Page 106 of Graves

“Fine,” I give in, but I raise a warning finger. “No stupid comments, got it?”

“Oh come on.” Liam laughs and rests his foot on his knee. “It’s always the same. You say it sucks, then drop the next hit.”

“I’m serious. This isn’t what you think.”

“Okay! You have my word. I’ll think before I speak.” He even crosses his fingers. “Now play it.”

When he pulls out the puppy eyes, I walk over, open the laptop, and turn on the mixing board.

“Is that still your old laptop?” Liam asks as it boots up.

“No. It died after five years. Fox got me a new one.”

“And the board?”

“Probably about to die too.”

“I brought my old one from Boston. My sister basically threw it at me. Didn’t want it collecting dust in the basement anymore. You can have it if you want. It’ll be better off here than at my place.”

“Hm…” I mumble, pretending to be busy. I don’t like where this conversation is going. Liam has gone quiet, and I can feel his eyes on my back.

“My mom says hi,” he says. “My sister too. She ran into Sophie recently. Said she’s doing well.”

Just hearing my sister’s name makes my muscles lock up. Liam must notice, because his voice softens.

“Her flower shop seems to be doing great. And she’s pregnant.”

Pregnant?

My sister is going to be a mom?

I have no idea what that information does to me. I can’t even begin to process it. I stand up and turn to Liam.

“You’re gonna be an uncle,” he says, knowing he’s already gone too far.

“Stop,” I growl, glaring down at him.

He doesn’t back off.

“She’s your sister, dude. Call her. Or text her. I’m sure she’d be happy to hear from you.”

“Five years, Liam. They turned their backs on me. I’ve got no reason to reach out.”

“You don’t know what happened.”

“You don’t either!” I snap.

The outburst hits me with instant regret. I grimace, unable to sit still.

Does Liam actually know something?

And if he does… do I even want to know?

It would mean facing a pain I buried years ago. After two years of silence in prison, I decided not to mourn that part of my life anymore. I should’ve known Liam wouldn’t let it go. He’d keep picking at the scar until it started bleeding again.

“Can we change the subject?”

Liam lets out a low, confirming hum. I can hear from his tone that he doesn’t like it, but he respects me—and I appreciate that even more.