Me & The Devil

Epilogue One

Dominik spun his pen in his hand, thinking to himself as he sat at his desk. He reminisced over the morning spent with Salina. She'd been especially soft these last few days, Dominik bathed in it. Soft and needy for him, just how he likes her. After all, their one year anniversary of their first wedding just passed.

He loved getting her attention. Right now, she's decided she had enough of him however and went out with Vivienne for lunch.

But the morning was making him reminiscent. He thought back to himself as a boy, he wondered if his ten year old self knew he'd met the center of his universe that day.

Maybe he did, considering Salina ran circles in his mind even when he was young. But then, he probably saw her as more of a new toy he needed to have. That only he could have. Not the love of his life.

Dominik chuckled at the thought.

A boy, making himself look bigger than he truly was, followed after a strikingly similar looking man out of their car.

"These people are thorns in my side, this meeting will be a waste of our time. But it is necessary evil," his father, Andrei, murmured to him in russian.

"When you're pakhan- you will surpass even me. These annoying meetings I make today are for you. To keep the people under you happy- you must make them feel important."

Andrei gripped his son's shoulder tightly before they got to the front door of the house. "But remember. Everyone is below you. They're wastes of time. A means to an end to get to our goal."

"They're not Ivanov's," Dominik responded for the first time in their mother tongue. His face was stoic even as his shoulder crunched under the hard grip of his father. Andrei squeezed even tighter in approval of the answer, finally releasing him.

And with that, the door was opening. Beaumont greeted them at the door. He had a look that the young ten year old Dominik recognized, concealed nervousness.

His smile was just slightly strained, only a trained eye would catch it. His teeth were clenched as he casually brushed a hand through his hair to wipe his brow of any sweat gathering.

"Pakhan Ivanov," the russian word sounded botched on the frenchman's tongue. It obviously irritated Andrei to hear it.

"Don't attempt a language you don't understand. Boss is just fine." The words were practically seered in Dominik's mind. As their mafia expanded, more and more people butchered his father's title. It was easier now to adapt to english.

Dominik's thoughts were derailed when he saw a collection of shiny things in the center of the family room ahead of them. Shiny, pink wrapping paper made each present sitting in a pyramid very eye catching.

Sensing his son's attention being shifted, he too looked at the ridiculous mountain of gifts.

Laurent Beaumont saw what they were looking at and hummed as he gestured to them. "My daughter's birthday today. It's the first since uh... we lost my wife. I was trying to make it special but she's none too pleased with my work responsibilities."

"The children are needy things. Birthdays are considered a hazard in our household. Right, boy?"

When Dominik didn't respond immediately, staring at the presents with an unreadable expression, his father's grip on his shoulder dragged his attention away.

"Yes," he immediately agreed to whatever Andrei had said.

He nodded in approval before grunting at Laurent to get this over with.