Page 37 of Caution to the Wind

“Fuck no.”

“But Dad––”

“No.”

“Dad, seriously––”

“Cleopatra,” he said, low and leaden, no room for argument. I watched as he went to her and brushed his big hand over her hair before cupping her neck. “No. I told you things are goin’ down with the club, and we’re bein’ vigilant, yeah? Not only that, I am not gonna let some punk kid drive two of my girls when he’s barely got his license, and I got no doubt he plans to drink tonight, but this is a big night for you. I get your mum can’t be here, which kills me, Glory, fuckin’killsme. But I’m here, and so’s Lin. We wanna be a part of this night, too, ’cause it’s important to you. You understand me?”

Cleo tilted her head back into the cradle of his hold, a little move of trust that made my throat close up tight.

“Yeah, okay, Dad,” she agreed easily. “I’ll text Zander.”

“Good.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“Is Brian picking you up?” Cleo asked me, already reaching for her phone to text her date.

Henning stopped mid-step on his way back to the studio.

“You’ve got a date to this thing?” he asked me, rudely incredulous.

I sniffed, staring down my nose at him. “Is that so hard to believe?”

“You got lipstick on your teeth,” he pointed out with a jerk of his chin. “So, yeah, a little. Didn’t think you were much interested in that.”

“Dad.” Cleo laughed, shaking her head. “She’s a seventeen-year-old girl.Of course, she’s interested in that.”

But Henning was right. I wasn’t. I was “going” to the prom with Brian only because Kang ordered it. I needed supervision for my first drug deal before I was allowed to go solo, and Brian was the obvious choice.

“Besides,” Cleo added, unaware of the bombs she was dropping, “Brian’s cute.”

“Brian?” Henning growled the word, putting his beer down on the counter slowly. Still, it hit the surface with too much force and frothed over. “That motherfuckin’ drug dealer you were with at your locker?”

“Drug dealer?” Cleo asked, eyes comically wide. “No way.”

“Yes way,” Henning bit out, staring me down with those vivid blue-green eyes. “What the fuck, Mei? Didn’t I tell you to stay away from that kid?”

I shrugged casually even though my insides felt like shaken soda, fizzing and overfull.

“Good thing you aren’t my father.”

Henning’s jaw popped with strain. “Yeah, good thing, or I’d tan your ass.”

“Dad!” Cleo exclaimed in surprise, then laughed. “You’ve never spanked me. Not even once.”

“Yeah, well, you never deserved it,” he muttered darkly, crossing his thick arms over his chest. “What’s the angle here, Mei? You doin’ shit that’s gonna get you in trouble?”

As in, was I poking my nose into Kate’s old mess?

Hell yeah.

But I wasn’t going to tell Henning that, or else he’d probably lock me up in the basement.

So, I tried to force the expression I’d often seen Cleo have when she talked dreamily about Zander onto my face. My eyes wide, lips soft with a little smile, gaze faraway.

“I just like him,” I said on a little sigh. “He’s cute.”

Cleo beamed at me. “See, Dad, I told you.”