A Bloody Kingdom (Ruthless People 4)

“What?’

“Do it again.”

“Why?”

“Because I said so.”

“Mommy!”

“Now, Donatella!”

She smacked her hand on the water but did what I said, this time, faster, faster than me at her age…but this wasn’t about speed. She’d learn that the hard way.

“Again,” I stated when she finished.

“How many!”

“100.”

“Mom!” Her mouth dropped open.

“You’ve done two, only 98 more to go,” I stated. “You stay in there however long it takes, Donatella.”

She bit her lip, her green eyes glaring at me as the water reflected in them, but she swam anyway. It wasn’t possible for her to get to a hundred yet, but that wasn’t the point. It was to break her, to make her so weak she couldn’t stand, so weak she felt sick. Swimming on an empty stomach with no prior training, with her furry pajamas weighing her down—this was going to hurt…a lot, and it was just a start.

It took ten laps before she had to stop, gasping out for breath. Again she looked to me and there must have been something on my face because she looked hurt but didn’t say anything, just went back to swimming.

“She has probably another ten laps in her before she sinks. Get ready to jump in,” I told Fedel, and he just stepped out of his shoes.

I was wrong.

She was weaker than I thought. It wasn’t ten; it was six. She did six more laps before her legs cramped up and she cried out.

“Mom—” She tried to call out at me before her head dropped under the water. My heart dropped. I gripped the edge of my seat, but I didn’t move. Fedel dove in and even though I knew she wasn’t under for long and that he would easily get her, I still held my breath.

She coughed when he brought her back up and pulled himself over to the side. She pushed up off him, trying to stand even when she could barely breathe. She made it an inch before her legs gave out and she fell to the ground. She cried out, rolling into a ball.

“Why are you crying?” I asked her, but she didn’t reply. Kneeling next to her, I shoved her onto her back. Staring up at me, she grabbed her heart. “Does it hurt? Does it feel like your heart is about to explode and your legs are gone? You feel like you’re going to die?”

She nodded, her lip quivering, but she couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down the sides of her face.

“Well, let me tell you a secret my father told me: when you feel like you are dying, that’s when you know you aren’t really dying. You’re growing. Get used to this feeling, Donatella, because you’re going to be growing a lot from now on. Get up, we’ve just started.” I stood as two maids walked in with a change of clothes and her breakfast: bread and enriched milk.

8:27 AM

“Stop it!” she yelled at me, throwing her hands in the air. “I’m tired! My legs hurt! My hands hurt! Everythin

g hurts!”

“That’s sad, do you want me to kiss it and make it feel better?” I mocked, circling her in the ring. “Our poor little princess. Her legs hurt, her arms hurt—oh no!”

Her face bunched up, and like a raging bull screaming, she ran to me blindly. All I did was step to the side, stretching out my fist and hitting her right in her mouth. Her head snapped to the side, her whole body went down hard, and she didn’t get back up.

“What the fuck, Melody!”

I knew that voice. I didn’t even bother looking at him and in a flash he was in the ring, kneeling down beside her as I untaped my hands.

“Dona? Sweetheart! Dona!” he yelled, shaking her, but she was out cold. Rising from the ground, he wrapped his arms around her as he glared at me. “Have you lost your motherfucking mind?!”