Russian Mafia Tsar [18+]

Chapter 17 - Survival

"Call Carly." She said after her shower, her voice rough from not using it all week. "Ask her to come with us. Please."

Mia sat in front of her omelette not even picking up her fork while Viv slowly ate in between worried glances at Mia. Then Carly walked in and sat down in front of Mia beside Viv and looked at her with a questioning look and quietly asked,

"How is she?"

Carly knew what happened and kept in touch with Viv to get updates on the whole situation. In the time between Ari's injuries and now, Carly and Ari had entered into a relationship and Carly was riding a high ever since then. Things were getting serious between them and she was hoping he would propose soon.

"I have something that belongs to Ari." Mia suddenly spoke looking up at Carly with puffy, lifeless eyes. She produced the gold chain and extended her arm toward Carly.

Carly instinctively reached out her hand to grab it and looked down confused at what it was. She immediately recognized Ari's chain and a scowl appeared on her face.

"You! You are responsible for everything that happened to him?!" She was angry and ready to attack.

Mia explained what happened in a monotone voice, struggling to find the strength to speak.

Viv had finally found out why Mia broke up with Kirill and Carly was burdened with the knowledge that her beloved had suffered at the hands of Kirill's men.

"You fucking bitch!" Carly vehemently whispered at Mia. "You are responsible for this! I can't believe you've been my friend throughout all this!" She was throwing accusations wildly with pure rage on her face.

Carly's words affected Mia physically and she lifted up her hand to touch her chest. Viv tried to get Carly to lay off but Carly continued,

"You are a bad person, Mia. You brought so much pain on us all. I hope you get what you deserve." Carly said bitterly.

"I'm sorry," Mia started, "I'm sorry Ari was into me and you felt jealous! I'm sorry this happened but this is not my fault!" She tried to defend herself, rage bubbling to the surface. She stood up suddenly and pointed at Carly,

"I never ever wished anything bad on you or Ari or anyone else. I was always your loyal friend, I was always there for you and will still always be there for you, no matter what vitriol you throw my way!" And she walked out of the diner not looking back.

Viv found Mia outside of her apartment building, sitting on the sidewalk ledge and smoking a cigarette. Viv knew that Mia did not smoke and seeing her like this made her genuinely worried that Mia might hurt herself. She sat down beside her quietly and grabbed the cigarette out of her hand and took a puff. They sat like that for a few minutes until Viv spoke,

"You know...when I was ten, my brother passed away." Mia turned to her with wide eyes, she never knew that Viv even had a brother, Viv never spoke about him until now.

"It really broke us all. He was only seven. He was hit by a car. We were playing outside our apartment building and I threw the ball at him and he ran into the street to get it. I saw it happen." Her voice was quiet and she spoke with pauses between words now, "He died on the spot. I had to get counselling for years, even when I met you in high school, I was still going to see someone. My parents never blamed me, even though they should have. I was older, I should have protected him...it's going to be 19 years since he passed and I think about him everyday but we all learned to continue living our lives and we all moved on. Time heals you although the scar stays." She quieted down again taking another long puff. "This is a difficult time for you, girl. But time will heal it. You have to believe that. And Carly will come around, she is just very upset. She's been obsessed with Ari for years and now he has a slightly crooked nose and she can't get over that."

She smiled at Mia and put her arm around Mia's shoulder. They sat like that for a little bit, not noticing one of Yuri's men down the street watching their every move.

It had been three weeks since Mia and Kirill broke up. After a week at her dad's, Mia came back to her apartment and began to steadily restart daily activities. She decided to go into the office and face all the missed calls and emails knowing that most clients had fired her by now.

She sat at her desk, mind occupied with her personal tragedy but trying to focus on what was in front of her when she heard a knock at the door. She saw Ari standing behind it and he slightly opened the door asking if he could come in.

She stood up and came over to him, hugging him and looking at his face and apologizing profusely for all that had happened to him. Ari had been back to work for a long time now but actively avoided seeing her. He unwrapped her hands from him and gently said, "It's ok."

They stood a few meters apart and Ari had his hands in his pockets. Looking up at her he began,

"I don't blame you, Mia. I know Carly is very mad but I know you had nothing to do with it. At the same time, you are a constant reminder of how I almost died so I...I try not to cross paths with you." Mia stood there nodding, eyes again stinging with tears. Ari spoke again,

"Hey, listen, if I was a Russian Mafia Tsar and someone was joking around with my girl, I probably would have done the same." He chuckled. "I don't blame him. In fact, after getting together with Carly, I understand him. I'm surprised he didn't kill me and throw me in the river." They both laughed slightly and this was the first time Mia smiled since the morning of the break up.

"You're a good catch, Mia." He said earnestly, not looking at her. "If someone is willing to go to such lengths to be with you...then..." he didn't know how to phrase what he wanted to say, "then you mean a lot to him." He finished not satisfied with his words. "Basically, what I'm trying to say is, if you guys decide that you are meant for each other, forgive him for what he did."

Ari was certain now of the message he gave her. After starting his relationship with Carly, he cared for her deeply and saw how much effort and love she put in to care for him. It was obvious Mia was not herself and completely devastated and he didn't want to see her like that.

"Anyway, when Carly and I get married, please bring a plus one, it will make for one hell of a toast!" He smiled and then added, "He is the one that brought us together."

Mia looked at him with a small smile trying to hold back tears. As messed up as his words were, he was right, putting Ari in the hospital gave him and Carly an opportunity to get together. Ari walked out of her office without saying anything else.

Ending her day early, Mia left her office to go home and got in the elevator but it stopped a few floors down. The elevator doors opened and Tamik was standing there, smiling coyly.

"Wow, what a surprise!" Tamik said sarcastically. Mia's blood ran cold, she was scared of him and his manner of speaking repulsed her. Tamik came in the elevator and pressed the close door button and the elevator continued to the lobby. Mia stood there frozen, not knowing what would happen next or what to do. Then Tamik reached over and pressed the stop elevator button.

Mia yelled and grabbed the walls to steady herself but Tamik was calm and turned around to face her. He came closer and closer until he was right up against her body and reached over to move a strand of hair out of her face. He slowly ran his hand over her cheek and placed a lock of hair behind her ear. Mia winced at his touch; she was terrified of him.

"Such a sweet girl." Tamik drawled. "Now that you and Kirill are broken up, you're fair game, right?" He smiled at her with a spark in his eyes. He enjoyed watching her freeze up and saw that she was scared for her life and that turned him on.

"Yes. I think that's the rule. I will make sure to show Kirill the video of what I do with you, right before I kill him. Yes...I think I will enjoy seeing him die from a heart attack instead of my bullet." Tamik continued to stand right up against her as he said all this.

"You're going to go outside and get in the taxi that pulls up. And then I will see you soon. Sunshine. If you try to run away outside the building, you will be shot." He broke into a wide toothed smile knowing that Kirill had called her that in private.

The elevator stopped at the lobby and he walked out holding her upper arm. He let her go outside first and indeed, a taxi pulled up right away and she slowly opened the door with shaking hands and climbed inside.