KILLING ME SOFTLY

Chapter 5: Mi amore

Veda's head is pounding. It feels like her skull is going to burst at any moment. Tears of fear, shock and pain keep flowing. The tears feel warm on her cheeks. The tattooed man is kneeling in front of her, dabbing a cold, wet cloth at the places where Veda was beaten.

After he had sent Enzo out, he had followed him outside the room. Out of Veda's sight. She had heard voices shouting at each other and loud bangs had followed. After that, it had been deceptively quiet.

The fear Veda had felt had magnified. Her body was in a survival mode and the adrenaline of her desperation was the only thing keeping her conscious. For a few long minutes, the only thing Veda had been able to hear was herself. Until the moment the door opened and the tattooed man had walked in with a bottle of water, a towel and a pocket knife in his hand.

He had carefully moved the cloth to her face. Veda hadn't tried to turn away from him or turn her face away from him so he couldn't easily reach it. She had held her breath as he had reached out, nervously waiting to see what he would do. To her surprise, he had carefully started dabbing her face with the cloth.

'Mi amore,' the man mumbles. He shakes his head and stops dabbing the burning spots on Veda's face. With his hands, he tenderly grabs Veda's chin. He carefully lets Veda turn her head to the left and looks at her wall with a mixture of emotions that she can't quite place.

He does the same to the other side of her face. Veda doesn't struggle, says nothing and lets it happen. Her head can't comprehend what has happened in the past few hours and the more time passes, the more shocked she seems to become.

'Enzo shouldn't have done this.' Veda frowns and looks at the man in front of her with a surprised look. Is he playing a game of good cop versus bad cop with her? 'I will untie your hands,' the man says. 'But I have a gun and I will use it if I have to,' he warns Veda, '-no matter how beautiful you are.'

Veda swallows and nods to him that she has understood him. The man stands up and goes to stand behind Veda. She cannot turn her head far enough to keep her eyes on him, but she feels the warmth of his body behind her. With minimal effort, the man cuts the ropes that had tied Veda's wrists together. A sigh of relief, which Veda had not realized she had been holding in, escapes her lips. Her shoulders no longer have to remain twisted at the nasty angle and this feels a lot more pleasant.

Veda is not sure what the man expects of her now. Should she stay seated? Or should she stand up? Veda does not trust that with the light feeling in her head, standing up is a good idea. She remains seated and waits for the man to say something to her. He stands in front of her again and looks at her. His penetrating gaze makes Veda shiver. 'Give me one good reason why I shouldn't hand you over to the Lucchese's.'

Now it was Veda who didn't break eye contact and continued to look at the man in front of her intently. 'Wha- don't you work for the-,' Veda couldn't finish her sentence before the man started laughing. 'Do you have any idea who I am, mi amore?'

Veda wanted to shake her head in response to his question, but immediately regretted it when she moved. A stabbing pain shot through her head and her vision became blurry. She grabbed her head with her hand and a wave of nausea overwhelmed her. Veda sat hunched over and with her eyes squeezed shut, sitting on the chair.

'N-no,' she managed to say, half mumbling, half groaning in pain. After she answered, she regretted it. What if this was the wrong answer? What if she had insulted this big, muscular but above all, threatening man?

'My name is Domenico.'

The name sounds familiar to Veda. Domenico. Dom. Where does she recognize it from? Where had she heard it? In her head, Veda tries to place where she might have come across this name before, but the throbbing pain in her face prevents her from thinking clearly.

'If it were up to the others, we would have thrown you in the back of the car and driven towards Osvaldo Lucchese.' Veda's heart seems to have forgotten that it has to keep beating in a constant rhythm and she gasps for breath. 'N-no, no please,' Veda begins pleadingly. If she hadn't been so terrified, Veda would have been ashamed of how she had been sitting there wailing in front of this man. Everything she had seen of this man so far screams "mafia".

A knock on the door sounds. Both Veda and Domenico look at the door. 'I'll be right back,' Domenico says irritated and he walks to the door. He steps out and Veda tries to see who is on the other side of the door. All she can see is a man, in black clothing. The door remains ajar and Veda sees that the two men are talking to each other. Judging from their body language, it is not about anything positive.

Veda manages to pick up a few clear swear words from the conversation, but otherwise the men are talking too softly to figure out what they are talking about. Domenico nods and grabs his gun. He starts tapping the side of his thigh impatiently. The conversation stops. The other man walks away quickly and shouts a few orders. Veda is sitting too far away to hear which ones.

Domenico turns around and looks Veda straight in the eye. A small grin seems to form on his face as he holds the gun towards Veda. With this he makes the gesture for her to get up from the chair. Without a word, Veda does what Domenico asks of her. Veda has to keep holding the chair to stay upright. She squeezes her eyes shut for a few seconds and takes a deep breath. Veda continues to feel dizzy, but she doesn't want to faint again and wake up somewhere unknown. Especially not now that she's surrounded by men who are clearly working on behalf of or with her step-grandfather.

While she has her eyes closed, Veda does hear footsteps being taken towards her. A large, warm hand grabs her chin again. 'Open your eyes, Mi Amore,' Domenico whispers. The man moves her head up again, this time so that they are looking into each other's eyes.

'There seems to be a little problem with our current location,' Dom speaks softly to Veda. Meanwhile, he continues to hold her chin and forces her to keep looking at him. 'That means,' he continues, the corners of his mouth curling slightly upward, 'that you will come with me until I have received answers to my questions.'