Make Them Regret It Chapter 14
“That day, you stood right where you are now and said nothing.”
The blood drained from my father’s face.
I walked up the steps and took the belt from the adviser’s hand.
“I’ll do it myself.”
Without my Core, I had almost no strength. The leather belt felt as heavy as iron.
The first strike fell.
Isabella screamed.
The skin of my own palm split open, blood running down the handle.
“This is for Nonna.”
The second strike.
“This is for Mom.”
The third. The fourth.
“For my sister-in-law’s face.”
“For the child in my other sister-in-law’s womb.”
“For Gia. She was five years old.”
I counted them out, one by one. With each strike, I spoke a name.
By the twentieth lash, my vision was swimming in black. The belt slipped from my grip several times, my palm torn to shreds.
Colton rushed up the steps, trying to take it from me.
“Get away from me,” I ordered.
He froze.
“This time,” I said, breathless, “I don’t need you to do it for me.”
Below, both my brothers had risen to their feet, but neither dared to move.
They looked at me as if I were a stranger.
Thirty strikes.
Not one less.
When the last one fell, my hand went slack and the belt dropped to the ground.
Isabella was sprawled on the stone, blood soaking a wide patch of the steps beneath her.
Just like me, that day.
I stood over her, my knees shaking so badly I was about to collapse, but I forced myself to stay upright.
“It’s not over.”
I looked down at her.
“You still owe me one more thing.”