Page 56 of Hard Bargain

“What was it this time?” Dominic asked.

“The cabinet door.” His dad shrugged. “The hinge kept catching.”

One of his uncles laughed. “You can’t leave anything half done.”

His dad smiled, accepting the accusation without argument. There wasn’t much point denying something everyone at the table already knew.

Dominic got to his feet. His dad clapped him once on the shoulder before pulling him into a brief hug.

His aunt Lucia was already on her feet. “Sit,” she said, waving him toward the empty chair.

“I can fix myself a plate.”

“You’ll sit.” She disappeared into the kitchen before he could argue further. A moment later she returned with a steaming plate, setting it in front of him. The bread basket followed, nudged into his reach with a look that left no room for refusal.

Within minutes he was laughing with the rest of them, sliding into the flow of conversation as if he’d been there all along.

Dominic watched him for a moment. His father had always been like that. Whether it was a construction site, a broken cabinet, or something a neighbor needed fixed, he gave it everything he had, then he’d come home and somehow found enough energy left over for everyone else.

After a while, Dominic checked his watch and set down his cup. “We should get going.”

Cassian nodded.

They said their goodbyes. His mother pressed a container of leftovers into his hands that he hadn’t asked for. “Drive safe,” she said.

“We will.”

He and Cassian stepped out into the bright afternoon, the door closing on the noise behind them.

Before Cassian had even pulled away from the curb, Dominic had his phone out.

“Already working?” Cassian glanced sideways. “You didn’t even last a minute.”

Dominic ignored him and hit Mendez’s number.

“Yeah?” Warehouse noise hummed in the background.

“How’s he doing?” Dominic asked.

“He’s sharp,” Mendez said. “He’s asking the right questions. Not trying to prove anything. Just listening. Figuring out the flow.”

Dominic looked out at the road ahead. He’d expected that. “Good. Take him with you this afternoon.”

There was silence on the other end.

“The Carter pickup? Already?”

“I want to see how he handles it.”

“You don’t want to ease him into that?”

Dominic watched a light change ahead of them. “He doesn’t need easing.”

A quiet huff came from Mendez. “Alright,” he said. “I’ll call you after.”

Dominic ended the call.

Cassian drove two blocks before speaking. “You’re testing him again.”