Page 52 of Hard Bargain

Which somehow only made it worse.

Or better.

Knox honestly had no idea.

When Dominic finished, he shoved another tissue into Knox’s hand.

“Thanks,” Knox muttered. Still no eye contact.

Dominic stepped back, exhaling slowly like he’d been holding his breath the entire time.

Knox waited for Dominic to say something, maybe to bark an order or tell him to leave. Instead Dominic only stood there with his arms crossed tightly over his chest. He looked at Knox, then away, then back again, like even he didn’t know what to do with this.

When he finally spoke, his voice was coarse. “You good?”

The question caught Knox off guard. It wasn’t gentle. Dominic probably wasn’t capable of gentle, but it wasn’t cold, either. Just… awkwardly human.

“Yeah. I’m—yeah.” He risked a glance up. “You?”

Dominic gave a short, humorless laugh. “Yeah.”

Knox didn’t believe him for a second.

Dominic was visibly restless in a way Knox had never seen before. Then he scrubbed a hand over his face. “I need a drink,” he muttered. “You want one?”

Knox gave a quick nod.

Dominic strode to the kitchen, pulling two glasses from the cupboard and reaching for the whiskey. He poured them both full and slid one Knox’s way without ceremony. “You might want to wash up,” Dominic said, nodding toward the sink.

“Yeah, good idea.” He turned on the tap, scrubbing off the last evidence under the water. He tried very hard not to think about everything that just happened and failed completely.

By the time he grabbed the whiskey and took a long swallow, the burn barely registered.

Dominic was leaning against the counter, watching him in that unreadable way of his. Knox waited for him to say something. He wanted an order, or even a threat. Instead, Dominic broke the silence with a single, flat line. “I’m not gay.”

Knox blinked. Of all the things he’d expected, that wasn’t even remotely on the list. He looked down at his own drink. “Yeah,” he said. “Me neither.”

Silence.

A ridiculous, defensive, profoundly unconvincing silence.

Then Dominic straightened, tossed back the rest of his whiskey, and set the glass down with enough force to make Knox flinch. “Good,” he said gruffly. “That’s settled.”

Dominic was already reaching for the bottle again. And just like that, the moment vanished. “Tomorrow, you start shadowing Mendez at the main warehouse,” he said, his tone all business now. “He’ll show you the ropes. Don’t piss him off. He’s got no patience for new guys.” He finally looked over, catching Knox’s eye. “I’ll have a car pick you up at seven-thirty. Be ready.”

Knox nodded, the subject change a relief. “Got it.”

Dominic pulled out his phone, thumbs moving over the screen. “A driver will be downstairs in five. He’ll take you home.”

Dismissed.

“Thanks,” he muttered.

He left Dominic’s loft feeling wrung out, overstimulated, and far too aware of the fact that Dominic had woken something in him that probably should have stayed buried.

Chapter 15

Dominic