Dominik rolled up his sleeves, stepping out of his SUV with his sunglasses shielding his eyes.

    The black mock turtleneck sat against his strong neck, behind him many similar SVU's came to a screeching halt behind him. Men filed out, securing the area around him as he walked into the luxury apartment building they were surrounding.

    Dominik let himself in, disregarding the doormen who was shell shocked.

    His name was on the front of the building after all.

    The bellboy who was just about to enter the elevator stopped, coming to a halt. Shakily, he held the elevator for the business tycoon.

    Dominik didn't look at him, hitting the floor he needed to arrive at and leaning against the cool wall as the door shut. 

    The ride to the fifteenth floor was quick and seamless, as should the rest of the night.

    Striding forward, Dominik looked at the locked door in front of him.

    Without hesitation he pulled out a key that happened to fit right into the slot.

    The hum of Russian music in the extravagantly decorated apartment hit his ears.

    Dominik closed the door behind him, the scent of pelmeni made familiar memories of his childhood stir.

    Walking into the threshold, no one greeted him at the door as they were sitting at the dinner table.

    The tall man made his way in through the kitchen, seeing the man at the head of the table. His wife and teenage daughter sat on either side of him. Igor was smiling at something his child said. 

    Dominik was familiar with the family. Igor had worked for his father for some time, now he himself was in charge of the Ivanov empire as the successor. 

    The two men's eyes clashed.

    "What the fuc-"

    Dominik gripped the hand gun from the back of his pants.

    Lifting it, he shot the man from the opposite end of the table directly between the eyes.

    Both women screamed, they were screams that would shake the average person to their core as blood splattered the wife, daughter, and Dominik.

    They were frantic yet frozen all at once, Dominik had seen many iterations of the first stages of grief, he knew them all too well. His face remained passive, looking at the only two other living people in the room as they panted and sobbed wildly.

    Both of them stood up in alarm, the mother- her name was Galina if he remembered correctly, ushered her daughter behind her. 

    The older woman reached for a knife on the table, Dominik rolled his eyes. Her entire body trembled as she held the knife out. 

    Running his tongue over his teeth, he aimed once again and shot the wife's hand. 

    More screams ensued, Dominik waved his hand as if to signal the two to hurry it up.

    The screams turned to cries as the wound was cradled tightly by the both of them, Dominik rose a brow. 

    "Are you done yet?" Both the women glared at him but made no move to attack again. The large, scary man smirked slowly as they finally quieted.

    "The Ivanov family will be moving you to Poland indefinitely. Effective immediately, I'm not above killing women and children if you decide to follow in Igor's footsteps. Have a good night, your flight leaves tomorrow."

    Dominik ejected his ammo. Carefully, eyeing the women he left two bullets on the table. He placed them perfectly parallel with the two of them. Even the sound of him setting them on the table slowly made them flinch.

    Dominik's smirked turned to a toothy, arrogant grin. "What do you say to the man who's let you live?"

    There was a moment of tension, silence for just a split second. The daughter was the one who spoke up for her mother who seemed unable to form a simple word of gratitude. 

    "Th-Thank you, thank you Don-" she choked out. Dominik nodded, pleased with the young girl's intelligence. She was young, no older than thirteen it seemed. She would be promising in one of his legitimate businesses when she was an adult perhaps. 

    Giving the apartment one more sweep, seeing Igor's body slumped against the dining table and smeared in food as blood ruined the hardwood of the furniture, he nodded once in satisfaction.

    Dominik turned around and walked out to see men that worked for the Ivanov's waiting to move into the apartment.

    The both nodded their heads as he passed, he didn't acknowledge them as he made his way back to his car.

~

    Salina laid in the field outside of her home, she stared up at the clouds.

    Her dress rumpled against the flowers, she ignored the footsteps of someone approaching.

    They stopped a few feet away from her, she ignored them for several minutes.

    The guard that worked for her family felt awkward, it was palpable. Salina pushed down her urge to roll her eyes.

    "U-Uh miss-" he stammered while shifting backwards.

    "Yes?" she huffed quietly. 

    "Your- ah- your father is requesting-"

    "He can wait a few minutes."

    "It seemed urgent-"

    Salina sat up abruptly, leaning back on her hands as her lilac purple rode up her thighs. The straps of the sundress fell down her shoulders.

    She looked ethereal.

    She tilted her head just slightly, perfectly, her -long black tresses falling down her back and collar. The loose curls rested against her chest, flowers decorated by her ears. She pouted smally, her cherry pink lips flush against her deep mahogany brown skin.

    "But you won't make me go, right Alejandro?" she sighed while staring up at him through her lashes. She batted them twice, curling her shoulder foreword and making herself look even smaller than she is.

    "Miss you know how your father gets..."

    "I think he can wait a few minutes, I'm just so stressed," she pouted pitifully while brushing her hair over her shoulder.

    His brow twitched with annoyance. Her dark, haughty eyes caught the movement.

    "Ma'am-"

    "Don't call me ma'am," Salina tilted her chin up. Her words were curt but her voice kept the same syrupy sweetness.

    "I really think I could use another fifteen minutes outside. We're all so tense here, ya know," Salina laid back carelessly once again. He came closer when he saw she wasn't moving, Salina allowed a small smile to curve at her lips

    "I'm sure you're so stressed too, right Alejandro? That's why you've been taking my panties on Sundays during laundry day? They relieve some stress for you?"

    Her tongue trailed over her pearly white teeth. Disgust crawled over her chest, swallowing down the bile at the thought of what he did with her undergarments.

    Alejandro had fully froze. She didn't have to open her eyes to know his entire face had drained of color before flooding back with a beet red.

    "M-Miss... I-I uh I can explain-"

    "You know I'm not in charge of anything around here," she giggled softly. "I think you should really explain to my father. You know how he gets. Or. Or you can walk away and send another guard in fifteen minutes?"

    Alejandro gulped hard, staring down at the twenty three year old girl splayed out in the grass. Looking absolutely angelic, a ray practically beaming from her head.

    "Yes, Miss Beaumont," he nodded once and stiffly walked back to the large house in which he worked.

    Later on, Salina walked into her fathers office.

    He worked furiously over paperwork with a few other older men.

    "Bonjour, papa," she greeted her salt and pepper, tanned father. The tanned Frenchman glanced up quickly. Laurent was a charming man, at first sight.

    Like her mother, he had rich brown skin. His was a few shades lighter than her moms. He's been born and raised in France unlike her however. Before she moved to France as an adult she grew up in Cameroon. Both of their heritages blended together in the early years of her childhood. Of course, that didn't last long as they'd separated shortly into her adolescents. 

    "Things are in motion, mon ange," he announced. The other men, around his age, both looked at her. George and Henry were her fathers oldest business partners. They sat at the edge of their seats like they always were when the father and daughter had meetings like this. 

    They looked at her with a wary gaze, they knew her father as well as she did.

    He is neurotic.

    "What things?" She walked around his desk to try and get a look at the papers. He glanced up with a scowl, turning things over in response.

    Her eye twitched once before smiling down at him passively.

    Sitting on the arm of his chair, she continued curiously.

    "Why did you need me down here? Pourquoi était-il si important que vous envoyiez quelqu'un au lieu de me trouver ?"

    Why was it so important you sent someone instead of finding me?

    "Some of these things involve you Selly. I'm trying to see if this is positive or negative."

    Salina blinked slowly, taking in this answer. Positives and negatives in her fathers business did not mean whether she would be simply be having a good day or a bad day.

    Her father continued, almost mumbling between broken English and french.

    "I've made so many moves, so many bets and deals just for things to shift in an instant. These things have been in motion since before I gained a sliver of power," he grumbled.

    "Things like what?" There was a slight bite and urgency to her voice that got Laurents, her fathers, attention.

    Both George and Henry looked at her too.

    All the men looked at each other, Laurent swallowed.

    "A marriage, my girl."

    Salina's jaw tilted up, her teeth clenching. Her face barely changed however, her features staying soft.

    "A marriage of who?" she inhaled sharply. She stared at her father, begging and pleading that this was not what she'd seen happen to so many other people.

    "A marriage with the... the Beaumont's and the Don. Don Berna was who the contract was made with."

    Salina wanted to vomit.

    Don Berna. The man was as old as her father. He was a slob, he was a pig, he was a pervert.

    "When was this decided?" Salina continued on.

    Laurent felt simultaneous pride in his daughters' handling and peril at his daughters' handling.

    "Papa had signed the contract when you were two." His father- her grandfather... the bastard.

    But that made sense, Salina thought in the middle of her cluttered train of thought. Her father wasn't in power long enough to make a deal like that with the Italian mafia they had been working with.

    "And you've known?"

    "I've been prolonging it."

    "So," she exhaled shakily. "W-What's changing?"

    "Don Berna," George cut in. He held up a file as if she knew what was inside of it. "The change is he is no longer breathing."

    They all saw Salina's face become vulnerable. Pure relief as her brows fell into a relaxed position, her shoulders rolling back.

    "So... why are you all acting like this then?" Salina leaned back against the chair. Laurent did as well, rubbing his graying beard.

    "The new Don. He inherited all of Berna's previous contracts and agreements. He will be deciding which to uphold. Don Ivanov has been relentless but ruling with an iron fist, there were rumors about him going after the Italian mob but I never thought it would get to this point."

    And there went the relief.

    "Don Ivanov has been able to keep hold of his power, merging all of these pillars into one massive army because he is known for upkeeping deals and treaties better than the people before," Henry informed a bit tentatively.

    Salina finally reached up, rubbing her temples stressedly. This was an expected, unwelcome outcome. It was almost past due, really. Arranged marriages in her family's line of work? Common. She was a checker piece in a game of chess. It was practically coming of age, old news really. 

    "So what is he going to do with me?" her usually smooth voice came out shakily.

    Don Ivanov was whispered amongst lower ranks like a ghost. His growing popularity did not help put a name to the face, although she thinks that will be changing as now the soldiers that whispered about him will be commanded by him.

    "I'll be finding out, depending on what I do, any information I receive will influence my next move. This could be a huge opportunity for the Beaumont's.

    "For you."

    "Hm?"

    Salina sniffled softly, "It'll be a huge opportunity for you, dad." Laurent had leaned back over to look at his paperwork. He did a double take as he saw his daughter's face flush with emotion. Her pretty brown skin was becoming blotchy as she held in her tears. He frowned at the sight, that always happened when she was upset. He thought it was unbecoming of her. 

    Her leg shook up and down nervously, she swallowed hard so as to not cry. Her nose scrunched up with anger.

    "You will be alright, Selly," he patted her shaking knee dismissively. She pushed his hand off of her while sneering quietly.

    Salina, taking the hint, stood up quickly. Without a glance at George and Henry, she walked off quickly to go to her room. The tears broke the barrier she had held up as soon as the door slammed shut behind her. 

    She had been in denial. Salina foolishly thought she'd fall in love naturally one day. She is young, there is so much time left in her life to explore and experiment. But if Don Ivanov wanted to go through with the arrangement- that was it. There was no escaping that man, the man rumored to be the devil in disguise. 

    When she first heard the nickname she thought it was cliche but right now, it suited him. 

    Her bare feet padded softly against the floor despite the anger of each step. Her curvy, yet dainty figure standing at the height of 5 '4 did not do much even if she stomped.

    Hot tears of humiliation and anger streamed down her face. All of the guards in the house looked at her, before darting their eyes down as she glared at them all. Passing a vase, everyone prepared themselves as she shoved it over while walking.

    A short scream of frustration left her throat as the glass shattered on the ground simultaneously.

    Her stride did not falter during the scuffle, promptly, everyone in the house could hear her door slamming shut.

    Pacing on her plush carpet, she kicked off her shoes angrily. Her eyes darted around, seeing her cat sprawled across her comforter. Salina's brown eye twitched. If this is how her father wants to treat her- fine. She is the one marrying the most powerful man in the world, she'll be closer to power than he could ever dream of being. 

    Her stomach twisted with nerves, Salina had never imagined herself in a position like this. In a position with an opportunity. If she was lucky, if she played her cards right, Salina could make this work.