Page 92 of Hard Bargain

Knox snorted. “You know what I mean.”

“I do.” He said nothing further, waiting to see if Knox would let it go.

He didn’t.

The second shot cracked through the room. The gun barely jumped this time, and the hole landed much closer to the center than the first. Better than Dominic had expected if he was honest. “Nicely done,” he said, letting the approval warm his words.

Knox studied the target for a second, then his eyes slid back to Dominic. “So what happened?”

A muscle twitched in his jaw. “He’d become a liability. He was about to destroy years of hard work.”

“Did killing him bother you?” Knox asked. His voice had gone quieter, careful in a way it hadn’t been a moment ago.

Dominic considered the question longer than he meant to. “I thought it would. What bothered me…” He exhaled, low and even. “Was how little it bothered me.”

Knox watched him closely. “Do you remember his name?”

“Of course. I remember all of their names.”

Knox’s brows drew together. “That doesn’t sound like nothing.”

“It’s not because of what you think.” Dominic’s voice stayed level. “I don’t remember them because they haunt me. I remember them because every decision has a cost. If I’m willing to take a life, I owe it to them to remember whose life I took.”

Something shifted in Knox’s expression, like he hadn’t expected that answer.

“But don’t get me wrong. I don’t lose sleep over any of it, Wolfe. I never have.” He held Knox’s gaze a beat too long, then looked away first. “Now focus.”

He didn’t know why he’d told him that much. He never talked about it, not even with people he’d known for years and who’d earned his trust. And yet Knox asked a few questions and he’d handed over information he usually kept buried.

He settled a palm over Knox’s hip and nudged him back until their bodies aligned, grateful for something else to focus on besides the unfamiliar sensation of having said too much.

Heat bled through the thin cotton of Knox’s shirt and sank straight into Dominic’s chest. He didn’t need to touch him this much. He’d taught other men countless times, and he’d never been this hands-on. But with Knox, he found himself reaching out, seeking contact, almost without thought.

He moved his hand up Knox’s stomach and felt his inhale hitch against his palm. The reaction sent a thrill through him, a surge of satisfaction.

He knew he should step back, put some distance between them. Keep things professional. But he couldn’t seem to make himself let go, couldn’t resist the urge to explore further, to find each small response Knox couldn’t hide.

“Go again,” he murmured.

The third shot cracked. It landed high in the eight-ring, close enough that triumph flickered through him. He’d expected Knox to pick this up fast, had seen how quickly he absorbed new information, but watching it happen still pleased him.

“You keep drifting,” he said, letting his lips skim the rim of Knox’s ear. Heat sparked between them, a tremor moving through Knox that Dominic felt against his chest. “Keep your elbow relaxed and wrist locked.”

The next shot punched just slightly off-center. Knox exhaled on a shaky laugh, the sound drenched in adrenaline and something darker.

Dominic felt the ghost of a smile pull at his mouth. “That’s it,” he praised, the sound more possessive than he meant.

His hand drifted higher, skimming over Knox’s ribs, and he felt the shiver that ran through his frame. It was intoxicating, the way Knox responded to his touch, the way his body betrayed him even as he tried to maintain his composure.

Dominic knew he was playing with fire, crossing lines he shouldn’t even approach. But with Knox warm and pliant under his hands, and the heat building between them with every passing second, he found it harder and harder to care about the consequences. “One more,” he whispered.

Knox tried. He really did. Dominic could feel the effort in the tension of his shoulders, the way he pulled in a breath and tried to steady himself, but the round snapped wide. Not even close.

Dominic bit back a laugh. “Losing focus?”

“You’re distracting me, you ass,” Knox hissed. He tilted his head enough to look back at Dominic, blue eyes sparking with equal parts accusation and something else entirely.

A tangle of emotions lodged in Dominic’s chest: amusement, desire, affection. A dangerous combination he had no business feeling. “Next lesson,” he said, sliding his free hand down to Knox’s thigh and nudging it outward. “Control the distraction before it controls you.”