“You’re nosy.”
He patted me on the back, and he proceeded forward with the littles skipping behind him.
I only told Chandler about my plan because I needed him to reserve a room in the club for me. Although I had a marginal idea of Kylie’s limits, I planned to conduct this punishment in private, hopefully after Kyler and Josh put their littles to bed.
I spotted them in the VIP section watching their littles play. They both seemed to be engrossed in their evening without residual concerns from earlier. Rayna was as cheeky and Tinley as silly as before. I had no doubt those two little girls would forgive Kylie when given the chance to understand why she did what she did. It was Josh and Kyler I was more worried about.
I approached the VIP area.
“Hi, Uncle Patrick.” Tinley waved from where she was stacking blocks with two other littles as high as it would go.
“Hi Sweet T.” I winked at Rayna, and she smiled and went back to the game. It appears she was the referee.
“I was wondering if you were going to show up.” Josh stood, and he and Kyler flanked me from both sides. We watched the activities across the floor from a safe distance. “What happened with Kylie?”
“She’s back in her room, thinking about what she did wrong.” It wasn’t a lie.
“And you’re going to let her go?”
I shrugged and turned to Kyler. “Is that what you want me to do?”
He shook his head and took a sip from a short glass with a glowing green round ice cube in the center. The light cast asinister glow across his face. He looked like theWizard of Ozhimself. I guess he was, in our little world.
“She’s in your department; you make decisions about your employees.” He smirked. “But if you’re asking for my opinion.”
“Get rid of her.” I faced him.
“Careful, Patrick.” He slowly sipped his drink, never taking his eyes off me. “Don’t put words in my mouth.”
He looked over his shoulder, and Josh joined us.
“If you think she’s your little girl, I won’t tell you to send her away.” Kyler set his drink down and crossed his arms over his chest. “But she is your responsibility.”
“Of course. I know she will have to prove herself, but you all have to forgive her, too.” My throat tightened. The next words out of my mouth were difficult. “If you can’t, then we both will leave. I don’t want to put any stress or worry on you or your little girls. To protectmylittle girl, I won’t ask her to survive in an environment where she won’t be forgiven for making a mistake.”
“No one gets away without consequences,” said Kyler sternly.
“She will be punished, and then we will forgive her.” I rubbed my hands together. “That’s how it works, right?”
“We get to punish her, too.” Josh chuckled.
“Don’t touch my little girl.”
He held his hands out to his sides. “Or what? You're going to punish me, too.”
“Fuck,” Kyler mumbled and pulled at his beard. “No one’s going anywhere. If she wants to explain, we will listen. It’s up to her to make it up to Rayna and Tinley, or are we going to keep them apart for the rest of our lives?”
“I hope not.” A waitress dressed in a silky emerald dress handed us all fresh drinks. “This may all be a moot point.” I took a sip of the brown liquid.
“What do you mean?” Kyler asked.
“Well, I gave her the option. She could agree to the punishment or she could leave.” I shook my head. “She’s probably packing her bags as we speak.”
“Or she could be standing at the entrance looking for someone to make all the bad feelings in her tummy go away.” Josh pointed.
There she was. Dressed in a simple black shirt dress with a green ribbon tied in a bow around the waist. Her hair was in a high ponytail with a bow in the same green material. I set my drink down and made my way over to her. She didn’t spot me until I was a few feet in front of her. She wasn’t scared, only curious.
“Hello, Kylie.” In her hands, she clutched a small black beaded wrist bag and, on her feet, green socks with black lace ruffles in patent leather Mary Janes. “You look adorable.”
