Dominik might have lied a bit when he promised Salina a 'break', because there was always work to be done in his line of business.

But he'd cut it down significantly. They both know laying low after murdering his parents isn't what will strengthen his reign. He needs to make moves, be seen, the people beneath him need to know who exactly he is.

His wife is with Vivienne at the moment, he wasn't exactly clear on what her plans were- he was distracted when he was leaving. He was distracted trying to feel her up as much as possible on his way out.

But he's a man so he can admit his faults. One of his faults is his lack of attention span when Salina is around.

Lev sat besides him as they sat at a table with multiple other mafia personnel attending. Dominik was busy checking his cameras to see if Salina was still home, he frowned when he read her texts about her appointment with Vivienne somewhere.

More texts came in from Gabriel and Fern confirming they were with her. He had them keeping close tabs on her after the 'death' of her father. He just wants to make sure she's feeling okay after the impromptu decision.

But they couldn't wait any longer and this was as close to perfect they could get. Laurent rotting in a cell at a remote location and his parents rotting six feet under the ground.

"I'm sure she's fine, Dom," Lev murmured next to him.

Dominik glared sideways, setting his phone down with a huff. The other men around them kept talking amongst themselves.

"How do you know? Have you asked her how she's feeling after it all?" He was hoping if Salina has been struggling, she would tell Lev if she didn't feel comfortable telling him at the moment. His stomach turned at the thought.

"Relax son, I've asked many times now and she's told me she is as good as she can be. Mentally and physically. She's more worried about you and honestly so am I."

The younger Russian man frowned, his sweet Salina has been asking him fairly often lately if he was feeling okay. "There's nothing to worry about, Lev."

Lev rolled his eyes though, "It'd be normal if you took some time to yourself, no one would look down on you."

"And when have you known me to be normal?"

"You're such a smart ass, Ivanov," Lev shook his head. "I've known you since you were a boy. You can be honest with me. I care for you like you're my own and I'm worried Dominik."

This made Dominik falter a bit, he side eyed Lev momentarily. Hesitating for a moment, he only reached to take a swig of his drink. Lev sunk down into his chair with a defeated sigh.

"Do you remember my eighth birthday?" Dominik asked.

This had the older man pausing for a second, squinting his eyes in thought before it dawned on him. The memory made him smile smally, he stared down at the top of the table as silence once again permeated the two men.

"Well, do you?"

"I do," Lev confirmed. "You were so pissed. What kind of kid is pissed about getting ice cream?"

Dominik snorted with a smirk gracing his lips, "You were supposed to be in charge of my training that day- that's what I was pissed about. It was the only thing I ever had to get right so you were cutting into my time to perfect it."

"But you still didn't snitch."

Nodding, Dominik brushed his hair back. "I didn't snitch..."

He swirled the whiskey around in the glass, his rampant thoughts slowed down for a second. "I'm not fucked up over my parents because they were never there in the ways that mattered. It's not like I had to kill you or anything... then maybe I'd take some time off... if you died."

Lev couldn't help but laugh at the ass backwards sentiment, "I'm glad you would take some time off for me."

Dominik nodded curtly, more silence began to spread and fester between the two awkwardly. Unable to take it anymore, the mafia Don blurted. "Can we fucking leave now? I miss my wife."

Immediately, Lev stood up needing to get out of the uncomfortable tension the two of them created while attempting to talk about their feelings.

When they arrived at the location Dominik had for Salina, he was mildly confused at the scene. It was in a more densely populated area than Salina usually liked to frequent. Lev followed him inside and both of them were surprised to see what looked like a photoshoot set up.

And then he caught sight of her stepping down from a platform with a robe around her. Her hair was blown out and styled and her makeup was done differently than she usually did it.

She smiled at Vivienne who spoke quickly while handing over some water. Salina was caught off guard when she felt someone tugging on the tie around her waist, gasping as she was pulled into her husbands chest.

Her eyes widened up at him, fisting his shirt as she caught sight of Lev behind him.

"Domo," her lips spread into a smile. His eyes slid down her body, his body practically buzzing.

"My wife," Dominik smirked. "What is this, hm?"

Immediately, his wife scowled up at him. "I fucking told you Dominik, you never listen," she crossed her arms in a huff but still he only grinned down at her. Ignoring him, Salina went and hugged Lev in greeting.

"Did he behave?" Salina asked somewhat jokingly only for Dominik to yank her backwards into him. She couldn't help the small smile on her face when he hugged her tight from behind.

Both Lev and Dominik glanced at each other for a second, her eyes narrowed but she decided to ignore that for the sake of her good mood.

"You may have mentioned it to Dom but I never heard what you all are doing here, мертвый?"

dear

"Vivienne asked me to help with her new clothing line advertisements," Salina explained simply. Vivienne who was filling out some paperwork besides them, looked up excitedly.

"She did amazing, I think the promotions will do really well with Selly being a natural. I mean the photos aren't even all downloaded and I can already tell they're going to do great. I might have to make her our go to face in the future," Vivienne gushed while squeezing Salina's hand.

"Everyone's gonna eat her up."

Salina could feel Dominik frown against her shoulder, grunting to himself. Her hand reached up behind her, caressing his face before pinching his cheek playfully.

"Enough of that, I'm sure I'll be thrilled when everyone gets to ogle my woman. I want to take you home now моя любовь. We're dropping Lev off on our way," he patted her on the butt as she pulled away.

my love

Her eyes narrowed but relented, "Fine... but only because I'm hungry. You're not staying for dinner Lev? We can have Dima and Aleksei as well, hm? That would be so nice. Domo..." She turned around to pout at him quickly.

Dominik sneered at the idea, wanting Salina to himself. "It can be like family dinner," Salina stared up at him with wide hopeful eyes, her voice so soft only he could hear it.

"Fuck- alright. Cancel whatever plans you had, old man, and call the assholes while she changes." Salina was already on her way to change excitedly after bidding Vivienne a quick goodbye with the promise to call later. Lev chuckled as he picked up his phone, murmuring how Dominik was a sap.

~~

"Aleksei! You're a terrible boyfriend, oh my god," Salina rolled her eyes as Aleksei was finishing his story about how he got tangled up with three girls at a time. All three discovering his cheating tendencies together.

"Hey, I never commit to the boyfriend title Selly. I just can't deal with the pressure," Aleksei smirked at the young woman. Dinner had been eaten for a while, dessert still being poked at as the adults around the table all swapped stories.

Dima snorted, "But he can't get his mind off that friend of yours though Salina... What was it- Veronica?"

"Vivienne," both Salina and Aleksei corrected at the same time. Eyes snapping to one another.

"She's off limits," Salina pointed at the youngest of them all. "She doesn't need your STD infested dick, she's successful by herself and no man needs to wreck that for her."

Her voice was stern but still there was light heartedness in her eyes. Soon they flickered to the dining rooms entrance again. Dominik had left just about ten minutes ago to take a call in his office and even with the fun of the conversation Salina was missing his warmth already.

"She's impressive..." Aleksei murmured as he looked down at his plate.

Lev nudged Salina's side. "You see that... the boys got it bad," he muttered to her.

"Well he can have it bad all he wants, he needs to reevaluate," Salina huffed. Finally, as the boys continued talking she grabbed her wine to go look for her husband.

"I'll bring more beer on my way back," she promised. They all cheered.

It didn't take long to find Dominik, he had the phone between his ear and shoulder and a book in his hand. He didn't seem to be paying attention to the phone call as he dragged a finger down the page of the book slowly, then flipping to the next.

He looked hot. His shirt was unbuttoned, his tattoos on display as always and his slacks weren't fastened by his belt at the moment. His jacket was long gone as soon as they got him, he had rolled his sleeves up his forearms to help with cooking.

Their dark eyes met one another's, Dominik responded something in Russian. He paused for a second as if listening to the response and then he scowled.

"Angelo- No- I've been on the phone long enough... I don't give a fuck about that shipment cover it yourself. I'm fucking busy all you wanna do is talk about your wife as if she's hot shit, you're annoying I'm hanging up."

Salina's eyes had widened in amusement, snorting quietly as she walked towards him. He leaned against his desk and welcomed her body against his own.

He tossed the phone aside and wrapped the free hand around her. He held his place in the book with his other hand.

"My Salina," Dominik grinned down at her lazily as he rubbed her back.

"Mm, my Domo," she cooed back at him while pushing onto her toes to kiss him gently. "You know if you keep being so mean to Angelo he's not going to want to talk to you anymore."

"I've always been like this so I don't know why it'd be a shock. Besides all the people I give a fuck about are currently under my roof. And I can keep them here if I need to."

That crazy glint sparkled in his eyes and she gave him a little grin, letting him lean down to plant a hard kiss on her. When he pulled back with a satisfied groan, Salina turned and leaned her back to his chest.

She loved feeling him curl around her and Dominik knew that. He circled his arms around her chest, Salina then caught sight of the book he was reading and snatched it from him immediately.

"Is this-?" Her voice came out squeaky as she looked in the book.

"What?" he grunted with a furrowed brow.

"Did you actually get a fucking parenting book? Oh my- I didn't think you'd actually-" she cut herself off with a laugh of disbelief. Her brows shot up, impressed with him.

"That's what you told me to do- Why are you so shocked-? Don't look at me like that, you act like I can't read."

Her lips tugged in a face splitting smile, tugging him down by his shirt to peck him softly. Although she could barely wipe the smile off long enough to kiss him properly.

"I didn't know if you were actually gonna listen," she admitted. "How'd I get so lucky?"

Dominik turned her around so they were chest to chest, staring at one another with their gazes softened. "Did you learn anything?" she giggled quietly.

He hummed in thought, silently ignoring the fact that he had notes.

"I learned how much help you'll need while you carry our babies..." He circled his hands over her wide hips to her front as he rubbed over her womb.

"Another book talked about the different parenting styles, I'm still deciding what I think about them." He massaged her thighs, unable to keep his hands off of her before lifting her up. Salina squealed, wrapping her legs around his waist.

"Well I think that depends on the type of kid and blending them together, what else?"

"You have to swaddle them to replicate the womb so they can sleep as best as possible...There was step by step on how to change a diaper, did you know babies have 300 bones? So fragile, so small, so many things that could go wrong."

Salina's eyes softened up at him, she grinned a bit while kissing his jaw. "We'll be okay, whenever we decide to have them," she kissed all over his face. Dominik smirked, basking in her affection.

"So you'll give me two?"

"I'll give you two... I guess I could be convinced for three but that's up for debate. To be determined. I'm still thinking over names though."

Dominik's chest thudded with anticipation and excitement, he groaned and pushed his face into her chest. "I fucking love you. Gonna' give me such pretty babies, I'll fuck 'em into to you real good."

Her head rolled back, girlish giggles escaping from her mouth. Dominik sighed contently, pulling back to look up at her and admire her as she laughed with a wide smile on her face.

"I want to take you out this Friday, spend some quality time with my pretty girl." He brushed his fingers over her cheek gently, watching her dark eyes sparkle with anticipation.

"Really?" She perked up, while tightening his arms around his neck. He held her with with so much ease, not even breaking a sweat as he carried her weight.

"Yeah, eсолнышко. Sound good with you? I don't know if I've ever taken you on a proper date." They were both ignoring when he first took her out in retaliation to the McCaffrey's finding out about her oh so long ago.

"Well, we've been real busy, mon cœur. We've had our picnic dates and our little dinners. Besides we're not very social are we?"

Dominik quirked a brow at her in amusement, tilting his face up to kiss her chin. "This one will be a surprise," he informed her. "You deserve a nice night."

"We deserve a nice night. Although, I always have a nice night with you," her brows wiggled at him. Dominik barked out a laugh, cradling her closer as he kissed over her heart. "I have a few things I've gotta handle that afternoon then I'll come get you."

"Gimme' a hint?"

"No," he grunted as he set down his book. Dominik walked them back towards their family that they'd left. He met her gaze, "Excited?"

"Very," she kissed him hard as they walked into the dining room.

"No beer?" Aleksei complained as they reappeared. "Stop making out- it's making me depressed," he sighed loudly. Dominik scowled, flipping off his younger cousin as he groped his wife eagerly.

•••
here's our wednesday update 😌

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