Chapter 5 #2
“You think power means you understand everything? You don’t know shit.”
Dominic glanced over. “No. But I understand enough.”
Knox scoffed. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know you got in the car.”
Knox’s jaw worked. “That doesn’t mean I had a real choice.”
“No,” Dominic agreed. “It means you’re not stupid. And that you understand the situation.”
Knox bit down on his lip, eyes bright in the passing city light. “You really see people as things to use, don’t you?”
Dominic returned his gaze to the road. “Only the useful ones.”
“And the rest?”
“The rest,” he said calmly, “usually don’t last long.”
For a while, neither spoke. Knox stared out the passenger window, rigid with frustration. When he finally spoke again, his voice had changed. The anger was still there, but something heavier sat beneath it. “You ruin things.”
“That implies that there was something worth preserving. From where I’m sitting, your life doesn’t look so wonderful. Maybe it could use some change.”
Knox gave a bitter laugh. “Yeah? You think you’re some kind of improvement?”
Dominic shrugged, still watching the road. “Compared to what I saw? Possibly.”
Knox shook his head. “You really don’t get it.”
“Then explain it.”
“At least before, it was mine. My mess. My shitty apartment. My dead-end job. I knew how it worked.” He paused, frustration coating every word. “Now I’m just waiting for the next time you decide to tear something apart because you can.”
Dominic’s eyes moved toward Knox. “You want me to believe that life suited you? Because I call bullshit.”
Knox went still beside him. “At least I knew where I stood.”
A slow smile ghosted across Dominic’s mouth. “You still do. Right here. Tonight. With me.”
Something unreadable passed over Knox’s expression.
Moments later, Dominic turned into the private lot behind his casino, Lucky Thirteen, and killed the engine. “You want to survive? Learn how to adapt.”
Knox remained motionless in the passenger seat, his shoulders drawn tight, his body carrying the same taut energy it had since they left his apartment. There was still defiance there, still that stubborn edge Dominic hadn’t managed to dull.
Interesting.
He studied him before opening his door. “Let’s see how a little change suits you.”
They stepped out of the car and walked inside.
The atmosphere changed immediately. The casino floor stretched out in a wash of gold light.
Slot machines chimed, cards snapped against felt, and the murmur of conversations blended into a steady hum beneath it all.
The air carried liquor, expensive perfume, and money.
Everything here belonged to him.
He stopped, letting Knox catch up. “You’re shadowing me tonight,” he said, keeping his voice low. “You observe. Nothing else. Watch the staff, the guests. Listen to what’s said—and more importantly, what isn’t.”
Knox shifted, clearly trying to process the assignment. “And then?”
“Later,” Dominic said, “you’ll tell me what you noticed.”
Knox caught his lower lip between his teeth. “What exactly am I looking for?”
For a brief and irritating second, Dominic’s attention caught on that mouth again—on the way he worried at his lower lip.
The reaction made no sense.
He shut it down at once.
“Anything that stands out to you. It doesn’t have to make sense. Just pay attention and remember,” he said.
Knox nodded slowly.
Dominic forced his attention elsewhere, checking the exits, dealer rotations, surveillance coverage. Anything but the increasingly inconvenient pull of a boy who should have been irrelevant.
He moved through the casino at an unhurried pace, Knox trailing at his side. When they reached the far end of the bar, Dominic leaned toward Knox. “Watch. Listen. Don’t get distracted. You’ll report in two hours.”
Knox shot him a look at that, but Dominic ignored it. The next hours were a study in tension as Dominic handled business: checking in with managers, speaking with the bar staff, and greeting regulars.
All the while, despite repeated efforts not to, part of his attention remained fixed on Knox.
The boy moved differently than most people.
He was visibly tense, but not overwhelmed.
His gaze moved constantly, quick and alert, never settling in one place for long.
Dominic noticed the way he tracked people, his focus sharpening whenever voices lowered or glances got secretive.
He seemed to be filing away every interaction as if he was building a map no one else could see.
By the time the two hours were up, curiosity had taken hold. He pulled Knox into a quiet corner near the VIP lounge, away from the noise and eyes. “Tell me.”
Knox didn’t hesitate. “Your floor manager is nervous. He keeps glancing around with a worried look. One of your bartenders is lying about her shift. She told two people she was covering for different reasons. A man near roulette keeps hovering without playing—he’s watching purses.
And one of your security guards is distracted by a cocktail waitress. ”
A breath.
“Oh, and the woman at the poker table is cheating on her husband with the man beside her. Neither of them realizes they’re being obvious.”
Dominic felt a flash of genuine surprise. “You caught all that?”
Knox shrugged. “You told me to pay attention.”
Dominic smiled. “Impressive. Your talents are wasted at that gas station.”
A flush rose across Knox’s cheeks, and Dominic had to look away, forcing himself back to business. “One more thing,” he said.
Knox straightened.
Dominic tilted his head. “See the guy near the bathrooms?”
“Yes,” he said.
“You’re going to collect a package from him. I’ll text you an address. You’ll deliver it there.”
Knox’s brow creased. “I don’t have a car.”
Dominic’s mouth curved. “You won’t need one. Just get it done.”
Uncertainty flickered across Knox’s face before he forced it down. “Okay. Got it.”
Dominic stepped closer, lowering his voice. “If you run, you won’t get far. But if you do this right, you prove I can trust you.”
Knox nodded, the uncertainty impossible to miss.
“Go,” Dominic said.