaves! -- whom he bought,
cash down, from the president of a certain African country
or, in more sophisticated company, to suggest that
the truth was actually stranger than the various lurid and
vulgar fictions which had been circulating.
On the face of it, this degree of interest was itself almost
the oddest feature of the business. Nothing could be more
banal than for a rich Italian to buy himself a villa in Sar-
dinia. By 'Sardinia', of course, one meant the Costa
Smeralda on the northern coast of the island, which the
Aga Khan had bought for a pittance from the local peasant
farmers and turned into a holiday paradise for the super-
wealthy, a mini-state which sprang into being every sum-
mer for two months. Its citizens hailed from all parts of the
world and from all walks of life: film stars, industrialists,
sheikhs, politicians, criminals, pop singers, bankers. Their
cosmopolitan enclave was protected by an extremely
efficient private police force, but its internal regime was
admirably democratic and egalitarian. Religious, political
or racial discrimination were unknown. The only require-
ment was money, and lots of it.
As founder and owner of a construction company
whose rapid success was almost uncanny, there was no
question that Oscar Burolo satisfied that requirement. But