“Shoes.” He pointed at the bed for her to sit on the edge, and he wiggled her feet into the patent leather black Mary Janes, buckling them for her. “Perfect.”
“Thank you, Daddy.” She wiped the hair from her face that had come undone from their activities.
He helped her off the bed and linked their hands together. “Naptime,” he said and tugged her toward the door. “Real naptime,” he qualified.
As he walked her down the corridor to her own bedroom, he sensed the tension in her body ease. By the time he was at her door, she actually looked sleepy. Maybe he’d pushed too hard too soon. He’d leave her be until the morning, then he’d work with her again.
“Is Nanny Nancy coming?” she asked. She tried to hide her distaste, but Costello picked up on it easily enough. Most girls didn’t like the meddling bitch, and Costello didn’t disagree with their assessment.
“No. I’ll ask Maria to come in. You’ll like her.” He sat Ariana on her bed and kissed her forehead, stilling himself from really kissing her again or worse.
“Okay, Daddy,” she said with a yawn and threw herself backward onto the bed.
He narrowed his gaze on her. Her voice seemed strained, not as natural as he would think. Shaking his head, he chalked it up to her high tolerance of medicines. Once Maria gave her a second dose, she’d have an easier time.
Four doses in and Ariana still didn’t feel the effects of the medicine the other girls around her seemed to have. While in the dayroom playing with stuffies and coloring in books, Ariana’s mind rebelled against the monotonous activities. She did her best to copy the behaviors of the other girls—she knew her survival depended on it.
It was all getting to be too much. How long could she keep this up? Costello hadn’t come for her after dinner when most of the other Daddies showed up to put their little girls to bed. She’d counted it a blessing since he’d expect her to behave differently.
She had to stay under his radar. He already suspected the medicine didn’t work right with her, but he seemed so hopeful a second dose would put things right. Another concern weighing on her was how much the nannies suspected. Nancy checked on her constantly, but the other two—Maria and Anna—seemed to lay off once Ariana started sucking on her thumb.
She had to actually suck on her thumb.
But she had to do something, anything, to stay alive. The threat of being put to sleep was a very real thing, and she would find a way to play this twisted game if she had to.
“I want the red crayon.” Shelby reached across the coloring book Ariana was coloring in and grabbed the red crayon from the small pile Ariana had put aside for herself.
“I’m using it,” Ariana said and snatched it from Shelby’s hand.
“No, you’re not!” Shelby argued and tried to grab it again, but Ariana twisted away and held it to her chest.
“It’s mine,” Ariana said when Shelby reached for it again.
She already had to bear the indignity of having the damn nannies help her dress, dry her after her baths, and she’d been given exactly zero minutes to herself that wasn’t meant for sleeping. Enough was enough already. The damn crayon was hers.
“Girls. What’s going on?” Maria walked over to the coloring station. “You have to share,” she said gently.
Ariana blinked a few times. She should just let Shelby use the crayon. Ariana didn’t even need it yet. And a rational adult would do so. But she wasn’t supposed to be a rational adult. She was supposed to be an emotional drugged out little girl.
It was damn time she gave these sick assholes exactly what they wanted.
“No!” Ariana shouted at Maria and shoved Shelby’s shoulder hard enough to knock her out of her chair.
“Ariana!” Nancy’s shrill voice called from across the room.
“Now you’ve done it,” Maria muttered. She put her hand out. “Give me the crayon, Ariana. You’ll need to go sit in time out while we get your daddy.”
“Daddy?” Ariana’s throat clenched. She hadn’t thought that far ahead. Of course they’d call him.
Ariana dropped the crayon in Maria’s hand and got up from her chair. Shelby was already sitting up on the floor with her tongue sticking out in Ariana’s direction.
“Come on.” Maria grabbed Ariana’s hand and pulled her to the bright red stool that was kept in the corner of the room. Sometimes girls sat there after their daddies had dealt with them, and the daddies wanted the other girls to learn the same lesson. Shelby had sat there just last night. Her ass had been so red, Ariana had cringed looking at it.
At least this would give her a chance to prove to Costello the medicine was working, and he didn’t have to worry. It would buy her a little more time to figure out what to do before Uncle Frank could learn that she wasn’t like the others and put her to sleep.