Published: 2025-10-11

Fiora held the knife in front of Miguel’s face while shouting expletives at him. The rope was tied so tightly to his wrists that he could feel them throbbing. He couldn’t scream even if he wanted; a gag filled the insides of his mouth. The kidnapper had thought of everything.

“This is what we’re gonna do,” said Fiora, “we’re gonna call your daddy and—”

The door opened; it was Fiora’s mother, Natalia. She carried a tray of freshly baked cookies and lemonade.

“Mom! I’m in the middle of a kidnapping.”
“Oh, don’t be silly.”

She left the tray on Fiora’s night table and looked at Miguel.

“But if it isn’t the Sabino kid! I haven’t seen you in a while; you never visit anymore. How is your father?” Natalia said.

Miguel choked under the gag, trying to produce coherent speech.

“What is that, sweetie?” Natalia said.
“Hold on a minute.” Fiora said while removing the gag from his mouth.

Miguel stretched the muscles of his jaw, feeling grateful to be able to move his mouth again.

“Hi, Mrs. Costanza. You look lovely as ever.” He said.
“Oh, you joker.”
“Mom, could you please stop meddling in my criminal activities?”
“Yes, yes. I’ll leave you two youngsters to play. Don’t go to bed too late.”
“Goodbye, Mrs. Costanza.”

Natalia left, blushing after receiving the compliment from the young man.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Fiora asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re kidnapped. You’re not supposed to talk to my mother.”
“She was the one who spoke to me.”
“Shut up.”

Fiora sat on the bed and brought her hands to her face. She was frustrated. Tied in her room was her childhood friend Miguel Sabino, son of Carlo Sabino, leader of the biggest criminal syndicate in New Town. She invited him over under the pretense of playing video games, but she was in reality determined to carry out a sinister plan.

She tapped her foot as thoughts raced through her head. Miguel was unbothered, and still stretched his facial muscles as if to trying to mold his face back to his original shape.

“Mm, Fiora?”
“What? Leave me alone. I’m thinking.”
“Right. I was just wondering, aren’t we going to eat those cookies?” He said while looking at the tray next to him.

The freshly baked cookies’ smell filled the room, inviting those present to take a bite.

Fiora let a sigh out. “You’re the worst kidnappee I have ever had.”
“You mean you do this often?”

She smiled. She took a cardboard cutter from her back pocket and cut the ropes that kept Miguel tied. “There. Eat your cookies, run away, I don’t care anymore.” She said while walking towards the bed.

Miguel rotated his wrists and stretched his fingers; the throbbing disappeared. He took the glasses of lemonade and two cookies and sat on the bed next to Fiora.

“Here.” He said while extending a glass and a cookie to her. She took them and said nothing.

“We used to do this all the time.” Miguel said.
“The kidnapping routine? I’m pretty sure this is the first time I do it to you.”
“I mean this. Spend time together, hang out at your place, eat your Mom’s cookies.”
“Yeah, we are not kids anymore. We don’t even belong to the same world.”
“True.”

They stayed silence while they ate. The tall glasses now empty rested on the floor. Miguel looked at Fiora and asked, “what did you hope to accomplish?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”

Fiora took a deep breath before confessing, “I want to start my own family. The Costanza family.”
“But there’s already a Costanza family. Your father runs it.”
“He’s not my father, or at least he doesn’t consider me his daughter.”

Miguel fell silent for a minute. He seemed to be looking for the right words, and maybe couldn’t find any.

“Is it about money?” He said.
“I told you you wouldn’t understand.”
“Why kidnap me then if not for ransom?”
“It’s called a power move. I was going to force them to make me head of the Costanza family, or I would kill you…”
“But there never has been a woman head of a family before.”

Fiora looked him in the eye. They showed no hesitation; she was serious.

“Anyway,” said Miguel, “I don’t care about the syndicate. I’ll probably move abroad and open an art studio or something. Someone else can take over the family.”

Miguel felt as if a professional pitcher had thrown a brick at his already hurting jaw. He fell to the bed, grabbing the right side of his face, screaming in pain. Fiora stood next to him with her fist still clenched.

“Don’t you dare say you don’t care about the family.”

Miguel looked at her while still grabbing his jaw. His mouth quickly filled with a metallic taste.

“You’re the sole heir of the Costanza family. Show some balls.” Fiora said.
“I’d say you have enough balls for the both of us.”

Fiora, seeing Miguel’s teeth stained red, offered him a handkerchief.

“You should leave, Miguel. This is gonna take us nowhere.”

Miguel walked towards the door and stopped short, his hand still on the doorknob. His eyes illuminated, he had a realization; everything seemed clear to him now.

“Weren’t you leaving?”
“I might have thought of something, but you are not gonna like it.”
“Judging by that stupid smile on your face, I won’t.”

The next day, in a restaurant outside of town, the heads of the families Costanza and Sabino met.

“I received a letter yesterday.” Sabino said.
“What kind of letter?”
“Read it yourself.”

Sabino reached for his breast pocket and slid an envelope over the table. Costanza opened it.

“I, Miguel, heir of the Sabino family, which presides the syndicate, declare that my first move will be marrying Fiora Pantaleone and granting her control over the Costanza family, which she has the right to.”

Costanza folded the letter and put it back into the envelope. “She’s playing him like a fiddle.”
“A sleazy bastard. She’s your daughter after all.”

THE END.