Mikhail
Old family photographs are scattered across the low table where I sit in my office as the rain pelts the glass. As a kid, I enjoyed the sound of rain, but as a man, it puts me on edge. The sharp, tiny bursts remind me too much of the sound of gunshots.
"Brooding again, Kolya?" Larissa's voice startles me as she enters my office. She's wearing bright red and deep yellow, as if filling in for the absent sun.
I try to smile, but I can't. "It's my default mode, Lara."
"You were always the moody one." She tosses her wet umbrella onto the floor with a careless grace only she could pull off.
"Careful, or I'll revoke your sibling privileges," I warn her, attempting to lighten my mood.
"You wouldn't dare," she replies evenly.
She hasn't visited the penthouse in weeks. And I notice bo
