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“Don’t try that innocent act on me, young lady. Where are you supposed to be right now?”
Her mind scrambled to come up with a plausible excuse for her disobedience. “I just wanted some fresh air!”
A muscle in his jaw jumped and for a fleeting moment she considered making a break for it and taking her chances with the wall. But his grip on her arm was like iron and he hauled her back inside before she could even try to break free.
“Daddy, please. I’m sorry, I just wanted to go outside for a minute!”
“You are already in enough trouble,piccolina.I suggest you stop lying to me. You’re only making this worse on yourself.”
“I’m not lying!”
Her pleas, as always, fell on deaf ears as she was dragged back up the stairs and to the cotton candy explosion he called a bedroom. But instead of being immediately bent over and paddled, she found herself being led into the bathroom.
His intentions became clear when he turned the faucet on and retrieved a fresh bar of soap from the cabinet beneath the sink.
“No, please. I wasn’t lying, I swear!”
Still without a word, he unwrapped the bar of soap and ran it under the water until a thick lather had formed on the surface. When he turned to her, there was no mercy or softness to be found in his fierce expression.
“Open your mouth, Amara.”
Pressing her lips together, she shook her head and took several steps back until her back hit the wall. Undeterred, Emilio advanced on her, effectively trapping her between him and the wall. With a growl, he used his free hand to pinch her nose.
Pressure began to build in her lungs as she struggled to breathe without opening her mouth. Her vision swam, and when it turned to black at the edges, she finally caved. Parting her lips, she dragged in a lungful of air, then gagged a second later when the soap was shoved between her teeth.
“Imagine my surprise, Amara, when I came to retrieve you from the kitchen where Benny promised me you were sitting and enjoying a cinnamon bun like a good little girl, only to find you outside contemplating the distance from the house to the wall.”
The bitter, acrid taste of the soap invaded her senses as he spoke. Dread sat like a rock in her stomach. How the hell could she have been so stupid? She should have realized the entire backyard would be guarded, just like at home. No easily climbable picket fences for someone like Emilio Rinaldi.
“You’ve already earned yourself four minutes with the soap. One for each time you lied to me just now. Each additional lie will be another minute added. Nod if you understand me.”
After the briefest hesitation, she jerked her head down then up again.
“Good. Did you go outside with the intention of trying to escape?”
Tears pooled in her eyes and slipped down her cheeks as she gave him another jerky nod.
“Thank you for being honest. Your four minutes starts now. We can discuss your punishment for disobeying Benny and trying to run away after the timer runs out.”
Four minutes might as well have been four hours with that damn bar of soap in her mouth. Each breath in burned her throat, which caused more tears to fall, which caused her nose to run, which meant she was forced to breathe through her mouth, which was full of soap. The entire experience was painful and humiliating and altogether awful.
When the timer on his phone finally sounded, he filled a small cup with water and pried the soap from between her teeth. “You may rinse with what is in the cup.”
Openly sobbing, she sipped from the cup and swished the water around in her mouth before spitting it out and repeating the process with another small mouthful. She was able to rinse three times with the water in the cup, but the taste of the soap lingered in her mouth.
“I don’t enjoy punishing you,piccolina.But I won’t be lied to. And I won’t allow you to put yourself in danger, either.”
“I w-wasn’t in d-danger,” she choked out between sobs.
“Oh?” The single syllable held enough ice to send a shiver down her spine. “You’re barefoot, with no money, no phone. Your house is miles from here. What were you going to do? Walk until your feet bled and pray nobody saw you?”
She hadn’t considered any of that. All she’d seen was a chance to escape. “I c-can take care of m-myself.”
“I’m sure you handle yourself just fine when you have your security detail around.” The sneer was clear in his voice even if he managed to keep it off his face.
Fury worked its way through the humiliation and pain. “You don’t know what I’m capable of, Rinaldi.”
“I believe that’s my cue to move on to the next stage of your punishment.” Taking her by the arm again, he grabbed the wooden brush from the counter and dragged her back into the bedroom.
