“Ever since my father was fired about a month ago, life has become increasingly difficult for my family and I. The mafia stopped paying him and no one would hire him because they feared Mrs. Maria’s wrath. We lived on the little money he had saved for weeks until we eventually ran out. Last Monday, I came to pack the rest of our stuff from the staff quarters and saw a plate of leftover toast from somebody’s breakfast on the dining table. My brother and I had not eaten since that morning and since it seemed that no one wanted the food anymore, I walked over and picked up the toast so my brother could at least have something to eat for the day.”His face fell.“Unfortunately, I was caught.”“By who?” Alex was curious.“Miguel Santorini.” Eden deadpanned. “He caught me just as I was about to put the toast in my bag. I remember explaining our situation to him and expecting him to let me go since he was a my father’s colleague.”Alex already knew what was coming.“But that was not the c
Three hours into his captivity, Alex was silently staring into the darkness when he heard the gate open. Eden, who'd already dozed off, shot upright and sent him a wide-eyed stare.“Who is it?” He whispered. Alex shrugged and slowly got to his feet.“I have no idea.”Footsteps echoed towards their cell. The closer it got, the harder Alex’s heart pounded in his chest.Finally, the dark shadow came to a stop under one of the torch lights. Alex called it a dark shadow in his mind because that was exactly what it looked like. The man was tall, almost as tall as Tariq. He was dressed all in black — black shirt, black pants, black combat boots and a black trench coat. “Who are you?” Alex asked, trying to quell his thumping heart. The man slowly took off his hat until only his thick, black hair shimmered under the torch’s glow.It suddenly hit Alex that he’d seen this msn somewhere before. Where had he seen him?Just then, the man abruptly turned around in the direction he’d come from a
MIGUELTHE NIGHT BEFORE:It was two AM but Miguel had not slept a wink. He paced from one end of his room to the other, thinking of a solution to his current problem.In eight hours or less, Mrs. Maria would assemble all the staff and ask them for the results of their search. He had to find a renowned baker who was willing to bake an elaborate cake before the day of the banquet and so far, he hadn’t found someone who was willing to take up such a Herculean task.After calling about thirty bakeries within and outside Spain, Miguel was starting to feel completely hopeless.He picked up his phone and called his wife. Angelica had already gone back home. Unlike the cleaners, she was not obligated to stay overnight at the mansion.She answered on the second ring, sounding groggy from sleep.“Hello?” She said, her voice muffled by a long yawn.“Angelica.” Miguel growled. “How can you be enjoying your sleep when I’m almost going out of my mind here?”All the sleep in her eyes disappeared in
“Hello. My name is Miguel Santorini and I’m Philip’s assistant.”Antonio paused.“Philip has an assistant? I thought he was a cleaner.”Miguel and his wife exchanged glances.“Actually, he does have an assistant. What’s your current location, please? Philip asked that I deliver the details of the cake to you in person.”Antonio was surprised.“Really? But he said he’ll just send through a text message. Can I speak with him?”“I’m sorry, sir, but Mr. Philip is extremely busy with preparations for the banquet right now. He asked me to meet you personally with the details because it’s top secret. Where’s your bakery located, please?”Antonio hesitated for a moment. Philip was his childhood friend and he’d never once told him about an assistant. What was going on?Finally, he broke the tense silence.“I’m sorry, Mr. Miguel, but this is not how I run my business. For all I know, you could be a total stranger who somehow got ahold of Philip’s phone. I apologise but I will only take action
Miguel stared at Antonio in shock.“Wait… you really made these?”Antonio shrugged.“What? I don’t look like someone who attended the most prestigious catering school in Paris and graduated top of his class? I don’t look like someone who has handled catering jobs for Presidents and Prime ministers? I don’t look like someone who once owned Dedos Magicos?”Miguel’s eyes widened even further with every single sentence that Antonio spoke. “You once owned this place?”He lowered his gaze. “Yes. Dedos Magicos was originally mine. Let’s just say my father made some really bad decisions before he decided to take his own life, and his greedy brother saw the avenue to pounce… and pounce he did.”Miguel was confused.“Hold on, start from the beginning, please. What really happened here?”Antonio gave him a hard stare. “Do you want the short version or the long version?”“The short version, please. I don’t have a lot of time.”“Well, Antonio’s father and mine were always at loggerheads. Antoni
It was clear to Miguel from Lucas’s cocky expression that he’d missed the entire gist.“I think it’s clear that you do not know where I came from or how this entire cake-making saga will cause Antonio to overthrow you in the long run.”Lucas paused mid stride.“I just explained everything to you. What else is there to understand?”Miguel got to his feet, holding his hands firmly behind his back, and paced in Lucas’s direction.“I guess we did not introduce ourselves properly when we first met.”He paused in front of him and lifted his chin. Even Lucas was surprised at the swift change in his character. “My name is Miguel Santorini and I’m the head housekeeper of the Guerrero household.”Lucas' eyeballs nearly popped and fell from its sockets.“What?”Miguel shrugged, enjoying his reaction.“You heard me.”He shut his eyes and held out a hand.“Wait for a goddamn second. When you say the Guerrero household, I know there’s only one Guerrero household in Spain. Do you mean…”“Exactly.”
Alex was nervous but not scared as the guards pushed him towards the arena.When they arrived, the place was already packed. The arena was built like a stadium, just not as big. It had a field in the centre and bleachers where all the servants and workers of the Guerrero mansion sat and waited to watch the spectacle. When Alex appeared from underneath the arena gates, whispers and shouts rippled through the crowd. The atmosphere was rife and choked with tension.Alex looked up, quietly surveying the arena. On his right, his gaze clashed with some of the members of his cleaning team and they promptly looked away, their expressions riddled with guilt. Amanda sat amongst them, he mind buzzing with ways to save Alex from being whipped. If that whip touched him today, she’ll have to live with the guilt for the rest of her life. She had to do something. Alex was led to the middle of the field where a wooden contraption sat waiting. The guards released him from the handcuffs and immediat
The arena was rigid with tension as the strongest guard uncurled one of the long whips. Alex could already feel the hairs on his back rise with the expectation of pain. “Rufus,” Mrs. Maria called. “You will give him forty strokes and no less. If he dies before the fortieth stroke, we’ll bury him at the mansion’s dumping ground.”Gasps of horror swept through the crowd. They all knew their boss never made empty threats. This was as real as it got. Amanda turned to her colleagues.“Did you hear that?” She said tearfully. “David is about to be beaten to death. We all know he’s not at fault. We need to do something!” She whisper-yelled.They all heard her but pretended like they hadn’t. This was bad. Very bad. Mrs. Maria stepped out of the arena for a water break and deciding to take matters into her own hands, Amanda got to her feet and confronted her co-workers, her shoulders squared with determination.“This is the last time I’m going to say this. I will not let David suffer horrend