Page 109 of Graves

“Maybe… if you ever want to talk…” Luke says, frowning. “I’d like that. You have my number.”

I swallow and almost nod, but instead I shake my head regretfully.

Why am I doing this?

Nahla deleted Luke’s number the first chance she got. That was good—I was too weak to do it myself.

But I’m not the same man I was a year ago.

So why don’t I say anything when Luke takes out his phone? Why do I recite my number like a robot when he asks? And why do I nod when he asks if he can text me so I’ll have his number again?

Am I really not as strong as I thought?

With shaky hands, I pull my vibrating phone from my back pocket.

And then there it is.

Luke’s number.

I clear my throat and slide the phone back into my pocket. “Well… get home safe,” I say quietly.

Luke’s bright smile almost blinds me. He drops his phone into the grocery bag he’s carrying, then notices the paparazzi at the other end of the street.

“What’s going on over there?”

“No idea,” I lie.

The second I step closer to Luke and follow his gaze, a camera flash blinds us.

“What the—? Hey!” Luke snaps at the reporter. “What the hell was that?”

I flinch at his sharp tone, but I’m also relieved he’s confronting the guy.

“S-sorry,” the man with the camera says. “I thought you were someone else.”

Luke scowls. “Delete the photo!”

“I couldn’t use it anyway.”

“Now!”

The photographer looks at his screen and presses a few buttons. “All right, all right,” he says soothingly. “No need to get worked up.”

“You can’t just take pictures of random people.”

I feel a pang of sympathy for the guy. “He’s just doing his job.”

“That’s a job?” Luke scoffs. “Fuck off!”

I’ve always hated this side of Luke. He has no problem confronting people. In theory, it’s honorable—he wants to protect the people around him. But he rarely does it in a polite way.

Maybe it’s because of how I was raised. Yes, I have the mafia gene, but my mother made sure I learned Japanese manners. Politeness always came first.

When the reporter gets on his motorcycle and drives off, I breathe a quiet sigh of relief. Confrontations like that drain me.

Or maybe it’s just Luke.

He turns back to me with a smile. “He probably thought we were celebrities.”