Dominik sat in his car, lent back in his seat with his sunglasses pushed up. Besides him in the passenger seat was Dima, behind them was Aleksei. The youngest of the three frowned, "Why are we waiting here?"

They were sat outside of a golf club, and if that wasn't already boring enough they had to wait for Laurent to walk out of it.

"He's bothering Salina," Dominik growled as he adjusted his grip on his weapon. Dima frowned, "What's he doing to her?"

"Calling, texting, won't shut the fuck up. Started saying shit to her in the texts last night, fuckin' tired of it. Father in law or not." He was practically seething as he tapped the window console compulsively. Aleksei and Dima were both on edge as his anger rolled off their cousin in waves.

"Was she upset?" Aleksei asked quietly. Dominik furrowed his brow, glancing at Aleksei. "She's... She's not upset. She's disrespected. I'm here to correct that."

"Well... before you came here did you like- comfort her or whatever. I mean that's her dad saying all those things." Dominik was beginning to get frustrated with the questions. Aleksei held up his hands to signal he was in the wrong. "I'll shut up."

"Good. He's coming out now," Dominik threw his door open and aimed his gun. Without hesitation, he shot through the glass Laurent held in his hand. Screams of shock echoed through the streets while the people cleared. Dima sighed and smacked his hand against the ammo of his rifle. Tucking it under his arm, Dima walked backwards behind Dominik as Aleksei surveyed their blind spots.

"I warned you, Beaumont!" Dominik barked as he shot at his feet.

Laurent almost grabbed for his firearm but knew he was outgunned, his hands could only fly into the air. "Don! Where is Salina-"

"She isn't any of your fuckin' business. I should cut your goddamn tongue out for the shit you said to her. What did I tell you? I told you she is mine-" Dominik fisted Laurent's expensive shirt as he didn't once stop until Laurent was slammed against the wall. His hand gun was swiftly pressed to his temple.

"My daughter and I's relationship has nothing to do with you-" Laurent choked out as Dominik began cutting off his airflow.

"Bull fucking shit. Everything that has to do with Salina Ivanov has to do with me. I'll be damned if I find myself having this same conversation with you Laurent. What's not clicking in here, huh?" The Russian snarled as he eased his finger into the trigger. Laurent watched on bated breath, "Please. Please, think about my daughter."

"I don't have to kill you to get the gist across-" He dropped the gun and shot through Laurent's right foot. The older man screamed.

"What was it you called her?" Dominik paused for a moment, "An ungrateful whore? A lucky bitch for convincing me to marry her? You're a fucking joke."

He slammed his foot onto the bullet hole he left, digging his heel into it. Laurent's mouth opened as he cried out in pain but was cut off when a gun was shoved into it. Dominik laughed loudly, "How about that? Just think about your pretty little girl doing the same thing for me. That must suck for you. Should I pull the trigger? Will you swallow like your daughter does for me?" Dominik was lying through his teeth but watching Laurent's sweaty skin turn green was worth it.

Ripping the gun out, he slammed the butt of it against his temple and watched him fall to the ground. Dominik sighed, brushing his hand through his hair, stressed. Squatting down, Dominik forced Laurent's eyes on him. "I'll kill you next time. Don't mistake my respect for my wife as mercy. If I do end up killing you, I'll spend my time making it up to her in between her thighs, yes? It'll be like nothing ever happened. Don't test me, Beaumont."

Standing up to fix his shirt and hair once more, he nodded towards Aleksei to watch the french man. Dima walked besides him, "Did he really call her that?"

"And more," Dominik sneered as he grabbed his keys. Dima grunted, regretting some of those things he said to her that day they first met. Salina has grown on him since them.

"Yeah, feel like a dick yet?"

Dima puffed out a breath, "Yeah."

"Good, you should."

Dima's eyes rolled as they all piled into the car. Driving away, Aleksei poked his head out the window and shot at Laurent's car just to cause him extra trouble. "So, you just left her to go beat up her dad?"

"Are you still on this?" Dominik's dark eyes looked at him through the mirror. What the hell else was he supposed to do about it? Salina had locked herself in her art room for most of the day before he finally saw why her phone was blowing up. Thinking back, he began to remember her eyes were a bit swollen and red. And her hands were shaking. She'd been distracted, making her way to the bathroom as soon as he came in. It left her phone for him to look at after it wouldn't stop vibrating.

Dominik began tapping his finger against the steering wheel.

"Maybe you can tell Lev, he loves that girl. He could give advice on how to make her feel better."

His eye twitching, Dominik began pressing his foot harder to the pedal. "He likes her."

"Well yeah, she's charming in her own way. But I think he more than likes her, he's taken her under his wing. He hasn't done that for anyone that isn't family in a long time. Although, I guess she's family now."

"What's the difference?" The brothers both looked at their boss/cousin. Their brows furrowed.

"Between love and like. You keep saying love as if it's more significant. They're the fucking same at the end of the day." Now, he was fucking annoyed. He understood the concepts of both but when you get down to it they're basically the same thing.

Aleksei and Dima both looked at each other. "I don't know if I agree, boss."

"Explain."

Aleksei's cheeks went pink, scratching the back of his neck and he looked at his older brother for help. Dima gave him a look that said this is your bed now lie in it.

"Uh, my mom would say love is a consuming feeling. Like everything revolves around them. I guess there's different types of love but all of them are beyond just liking someone. The love you're thinking of is more like that person is everything. You'd do just about anything for them and you can't really live without them. I think Lev loves Salina like family. Just liking something is simply... being fond of it. That's not love, cousin."

With a frown on his face, Dominik focused back on driving. "That's stupid."

Later that night, when he returned there was no sign of Salina's sadness. She acted like nothing happened earlier today. He hadn't told her where he had gone, he didn't plan on it unless she asked. Dominik wouldn't lie to her blatantly... but he will omit it for now. He didn't want to risk making her upset- if that's what she was before.

Maybe he was wrong and she wasn't upset. The only time he knew for sure was when she had cried their wedding night and when they argued over Dima but that was obvious even for him. Salina ran her hand over his back as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"You alright?" Her arms wrapped around his shoulders before pressing her chest to his back. Dominik hummed as he leaned his head back onto her own shoulder and enjoyed her warmth.

"Do you love Lev?" he suddenly asked while turning his head to view her profile. He watched her eyes widen.

"What the hell? No- not the way you're asking I think. He's like... a nice old man who spends time with me. I care about him... platonically," she shrugged while trying to examine his neutral face for answers as to why he is asking.

"Do you love me?" His tone was even more curious. Salina balked at it, stuttering as her face grew hot in temperature.

"I-I don't know! I've never been in love, I didn't know if love was even an option for us." Salina's voice was shaky as she swallowed hard and tried answer to the best of her ability. She tried to dampen the hopefulness in her tone. She tried to force down the need she held for Dominik to give her the green light in taking their relationship further- deeper. Her heart ached for it.

"Love isn't an option. That'd be a waste of time," he immediately responded with a shrug of his shoulders. It was what his father had always said. He said it so easily that Salina frowned.

That hope she had was stomped on.

Slowly, she nodded. "Okay... so then why ask?"

Scratching his jaw, he once again shrugged as if this is an everyday conversation. "I don't know. Just curious."

Salina nodded just as Dominik turned to her and pressed the gentlest kiss to her lips that she's ever experienced. As if he didn't just shit all over the idea of them falling in love. Sighing dejectedly, she scratched his scalp and accepted that Dominik would never fall in love with her. It wasn't in his agenda and he probably thought it was a waste of time. It probably wasn't even in his vocabulary.

"Goodnight, Domo," she pressed soft kisses over his face and temples. He basked in the affection and followed her as she laid down. His head easily rested against her chest so he could listen to her heart beat.

~~

Salina slid her hands down her dress before she was passed a glass of champagne. Besides her, Dominik stood with his hand on the back of her neck as they walked through a crowd of people at the gala. Salina's eyes wandered around the extravagant room with people dressed to the nines. Dominik's thumb soothed over the nape of her neck, her hair was silky and loosely curled down her back. But tonight wasn't about looking pretty as it was about listening to the people around her and finding out what she can for Dominik to work with.

She brought the champagne to her lips and drank it down in one go. Her husband snorted besides her before massaging her scalp gently. "It'll be fine," he murmured as everyone's eyes trained on them.

"You're not the one getting shown off like a freaking trophy," she grunted. Dominik looked good standing besides her. He wore a black suit after Salina decided she didn't like his navy blue one, a dark green handkerchief sat in his pocket matched her dress exactly. He forewent a tie and left the top three buttons undone as per usual, proudly displaying the handle of that infamous sword that represented his family. The same sword sat around her neck.

Dominik bent down to graze his lips up Salina's neck, his hands sliding over her ass that overflowed his grip. "I'll make it up tonight, hm? Will you finally let me taste you, eсолнышко?" They haven't done anything since their picnic and Dominik was dying slowly but surely inside, it wasn't a lack of lust stopping them it was fucking time. If he didn't get what he wanted soon he was about to clear his goddamn calender for the next week just to go down on her.

Salina almost grinned a bit, but still felt everyone looking at her and judging her for better or for worse. Instead, she batted her long lashes up at Dominik with pouted lips. "Maybe if you're on your best behavior," she whispered teasingly despite the fact that the idea made her thighs tighten and her panties dampen.

Then she walked away. Dominik inhaled sharply, watching her sway her hips away as she walked towards where she saw Lev and Dima. His eye twitched as he zeroed in on her ass. "That was hot," Angelo came up behind him from nowhere. Glaring sideways, Dominik sneered and decided to deal with a few things while he knew Salina was safe.

While he busied himself, Salina looked at the food laid out. It was enough to feed a small village and it was only the starters before everyone sat down for speeches apparently. This was all ridiculous, Salina shook her head. She hated events like these, in fact she recognized a few people here.

A group of women who ran in the same circle as her family were here. And they were edging closer and closer. And they stopped close enough to where Salina could hear their conversation.

"Vivienne I can't believe you wore that dress. It was so brave of you," Rosalyn, one of Salina's least favorite people on the planet, sneered with a fake smile on her face to a girl wearing an orange dress that complimented her dark skin tone. Vivienne's skin was a deeper brown than Salina's and the sunset orange of the dress brightened it beautifully in Salina's opinion. Most of these girls here Salina had went to highschool with, unfortunately. They were the ring of popular girls and there was a reason that Salina was ostracized in the mostly white private school.

Theresa giggled behind her hand and Salina rolled her eyes so hard she feared they would get stuck there. Inhaling deeply, Salina tried to mind her business. That was until Vivienne began to speak up.

"It was custom made for me, it's my families colors we're very proud to wear them. Especially at gala's like this," her voice was soft. Salina admired her intricately styled hair from behind her.

"It looks like the tailor did a hell of a job. You'll have to give me their name, it looks like they're miracle workers."

Grabbing another glass, Salina crooked her jaw before turning around and pushing a smile onto her face. Walking over to the group, she kept her eyes on Vivienne. The women quieted down as she approached. "I just want to say, I love your dress. It matches your makeup perfectly," Salina pressed her hand to Viviennes arm as she got a good look at her now from the front. The girl was gorgeous with a cute round face and perfectly symmetrical features. No wonder Rosalyn and Theresa were picking on her as if it was fucking highschool all over again.

Vivienne's eyes widened, "Oh my goodness, thank you! You're gorgeous. Congratulations! Everyone here is dying to meet you. I'm Vivienne." The two women shook hands as Salina grinned before glancing at the two bimbos besides them.

"Salina Beaumont, who would've thought we'd all be having a reunion funded by the Moretti's. How are you?" Rosalyn smiled sickly sweet at her.

"It's Ivanov. I'm doing great," she gestured to everything around them as proof. "The real question is how are you?" Salina purposefully raised her voice as she was once again acutely aware of all the guests watching her. "I heard from security you had to try real hard to get in here, huh? I guess all that begging paid off," shooting her a squinty smile, Salina took a long drink of her wine.

Rosalyn laughed to play it off, "I actually came with Giovanni Moretti. We arrived separately." Salina hummed in acknowledgement.

"Interesting, I could've sworn I saw him coming out of the storage closet with a a blonde- Oh! Did you not know, oh I'm so sorry," Salina pressed her hand to Rosalyn's sympathetically as her face turned red. Then her eyes slid to Theresa.

"Theresa, how's the herpes?"

Behind her, Vivienne slapped a hand over her mouth to silence her gasp. Theresa had a similar reaction, her mouth opened to let any and all insults fly. Just then, Salina lent back and fiddled with the sword sat between her cleavage. She smirked a bit, sliding the pendant on the chain.

Theresa's mouth fell shut, exhaling through her nose loudly before grabbing Rosalyn and stomping off. Finally, Salina could giggle quietly to herself. She went to walk away when Vivienne squealed quietly, her hand pressing to Salina's shoulder.

"That was so good, oh my god I've been trying to get them off my case forever." Salina's brows rose a bit. Vivienne was a bit shorter than her and smiled much brighter than she did.

"You were a little nice if that's what you were going for."

Vivienne nodded in agreement, "I'm with the Santiago family. I'm Sylvio's niece," her face was completely open. Salina could read every emotion that crossed her eyes and in this line of work and environment that was a rarity. And she was high up. Sylvio ran the Spanish mafia, he worked directly under Dominik.

"Thank you for coming," Salina finally nodded at what she had said.

"I'm grateful for the opportunity to be here, I'm standing in for my mother. But I have to admit, these things always make me feel awkward. You seem like you're in your element though."

Salina huffed a bit in amusement, finally leaning back against the wall behind her and crossing her arms. "Honestly? I'm not a fan. It all feels manufactured, no? Half of these people would kill my husband given the chance. I can do fake all day long but even just two hours of things like this are exhausting."

Vivienne understood as she examined the woman who carried herself with the grace of royalty. It was obvious with the eyes on her and how she presented herself that she had this all figured out. Where Vivienne couldn't wrap her head around any of it.

"You really think they would kill Don Ivanov?" Vivienne asks in disbelief.

Salina looked at her out of the corner of her eye with a furrowed brow. "Most of them, in heart beat." Nodding slowly, Vivienne found herself relaxing next to the woman.

"That's why I try to stay out of this world. I have a clothing company, I'd love to send you some of them. They're my pride and joy, it'd be an honor to have you wear them."

It was Salina's turn to be shocked. "You're family let you do that?"

"What do you mean let me? That's what I've wanted to do since I was a girl, so I did it. We're pretty successful considering we're still a small business."

Salina was still reeling at the revelation, weren't all mafia families the same? They held their daughters close to their chests only to barter them off for a politically beneficial marriage. That was the name of the game, a checker piece on a chessboard. That's what she was told, that's what she's learned. Her throat closed for a moment as she sucked hard on her cheek.

"Salina? Are you alright?" Vivienne reached and offered her a glass of water. Salina snapped out of her reverie, gratefully taking the water.

"Thank you," she rasped. "I'd love to see what you design. I'm sure it's all amazing."

Vivienne's eyes sparked at the compliment. "That means a lot coming from you." Salina pursed her lips, "Why me? Because I'm Dominik's wife?" She didn't look pleased with the idea.

Immediately, Vivienne shook her head. "No! No, I- uh I was a year below you at Grandview Prep. You had quite the reputation, I always thought you were cool. Not to mention the outfits you put together were literally to die for, you inspired half of my design sketches those few years."

This was news to Salina, she had assumed she kept a pretty low profile considering she wasn't close to anybody in highschool. "Oh, I should have recognized you. I'm sorry," she shifted from one foot to another with a frown. How could she not recognize Vivienne at that school?

"Please, I wasn't on campus for a lot of those four years. I was sick at the time and doing most of it at home. I'm healthy now so maybe I won't go MIA this time around," Vivienne grinned as she purposefully left her explanation vague.

The two women chatted for a bit longer before Dominik came to find her. He didn't really acknowledge Vivienne who kept her gaze on the floor nervously anyway. Salina held his hand that wrapped around to her stomach, Dominik grazed his mouth up her neck soothingly. "You haven't been giving me any attention," he hummed. Vivienne's eyes widened at the ground as Salina hummed. She stared up at her husband with a hint of amusement in her gaze.

"I'm sure you're dying then. Maybe you should have come found me early." Dominik kissed her as soon as she finished speaking as if he couldn't stand not to do it any longer. He ignored her jab at him, "Come I have to introduce you to Angelo and we'll be sitting for speeches."

As he began to drag her away, Salina turned to wave to Vivienne. Eagerly, the woman in the orange dress waved back, Salina pointed at her. "I'll find you at the end of this and grab your number!"

And then she was off, swept into a sea of made men who all wanted a crack at her.

•••

and that's the tea 😛

like i said we have this chapter up today annnd wednesday is chapter sixteen! then we're down to one a week since i've been busy with homework and school for this first week 🤮

thoughts about dominik and his ass backwards understanding of emotions lol?