Tony and Gianni grabbed their girls and ushered them from the room, though with much less flair, leaving only Ariana to be dealt with.
“Nancy must have taken the other girls to their rooms, but she saw everything, Costello,” Maria warned him.
“Maria, go see if the night nannies need help. I’ll be putting Ariana to bed tonight.” He lasered his glare onto the bowed head before him.
Maria shuffled from the room, leaving the door open probably for their own departure. Costello took a moment to inventory the room. There was a blanket on the carpet with a large tear in it, probably from their tug of war. A fucking blanket.
She put herself at risk over a fucking blanket.
“Bring the blanket, Ariana.” He snapped his fingers at her and pointed to the torn material.
She looked at him through lowered eyelids.
“I’m not playing, little girl. Get the blanket and let’s go.” He held his tone.
She scrunched up her lips like he’d just annoyed her but snatched the blanket from the carpet and headed to the door.
“When we get into your room, you’ll take off your pajamas and get your bare ass into the fucking corner. You want to act like a child, you will damn well be treated like one. I don’t want to hear a word out of you until I ask for it. Do you understand me?” he said to the back of her head as he walked behind her.
She spun around, stopping him in his tracks.
“Aren’t you even going to listen to my side of things?” She reacted with heat.
He paused, letting the burst bubble of anger subside. Once calm enough to deal with the issue, he reached out to her, driving his hand into her hair and fisting the locks at her scalp.
“Listen to you?” he snarled, giving her head a little shake. “Of course, I’m going to listen to you. I’m going to listen to you cry, and beg, and plead. I’ll listen to you promise to be good, swear you’ll never do it again and then sob until your ass is as red as Rudolph’s fucking nose.”
She winced and reached up, trying to free herself from his grip, but it was too late for any sort of mercy on his part.
She just didn’t seem to grasp the severity of this situation. But she would. She fucking would.
He pulled her closer to him, bringing his nose to touch hers. “Now, you listen to me. Get your ass to your room, strip and get in the fucking corner. If you say one more word before I give you permission to speak, I’ll get the medical stapler from downstairs and shut your mouth for you. Do you understand?”
Her eyes went wide; the color drained from her cheeks.
“Yes, Daddy. I understand,” she whispered.
After one more small shake, he released her. “Go.”
She ran down the hall to her room, not looking back to see if he was following. But the jangle of his belt being undone probably gave her a good indication of how far behind her he really was.
What was she going to do? Costello had never looked so angry at her before. Her scalp still burned from where he’d pulled on her hair, but she didn’t dare raise her hands to rub the sting away. His pacing from behind her slowed but remained steady. He wasn’t quite ready to deal with her, she supposed. But the tapping of the belt against his leg as he walked kept her on edge, ready to jump whenever he said so.
She’d gone too far. Obviously, she saw that now, but she needed to make him understand her intentions had been for good. If he’d just listen to her.
“I’d like to know exactly what part of behave and stay under the radar was confusing to you?” he asked in a dangerously low tone. He’d stopped pacing right behind her. She could feel the heat of him washing over her naked back and ass.
“I needed to talk to you,” she hurried to say. Who knew how long of a window she’d have to speak before he started to lay into her.
“What?” The incredulousness blaring in his tone made her hurry with the rest of her explanation.
She turned around to speak, but his eyes widened at her impromptu movement, and she spun back around to face the corner. Undignified, fine, but at least he let her talk.
“I had to talk to you, but Maria said you weren’t coming up for story time, and I would have to wait until the morning.” She took a breath. “It’s not like I have an array of options to get a hold of you. It’s not like I can pick up a phone and call or text.”
“You started a brawl with the other girls because you wanted to talk to me?” The surprise hadn’t lessened in his voice yet, but it was only because he didn’t know the whole story.