(SERGIO)
I rub my eyes behind my glasses. The words on the screen are too fuzzy, and I am too tired to focus.
I sigh and pick up my Campari and Tonic. I have taken to drinking too early in the afternoon, a habit that my cousin Maksim hates immensely, but one that I find necessary to dampen the ache in my chest. The last two nights, I have fallen into bed a drunken stupor and passed out in a few hours.
But at least, it is an improvement for sleepless nights.
Maksim is sitting in the corner on the floor, pretending to ignore me when I can tell that he is actually watching me. He isn't fooling me.
I read the numbers on my screen again, wanting to prove that I am still the one in charge of the empire. "Toni just made us over two billion euros by shorting a tech stock."
Maksim grunts.
"Maybe we don't even need Kuznetsov for this computer idea."
He doesn't respond.
