

“I know you were, I’m sorry, but I’ve got something else to talk to you about.” As a data analyst, Luka is ridiculously thorough in all things. What he means is he was just getting to the part where he talks at length about homemade cheese, and I don’t think I can handle him talking about mozzarella with that level of detail right now.

There’s a pause on the other end of the line. “Listen, I need you to stop talking about pizza for a second.” “Luka, listen,” I lean backward in my chair and fumble for the stack of papers on the file cabinet behind me, cursing under my breath when my fingertips barely glance the corner edge and it goes cascading to the floor in a flurry of white. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
