Page 7 of Solace

“I have nothing to tell you. What I said to that man… was the truth,” I said as I held firm eye contact with him.

“Look, sweetheart, we can either do this the easy way or the hard one. Who are you working for?” he asked as he glared at me like I was something he trod in.

“I am telling you the truth. I’m on my own, I have no one. I’ve lived in fear all my life, running away and being homeless.”

I had to embellish the story to make sure that they believed what I was telling them.

“You said something about running from a guy… who was he?” he asked.

“He was a no one, just someone who had threatened me.”

“Oh, come on, we aren’t that stupid. Who was he?” he asked again as he gritted his teeth but then winked at someone behind me.

“He was a fool and was obsessed with me. He wanted me to be his girl and I… well, wanted to kick him in the dick, there was no way his grubby little hands would ever touch me.”

Another giant of a man came and stood beside him, he had short chestnut brown hair, a well-groomed short beard and piercing aqua-blue eyes, he also wore a black suit. He just glared at me, making me feel like he was more dangerous than the rest. He passed Carlo something and I tried to see what it was, but I struggled.

“I swear… I don’t work for anyone. I’m a loner. I simply saw an opportunity to get into a car and hide. I never thought for a second, that I would end up here. Trust me if I did, I wouldn’t have done it. I was running from that guy, I needed to escape him,” I told them with a shaky voice.

“Did he threaten you?” Carlo asked as the other one walked away towards the door, he didn’t leave the room as I still felt his presence behind me.

“Yes… he told me he liked it better when women resisted, that it was more fun. He also told me that once he captured me that I would never be able to leave him because I would forever be his.”

It was all I could think of to say, which in theory was true, Ricco had threatened me. Carlo then walked away from me, leaving me to sit in the cold room. It all went quiet. A minute started to feel like an hour, days even when my eyes became heavy, and my head started to fall forward, I woke myself back up, only for my eyes to remain heavy and staying awake became a battle. My backside had gone numb, I was shivering, tired and weak, and I’m so hungry. I started drifting off to sleep when suddenly I was pushed hard.

“No sleep for you sweetheart,” Carlo shouted.

I looked at him gormlessly, I couldn’t get my eyes to focus, and I soon drifted off again.

“I don’t think so,” I heard as I was shoved again.

“I’m tired,” I pleaded.

“I’ve been told to keep you awake and that is what I’ll do unless you want Monica to come down here.”

“Is she evil?”

“She can be. Look, for your safety if I was you, I would just tell the truth,” Carlo told me as he crouched down to me.

“I’m telling the truth; I seriously have nothing else to tell you. I’m just so tired, I’ve spent the last few nights awake, worrying about my well-being and now…” I said as my eyes closed again.

Carlo tried to shake me awake again, but I really needed to sleep.

“Please… I feel safe here…” I muttered groggily.

Chapter

Four

ANTONIO

Sat at my desk that night trying to work but all I could think about was the woman in the basement.

“Fuck this!” I shouted.

I headed back downstairs to the basement to find Carlo sitting in a chair beside Layla and Luigi standing there polishing his knife. I walked quietly over to him making him jump and spin around. Layla’s eyes were beginning to close indicating that she longed for sleep, so I gestured for Carlo to follow me to the back of the room.

“Well?”