Page 14 of Hard Bargain

“First,” he said, “we recover what was taken. Quietly, if possible. Violently, if we have to.”

That earned a faint smile from Cassian.

“Mercer’s people who knowingly moved against me die. If we can find Mercer, he dies too, but we both know he prefers to let others get their hands dirty while he hides.”

Cassian nodded. “So we’re starting a war?”

Dominic’s mouth curved. “No. We’re correcting something that should never have happened. He’s not someone I lose sleep over. He’s ambitious, but dumb as shit.”

Cassian cocked his head. “You know him that well?”

Dominic’s mouth flattened. “We were in the same year at high school. He’s always been the same. Getting into trouble he couldn’t finish. Trying to make himself seem bigger than he was.”

Cassian snorted. “I was a few years behind you guys, barely remember the guy. So he’s basically a moron?”

“An opportunistic one.”

Mercer would be dealt with, his assets reclaimed, and the men involved punished. That part was easy, business as usual. Nothing in this city ever unsettled him for long. What was proving less easy, and what refused to leave him even now, was something else entirely.

Knox.

The name surfaced without permission, his thoughts pulling him back to the interrogation room. To the way Knox had sat across from him—visibly afraid, and still somehow angry enough to challenge him.

He hadn’t needed to cross the room and move closer. He could have handled the conversation from across the table, keeping his distance like usual. Instead, he’d stepped directly into Knox’s space, close enough to feel the heat coming off him. Close enough to hear the uneven rhythm of his breathing.

His fingers had closed around Knox’s chin almost without thought, lifting his face like he was something to be examined. Knox had gone rigid beneath the touch, but he hadn’t looked away. He had met his gaze like he didn’t understand who was standing in front of him. Or worse, like he did and chose not to care.

Dominic remembered the brief, unwelcome shift in his attention—the split second his gaze had dropped to Knox’s mouth before he corrected himself. Something had moved under his skin in that moment. Something hot and unfamiliar. A pulse that had nothing to do with power and everything to do with proximity. The recollection irritated him instantly.

Cassian’s voice broke through the thought. “You gonna tell me what’s got you this distracted?”

Dominic looked at him. “No.”

Cassian laughed. “The kid, then.”

“Knox is just a witness I chose to spare. Nothing more,” he said flatly. But even as he said it, he could still remember the warmth of Knox’s skin beneath his hand.

Cassian watched him for a long moment, then nodded. “If you say so.”

“I do.” The dismissal in his tone was clear.

Cassian pushed off the desk. “So what do you need?”

“Take a few men and start digging. I want names, connections, anyone working with Mercer, and every weak point we can exploit.”

Cassian nodded. “You’ll have it.”

Then he was gone, the office door closing behind him. Silence settled in his absence. Dominic exhaled slowly, his fingers tapping against the desk.

All he needed was a simple test to see what kind of man Knox Wolfe really was. Nothing that would draw blood or attention, but enough to determine whether Knox was capable of following orders. Obedience could be measured after all.

He leaned back and let his mind turn over the possibilities. The right task would show whether Knox could be of any use to him.

And if he failed… He would not be spared a second time.

* * *

He could have sent anyone. It would have been easier, safer, and unquestionably smarter. A call to one of his men would have accomplished the same thing without wasting his time.