She walks off and grabs some stuff from the shelves in the corner, and I quickly make my way around the kitchen until I find what I’m looking for. Stacks and stacks of fruit ... and my eyes fall on a basket of apricots.
Perfect.
Leticia places the ingredients on the table in the middle of the room and says, “Do you need any help with this?”
“No, no, it’s fine. I can handle myself in a kitchen.”
“It’s just that I have a lot of cleaning to do, and Matteo isn’t awake yet, so I want everything to be done before he gets up.”
“Yeah, of course, no problem,” I say. “I know how to bake a cake.” I wink.
“If there’s anything you need from me, just holler at one of the guards. They’re stationed right outside each room, as well as the front door,” she says.
I nod a few times. “I noticed.”
She smiles and walks off, leaving me all to myself with my filthy little plans. She’ll never know what I’m truly up to until it’s too late.
I immediately get to work and grab some flour, butter, eggs, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and sugar—everything I need to make the perfect cake.
I set the oven to 350, then look around the room for a base to put the cake on, which is on one of the bottom storage shelves. I use butter to grease the bottom, then combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl. In another bowl, I mix the butter and sugar, then add the eggs one at a time. Last, I add vanilla for flavor. I put the two bowls together and mix until combined well, just as my mom taught me when we baked in the kitchen together all those years ago.
I cut all the apricots into small pieces and puree some ofthem in a separate blender, then add them to the batter to combine. The batter goes into the spring pan. I add more apricot slices on top to make it look pretty, then I put it in the oven.
But I’m not done yet.
I glance at the door where a guard is waiting … watching me. I clear my throat. “Excuse me, can you help me?”
“With what?” he barks.
“I need some more sugar, and I can’t find it. Can you ask Leticia, please?”
He rolls his eyes but then walks off anyway, giving me the time I need to finish this up.
I swiftly put all the apricot pits in a stone bowl and get to work with a mortar and pestle until they’re all ground up. Then I put them in the food grinder until they're a fine powder, and I add them to a small bowl, which I hide somewhere between the shelves.
“You needed more sugar?” Leticia’s sudden voice makes me jolt up and down.
“Oh, I already put the cake in the oven now. Sorry,” I say.
She walks inside and searches the shelves for more sugar. “Here you go, honey. Maybe you can add a glaze to make it sweeter? Or add some powdered sugar.”
“Yeah, I might do that,” I say, smiling.
“I’m going back to the dining room to set everything up. Holler if you need me.”
I nod and wait until she’s gone. Now all that’s left … is towait.
I make myself a nice cup of hot coffee and sit down at the table while watching the timer go by. It’s still so early in the morning that I have to yawn every five minutes, but I don’t mind. This waiting is going to be worth it. I look around the kitchen some more until I find some chocolate chip cookies, and I steal five of them to take care of my rumbling stomach.
I don’t have to wait until breakfast because there won’tbea breakfast.
A filthy smile forms on my face after I watch the time tick by, and half an hour has passed. While the maids are working hard at cleaning the living room and setting up the breakfast table for Matteo and me and whoever else he’s invited, I happily walk to the oven and take out my freshly baked cake. With oven mitts, of course, because I don’t want to get burned.
I glance at the guard who’s chatting with another guard, clearly distracted, so I can add my final touch. With a fork, I poke some holes in the cake and scatter all the apricot pit powder on top like a beautiful garnish. Last, I add some powdered sugar so no one will notice the poison lacing this cake. I set it down on the kitchen table, then go back into the dining room, where Leticia is busy setting the table.
“Hi, ma’am, did you find everything you were looking for?” she asks.
“Yes, the cake is done.”
