Page 43 of Hard Bargain

Chapter 13

Dominic

He watched the entrance to Knox’s building from his parked car, engine running.

Knox knew to be ready at nine. The text Dominic had sent the night before gave him little beyond that, just enough to make it clear he was expected outside on time. He didn’t think the boy would keep him waiting. Fear would make sure of that. So would curiosity.

At exactly nine, Knox stepped out of the building with his hood pulled up, his gaze immediately scanning the block in that observant way Dominic had come to recognize. It took him only a second to spot the car. He crossed the street with purpose before slipping into the passenger seat.

He hadn’t seen much of him lately. First, he’d sent him to Cassian for training, making sure he learned how to defend himself better. After that, Dominic had kept him occupied with smaller tasks, simple runs that required little more than following instructions and keeping his mouth shut.

Not because Knox wasn’t capable of more. But because Dominic still hadn’t decided exactly what to do with him. There was something about the boy that refused to settle neatly into place. Knox remained frustratingly difficult to define, and Dominic disliked uncertainty in any form. So he had done what he always did with complications. He created distance. Or at least, that had been the plan.

The last time he’d seen Knox face to face had been at the club, the day he’d taken Missy into the back room to prove something to himself. To prove that he was still in control. That some boy with pale blue eyes and a smart mouth hadn’t managed to unravel him. He’d told himself it worked, right up until it was over and his feet had carried him straight to where Knox was sitting, like fucking her had accomplished nothing at all. He hadn’t even managed to keep his hands to himself, touching the boy within minutes of sitting down. It should have humiliated him, how little control he’d actually had in that moment.

Knox had become an irritatingly persistent presence in his thoughts, surfacing at moments when his attention belonged elsewhere. More than once, he had called him directly under the excuse of giving instructions or checking on some meaningless task that could just as easily have been handled through one of his men.

Keeping him at arm’s length had done nothing to resolve the matter. If anything, it had made the question Knox represented more pronounced. Distance, clearly, was no longer the solution.

The engine idled beneath them as Dominic shifted the car into gear and pulled away from the curb. He didn’t explain where they were going, just let the silence hang and the city slip past.

Twenty minutes later, they pulled into the garage of his warehouse. Knox followed without needing to be told, trailing a step behind as they passed security and made their way down to the basement. Knox remained quiet, but his gaze moved constantly, cataloguing everything around him.

At the end of the hallway, Cassian waited outside a closed door, arms crossed over his chest, one shoulder braced against the wall. “You brought him?” Cassian asked, a crooked grin tugging at his mouth.

Dominic ignored it. “All set?”

Cassian nodded, his amusement fading. “They’re inside.”

Knox glanced between them, suspicion sharpening his expression. “What’s going on?”

Dominic paused, searching Knox’s face for a moment. “A test.”

Knox frowned.

“For them,” Dominic clarified. “Not you. But I want you watching.”

“What kind of test?”

Dominic held his gaze. “A crew stole from me. Cassian tracked them down.”

Understanding flickered across Knox’s face, followed quickly by unease.

“There are five men behind that door,” Dominic continued. “I want to know who understood what they were doing, who was simply following orders, who knew exactly whose territory they were stepping into, and who’s stupid enough to lie about it.”

Knox blinked, caught off guard. “What do you want me to do?”

“Watch. Listen.” Dominic stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Tell me who you think is lying.”

Knox stared at him. “You want my judgment?”

“You’re observant,” Dominic said. “You read people well. Better than most.”

It was true.

Cassian opened the door. The smell hit first. The stink of sweat and fear was sharp enough to taste. The room was harshly lit, stripped bare except for five metal chairs in a row. The men sat side by side, wrists cuffed tight with plastic zip ties that had rubbed the skin raw, ankles secured to the chair legs. Two of Dominic’s security men stood silently at the back wall, watching without expression.

Dominic stepped inside and nodded for Knox to follow. “Don’t talk unless I tell you to.”