Whether I have

"You are definitely right about that Mr. Lown, the market at this time of the year, I am sure that you will do well in all your business ventures this season." said Dom as he smiled speaking to an older man, one of their various family friends.

If he was being honest, they were more like business partners than family friends, the person that this man really had a relationship with was his father since they had both met while his father was the head of the company, which was why as soon as they started speaking Dom shot Michael a dirty glare for dragging him along to speak to a man he would rather avoid.

It was not as if Dom disliked the man it was just the huge age difference between them made it almost impossible for them to talk about anything besides business, which meant that as soon as they were done talking about business, the conversation would go dry and it was about to do just that.

"Of course, of course, thank you Dominic." said Mr. Lown as he smiled.

"And you know that I will definitely require your services." he laughed.

"Of course I do Mr. Lown, it is always a pleasure to do business with you." said Dom as he smiled.

"So Dominic, how is life?" asked Mr. Lown as this had been the exact conversation that Dom had been dreading and to his dismay Michael had already made his escape and purposely occupied himself with speaking to someone else.

"Ahh, life is good Mr. Lown." replied Dom simply.

"I can see that, your wife seems to get even more beautiful every single time I see her." said Mr. Lown as he laughed.

"That she does." Dom replied as he laughed.

"And your daughter as well, she's grown really big now, I remember the last time I saw her she could barely walk and now she's running all around the place." he said.

"That is true, they just grow up so fast, sometimes it feels as if you are unable to keep up with them and before you know it they'll be all grown up." said Dom as he laughed and took a sip of his wine.

"That is true, just look at me, my own sons don't even come home for holidays." said Mr. Lown as he scoffed and shook his head as Dom laughed.

"I'm sure that they are busy, family is always important and they know that." said Dom.

"Maybe for you, but those three, they would prefer to leave me here to die, anyway, while we are on the topic of sons, what about you? Have you and your wife discussed having another child?" asked Mr. Lown suddenly as Dom almost choked on his wine as he coughed.

"Ahh that... well we are not in a rush to do anything... we are fine with Joy for now." said Dom as he wiped his mouth and cursed Michael for leaving him here to die. Michael on the other hand could feel Dom's hot gaze on him as he turned around and gave a sheepishly smile before turning away.

"Oh but the girl needs a sibling to keep her company, and you and your wife are still very young and very vigorous." said Mr. Lown as he winked and Dom chuckled in nervousness.

"That may be so, but I am busy with a lot of things, and she's also busy with her own business, so trying for a baby at this point in time would be stressful to both our schedules." said Dom as he smiled, who was he joking to? He and Natasha would never have another child, they never planned for Joy and he knew very well that Natasha felt the same, another child was out of the question, they were at the verge of a divorce, but no outsider needed to know that.

"Oh but it would be beneficial to you, don't you want to have a son to carry the legacy on, the same with your father did with you, and your grandfather did with him." said Mr. Lown as Dom fought back an impending headache.

"Whether I have a daughter or a son doesn't really matter to me. I love my daughter, and it doesn't matter what happens in the future, she will be able to make her own choices, besides, I have brothers, and they will have their own children, the company doesn't belong to me alone, but to the entire family." he said.

"I see, or maybe you want to follow in your parent's footsteps, they did have you and Louise ten years apart." said Mr. Lown as he laughed.

"Maybe so, or maybe not, but I am happy that I have a daughter, and even if I never have a son, it won't make me feel incomplete in any way." said Dom politely.

"You give a good argument Dominic, it's always nice to speak to you." said Mr. Lown as he drank his wine.

"I feel the same Mr. Lown, now if you would please excuse me I just remembered that I forgot to tell him something really important." said Dom and with that he made his swift escape.

"Good lord, I need to avoid that man." said Dom to himself as he stopped in front of the buffet table, he thought that he would never be able to get out of the conversation, he wondered why people were always so interested in other people's personal matters.

Dom sighed as he shook his head, he was just going to lay low for now before Mr. Lown came looking for him.

"Dom..." called a familiar voice that Dom had not expected to hear in a long while.

"Lia?" he called as he turned back in shock.

"Hi Dom..." she said as she smiled sadly.

"Lia... what are you doing here?" asked Dom in surprise as Lia looked sad, he had not seen her in a while and he would not lie that he was not shocked to see her here.

"Grandfather invited me... I didn't want to come at first but I... actually he invited my entire family, but my parents decided not to come..." she said as she sighed and stopped herself.

"You're not happy to see me here are you?" she asked as Dom shook his head.

"No, no, not at all, I am just surprised that's all, it's nice to see you... it's been a while." said Dom as Lia smiled sadly.

"Yes, it has... we didn't exactly part on the best of terms last time we saw." she said.

"That is true." said Dom.

"Do you hate me?" she asked.

"What? No, no Lia, I don't hate you, not at all." said Dom.

"If anything, I've forgiven you. This time between the incident and now has made me see my own shortcomings." said Dom as Lia teared up hearing that he had forgiven her.

"You... you have forg..iven me?" she asked with a choked breath as she fought away tears.

"Yes, of course I have Lia." he said.

"But I ruined you and Natasha's relationship... I caused you so much pain, truly, I do deserve to be hated." she said.

"Hey, don't say that, as much as you are to blame for what happened, so am I, I was stupid, I allowed my anger to take over and I gave you a chance to ruin what me and Natasha had, I was an idiot, if I pinned all the blame on you that would make me unfair. I accept my mistakes and yours as well, so yes, I truly have forgiven you." he said as she could not contain herself and she gave him a hug.

"Oh thank you Dom, you don't know how happy it makes me to hear you say that. I've felt so bad, so guilty, I thought that you would never forgive me, so thank you... thank you so much." said Lia as she cried and Dom gave her a pat on the back.

"You were always like family Lia, and we are bound to offend each other, the only difference is we don't stay upset for too long." he said as she nodded and broke their hug.

"Thank you Dom, you don't know how much this means to me." she said as she sniffed, all she wanted was everyone's forgiveness that was all she asked and prayed for.

"It's alright Lia, we are friends again." he said with a smile as she laughed but suddenly stopped laughing as she looked sad again.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing... it's just that... I wonder if Natasha would forgive me one day as well." she said as Dom smiled.

"You know, if you ask me, I am sure that she has already forgiven you... we all just need time to move on, but she definitely doesn't hate you as well, I can promise you that." he said as he smiled.

"If you say so..." she said as she faked a smile and nodded.