The Mafia's Prized Possession

**Stefan**

I knew her every moves. Her very steps. The sound of her voice.

The way her lips curled to reveal dimples when she smiled. The way her eyes lit up when she laughed.

The way she fluttered her eyelashes coyly when she saw the Doctor.

The fact that she didn't drink and didn't have much friends except for the woman I had sent to keep an eye on her.

And the fact that her hold on me was driving me almost senseless making me wonder if it'd drive him the same way too.

It's been a year since I've been stalking her and making a fool of myself. To think that the most ruthless Mafia Lord in all of NY was tailing a woman personally was the most insane thing ever heard of.

What would the underworld say if they heard that a woman like Marissa Perez was driving me crazy?

What would they think if they heard that I was outside her home on a Saturday evening watching her through the window as she laughed with her Father over a drink.

I'm many things but I'm not a stalker.

Stalking is completely for those under me, I don't stalk my victims.

My victims.

It was safe to call her a victim now because that's what she was going to be in the coming hours.

"Should we go in and get her now since they're together?"

Dmitri asked.

Dmitri was my righthand man and one who didn't like to be kept waiting especially because of a woman. His hair was slicked back with gel and his face was puffed up. He didnt have any lovable features about him physically and character wise, he was the meanest and most cruel of all my men which was why I had chosen him for this mission tonight.

Gilead was warned about paying me on time but he had chosen to go back on his word which was why I had decided to approach her myself so that there wouldn't be any confusion about the kind of man I happened to be.

That's why I'm called Litso so shramom meaning Scarface in Russian.

My fingers went involuntarily to the jagged scar that ran from my left eye to the my upper lip.

Marissa followed Gilead through the door, her hand clasped around his right arm as they laughed. They were headed to his car when he stopped abruptly and looked around.

It was late and it would be impossible for him to see us since our headlights were off but still, I had a feeling that his cop instincts were on alert.

"Goodnight Dad. Thanks for coming over." She hugged him tightly. He patted her on the back and pushed her away gently.

If he wasn't her Father, you'd think they were lovers.

"Call me anytime you need to talk okay? I'm always here for you." He said, ruffling her long hair. She swatted his hands off her head and he laughed.

"Stop doing that now, Dad. I'm not 12 anymore."

"I keep forgetting that."

She waved at him one last time before entering back into her house, turning the lock behind her.

I smiled at her carefulness. No matter what she did, she was still going to get kidnapped by me tonight.

"It's time, Dmitri." I said in Russian and he stepped out of our car, parked by the opposite side of the road. Walking by the trees to avoid being seen, he crossed to the other side and went to the back of Gilead's car.

Another of my aide was seated at the back seat already and as soon as Dmitri showed up with a gun pointed to Gilead's face, Katrina gagged his mouth from behind.

Good.

Now, it was time to go get the girl. Rambo, my tech guy who sat in front was ready to go out when I touched him on the shoulder.

"No, I'll go in first. When I give you the signal, you'll come."

He nodded his head at me in understanding as I stepped out of the black minivan and buttoned my striped Italian suit I had gotten as a gift. There was no need for me to follow the trees since Gilead already knew who I was as Dmitri and Katrina bundled him up and placed him in the booth of his car.

Marissa had already drawn the curtains in the living room so I opted to use the kitchen door, the part of her house that was never locked.

How do I know?

Because, this isn't my first time in her house. She's careful about the front but not about the kitchen and since the lock spoilt, she hadn't called anyone to fix it.

The hinges didn't creak like they use to because I oiled it a week beforehand. The more I explain things to myself, the creepier it becomes.

Plates were stacked in her sink along with the two glasses her and Gilead used to drink wine. If there was anything I knew, it was that she wasn't an alcoholic.

I walked out of the kitchen and into the corridor that led both ways; forward to her living room and backwards to her bedroom.

The sound of running water was coming from her bedroom along with the sound of people talking.

She's probably watching a movie.

Korean to be precise because that's all she watches. I rolled my eyes at her movie choice as I waited, leaning by the doorpost.

She didn't lock her door either, I know that much so getting in wasn't going to be a difficult task.

I sent the alert call to Rambo so he'd take his cue.

The voices of the characters were becoming louder now, Marissa oohing and ahhing her opinions. Rambo came in with the handkerchief and walked past me to her room , opening the door gently.

This was the moment we had all been waiting for.

I heard her moan and then stillness before he appeared carrying her in his arms, her long hair trailing behind her.

We gave each other slight nods as he walked past me and back outside.

I had successfully captured my victim.

**Marissa**

I didn't know where I was. Or why I was here. Or why I couldn't see or why I had a blindfold on and my hands were tied behind this chair.

It didn't make one bit of sense why I'd be kidnapped on Saturday evening while watching one of my favourite Korean drama series on the laptop that my father got me when he traveled last month to Greece. And why my kidnapper had to hypnotize me with a handkerchief just when the lead actress was going to stab the villain of the movie who by the way happened to be her mother.

Oh by the way, the drama is called "It's Okay not to be Okay" and the acting was superb. This is not something I should be thinking of in my position but I have to distract myself from thinking bad thoughts or else I'd think I am really being kidnapped.

Or am I ?

I heard someone moan in a far corner of the room and mutter incoherent words. Then I heard as if the person was being dunked inside water and brought back up again. From another corner again I heard forthcoming footsteps, like someone who knew they were in control. Other footsteps accompanied this footsteps hastily and I heard him say something in a language I didn't understand but could remember hearing before.

Russian.

The smell of smoke filled the air. Pipe smoke. Then I perceived the smell of burning flesh and then a piercing scream with pleas of help. I couldn't hear what was being said or what was transpiring since my eyes were closed but I could sense the man being dragged out of the room through a door and heard him screaming all the way down.

Wait. Down. This place was- up? A top a hill? Where-

I felt someone come behind me and remove the blindfold from my eyes. At first, I squinted trying to adjust my eyes to the light in the room and then my eyes came to focus and locked on pair of beady black eyes staring back at me. The eyes were steely and my eyes shifted focus to his face. His pig like face.

Snotty nose. Round cheeks. Wide mouth. Slicked back hair and a receding hairline.

"Dmitri, can she speak?" I heard a thick voice with a rich Russian accent from the far end of the room where it was dark. The man in front of me lifted my chin in his pudgy hands to face him.

"Khay krasivaya..." He said in what I assumed to be Russian which I didn't understand.

"Sorry, I don't speak Russian."

There was an uproar of laughter in the room and voices of faces I couldn't identify joined in. There was more of them.

Okay. So I really am kidnapped. Wow. And by Russians. Bloody, ruthless Russians. Interesting. And very very scary. Why me?

"Ur...can someone please tell me what's going on? I seem to be the only one who can't understand the situation here."

There was silence. Dmitri stood up straight then went behind me and placed his hands -again, on my shoulders. His pudgy hands. His pudgy, greasy hands were on my shoulders. Creepy.

"Dad? Dad where are you?" I called out, getting frightened now. Now that I think about it, my father was nowhere to be found. The next things I heard was a click of fingers and then muffled scream then a thud on the floor.

"Dad?" I said in fear. Footsteps approached me along with the sound of a walking stick but whoever this person was refused on coming into the light.

Then I heard him laugh a shrill, scary laugh like a wailing banshee.

"Ava..."came my father's voice weakly.

"Dad!" I screamed trying to push myself forward in my seat but held back by my tied hands and feet.

"Someone please untie me." I ordered. "I'll call the police. They'll be looking for us. The police -"

"Zalmochi!" The man from the shadows voice thundered and I kept quiet instantly. I assumed that's what he meant by the force with which it was said.

"Ava keep quiet. Don't ask any questions. Don't -"

I heard a kick coming in contact with bone. My father groaned. The shadow man came closer than before, this time the tip his walking stick resting under my chin. My heartbeat drummed loudly in my ears causing me to sweat in exasperation and confusion, the reality of the kidnap dawning on me.

"Please don't hurt my daughter. Please..." My father begged. My father was begging this man - this man and his gang to spare my life when it was supposed to be the other way round. When my father was supposed to be a cop catching these criminals but instead these criminals were the ones catching him.

"Dad? Dad what's going on? What's happening here?"

The shadow man said a word in Russian and I heard footsteps behind him shuffle then the sound of a chair placed where he was and then the creaking of the chair as he sat on it.

"Hi Marissa." He said calmly this time. His voice hinting a smile on his lips.

"Hi. What do you want with us? Please let my father go. Let me go, we are good people." I defended. So far, I couldn't remember doing anything that would warrant putting me in this position. Especially one where I would be kidnapped by a Russian gang. I mean, weren't those guys involved in drugs and child trafficking and gang rape and-

Jesus! Jesus please save me.

"I know you're good people, Marissa. I know your father is a decent cop and you've been nothing but a straight A student your whole life. I also know that You're one of the best nurses at Hilltop Hospital but the thing is, things are very complicated."

"Com- complicated? How?"

He sighed shifting his weight on the chair and making it creak even further.

"Marissa a, your father owes me money."

"What?"

"Yes. Your honourable police officer father owes the Russian Lord money and he has to pay me."

Oh. Oh wow. I wasn't expecting this. I wasn't expecting this at all.

***Marissa***

Papa would never borrow money from someone like this man. Papa was a good man. A very good man. It didn't make sense why he'd go and do something like that.

I frowned at his accusation.

"I don't believe you. My father would never do something like that."

Pudgy hands, a.k.a Dmitri walked from behind me and got a chair from another end of the room and sat on it a few inches beside me.

God. How many chairs are there in here and where the heck are we for crying out loud and why does this man keep saying Dad owes him money?

"Sometimes, children can't believe that their Superhuman parents are also capable of committing a crime. No one would think Superman would ever be the bad guy."

Parables. Parables.

"You're a smart girl, Marissa . I know because I've been watching you very closely and so I'm going to tell you a story." He lit a pipe and from the faint light that emerged, I noticed he had gray eyes and a scar running from the side of his left eye to his upper lip.

He continued. "I was the weakest of all my siblings,. I had two stronger elder brothers. They were smarter too. My father was part of the Russian Mafia just like me and his syndicates stretched as far as US and our neighbouring country Kiev. We were well known and so was I. Do you know why?"

I shook my head at him. How would I know? It's not like I was there or something.

"Because I was 'slabak' a weakling. I had asthma, Marissa . I had frequent pneumonia too. I couldn't go out to play like my brothers as the weather wasn't so comfortable for me. I would catch a cold and end up wheezing like an old worn out car engine. Papa hates me for that."

My father wheezed painfully and my eyes darted to where his voice was hoping to see him.

"Can- can you please untie me now? My arms hurt a lot." I asked politely. The puffed at his pipe then said something in Russian to Dmitri who got up and untied my wrists then went back to sit down.

My arms ached like hell and my body was sore from sitting and being tied in this position for so long. I shuffled my feet unsure of whether I could be granted the privilege of untying the ropes on my ankles to.

"You can untie them, Marissa. You can't run anyway."

Right. Very Mafia like to remind you of the hold they have over your life. I bent down and loosened the ropes around my ankles then stretched my legs forward trying to ease blood flow.

"My mother was Irish. Irish who married a Russian and so I happened to be unusually white too. Handsome, yes but too too pale looking."

"Aren't all Russians like pale looking? Something like vampires?"

He chuckled. "Oh ,You have a very imaginative mind."

He didn't think anything of it. Why was he even speaking to me like we were friends?

"You know what I did one day? I killed a man. It was my first kill. I was only nine years old at that time and this boy was about twelve. He insulted my mother, called her a whore when we went to school." He paused.

"The other kids laughed. He laughed. My brothers weren't there. I was mad all the way home. I cried. But then something rose up inside me. Something. So I went and took Igor's sculpting knife and went out by 11pm to the boy's house. I stabbed him in his sleep, Ava. He didn't even know what hit him in the chest, my face was the last he saw."

"That's -"

"Why am I saying this Marissa? Why? Because I lost every ounce of weakness that I carried around because you see when you kill a man like yourself, you feel like a god." He blew at his pipe again.

"What do you want from me?"

He smiled in the darkness.

"Smart girl. At least you are aware that I want something. The question is, can you give it?"

"It depends."

"It depends." He said thoughtfully repeating my words. "On what?"

"On what you'd be asking, sir."

"On what I'd be asking? Well I don't ask for much at all. Your father Gil can tell you that."

My father laughed dryly then winced. "Don't agree to it, Marissa."

"She doesn't have a choice now does she? If she doesn't agree, I'll kill you and then sell her off to sex traffickers and you as well as I know that she's beautiful, the price on her head would be lovely."

I set my chin up in defiance. "Tell me what you want and leave my father alone."

He exhaled. "I need you to bring someone to me, Marissa."

"Bring someone as how? I don't kidnap people."

"I'm not asking you to kidnap him, I'm asking you to befriend him. Make him trust you. If you can do that, you and your father will be free to go."

"And- this someone, who is he? Where does he live?"

"His name is Nikita. His father owes me. His son is the payment. I want you to bring him to me as soon as possible."

Everyone owes this guy.

"Okay."

He smiled. "Great. Then I guess we're good to go." He stood up and barked orders to the other men in the shadows and 2 men appeared and stood beside me.

"What's happening?"

"They're taking you to make a few 'changes'. You need to look the part."

"I don't understand."

"Oh Marissa." He made a tsking sound then ordered the men again. This time they dragged me by the arm and out of the room. I heard my father groan too and I knew he was being carried out as well.

"Where are you taking me?" I bellowed loudly.

"To the upper 5 percent." Came his reply.