“Not just your father, Jesus. Your sister too. Seems to me like your entire family was a Jack Goff fan. You’re the odd one out.”

“Seems to me like you didn’t know how to satisfy a woman, otherwise Pita wouldn’t have gone looking elsewhere for a real man.”

“A real man? You’ve been reading too much Cosmo, pal.”

“You know why I pulled support for you and your team?”

“Bad business sense?”

“Funny, Jack.”

“No joke, Jesus. Your father built that brewery from nothing. He knew what he was doing. He knew the importance of breaking into the US market. He knew the returns would come. If he were alive today, the company would be worth five times its current value.”

“You’re dumber than you look, Jack.”

“I’m not the only one who thinks this.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’ve followed the company, Jesus. And the pundits seem to agree with me. Pulling out of the US was a massive mistake, and nothing much has been going right for you since.”

“Where do you get your news?” he snapped. “The Gringo Gazette?”

“Must be a pretty shitty feeling to know your entire board of directors is thinking about voting to oust you from your own company, huh?”

“You know nothing. Nothing. Dumping you was absolutely the right decision. Because you’re a fuckup, Jack, a cocky, reckless, impulsive fuckup. I knew that from the moment I met you—”

“You let your personal feelings cloud your business judgment—”

“—before you crashed and ruined your career,” he went on, speaking over me, “before you started drinking yourself to the gutter. I knew that, and I was right. I was right. Because look at you now. You’re no longer just a fuckup. You’ve managed to become a drunk as well.” He smiled mirthlessly. “You’re a fucking joke, Jack. So congratulations—you’ve finally lived up to your name.”

Elizaveta

1

Elizaveta helped Rosa into bed next to Pepper, who remained fast asleep, then pulled the sheet and rug up to her chin.

“What if I can’t fall asleep?” Rosa asked.

“Huh?” Elizaveta said. Jesus and Jack were speaking to each other, and she was trying to hear what they were saying.

“What if I can’t fall asleep?”

“Then you count sheep.”

“That never works.”

“Then imagine ice melting.”

“What?”

“That is what children in Russia do. Trust me, it works.”

“I don’t know…”

“I will come back and wake you soon.”

“Eliza?” she asked.

“Yes?”

“Will I see you and Jack again?”

“What do you mean?”

“After today?”

“Da, if you want to. If your mother lets you.”

“Well, I’ll probably be grounded for a month. But after that, maybe I can visit you and Jack? Maybe we can have a sleepover. Not like tonight. A fun one, with movies and stuff. I’m allowed sleepovers sometimes.”

“Oooh. I don’t know about that.”

“Why not?”