Page 62 of Hard Bargain

He felt anger flare before he could contain it. Not the clean, strategic kind he used for business, but something far more volatile.

“Boss,” Anderson said.

“Thank you. You can go.”

The elevator closed. Dominic looked at Knox. “Who did that?”

Knox’s gaze skittered away. “It’s nothing.”

“That,” Dominic said, stepping closer, “is not nothing.”

He lifted a hand before he thought better of it, fingertips brushing the swollen skin. Knox inhaled sharply, the sound slicing straight through Dominic’s composure.

“Who?” he repeated.

“My mom. She wasn’t having a good night.”

The answer doused the fire, then reignited it twice as hot. Dominic turned away before he said or did something reckless. He headed to the kitchen, grabbed ice, wrapped it in a cloth, and came back, pushing it into Knox’s hand without ceremony. “Hold that there.”

Knox pressed it against his cheek with a faint wince and said nothing.

“You didn’t call anyone else,” Dominic said after a moment.

Knox looked up at him. “No.”

“Why?”

A hesitation, just long enough to be noticeable. “I… wasn’t thinking.”

Dominic stepped closer, narrowing the space enough that Knox had to feel it. “You were thinking,” he said. “You always are.”

Defensiveness sparked in Knox’s eyes. “You don’t know that.”

“I do.”

The words landed between them and sat there. Dominic let them. He wasn’t pushing to embarrass him, but he needed to understand the angle. Needed to know what had made Knox reach for his number instead of anyone else’s. It mattered. He wasn’t sure why, but it did.

“You had options,” he continued. “Friends. People who would’ve shown up. But you called me. Why?”

Knox’s jaw tightened. The ice cloth lowered, forgotten. “Other people offer meaningless comfort. They’d tell me it gets better.”

“And that bothers you?”

“It’s not that it’s bad. It just feels…” He seemed to search for the word. “Claustrophobic.”

Dominic held his gaze. “And I don’t make you feel like that?”

“I knew you wouldn’t placate me.” Knox looked at him, vulnerability moving across his face before he could stop it. “You make me feel—”

He stopped. His jaw worked like the word was harder to get out than it should’ve been.

“What?”

“Seen.” The word came out barely above a whisper.

Dominic’s expression didn’t change. Something inside him did. He held Knox’s gaze longer than necessary. “You think I see you?”

“Yes.”