Page 55 of Menage a Passions

Cecelia was silent, staring at her lap while creating a curtain of hair around her head.

“What if you got pregnant?” That was the main thing Jane kept coming back to, but there was something else, too. “What if he hurt you, hm? How could I help you if he hurt you and I didn’t know where you really were?” The light had long turned green, but Jane was so distracted that it was a miracle there were no other cars behind them to honk and curse at her to go. Right when the arrow turned yellow, she jerked the car to the left. “This is one of my worst nightmares. Only way it could be worse is if hedidhurt you.”

“He wouldn’t hurt me,” she pathetically whimpered.

Yes, that’s what you believe, Cece.Jane didn’t dare say that out loud, lest her niece raged in return. “I know you think that, love. But this isn’t even the boy you went to that dance with. What happened to Perry? Who the hell was that?”

“I never dated Perry. We went to a dance together. I don’t even like him.”

“Then why did you bother going to the dance with him?”

“I thought it was mandatory! I don’t know! Everyone else had a date so I thought I needed one too. It was my first stupid American dance. Owen, though…”

They pulled into their parking garage, Jane forcing herself to pay attention to the tight curve at the bottom of the incline. “What about him?” she asked when their space was in sight.

Cecelia’s tone quickly changed. “Why should I tell you? You’re going to judge me.”

The car was soon in park again. Jane should have been eager to get up to her flat, but her rear was glued to her seat, her mind losing track of time now that everything had changed in one evening.I am so buggered.Even if she managed to keep this a secret between her and Cecelia, her own mother would stillsomehowfind out. All it would take was one scandal reaching Hong Kong for Cecelia to get pulled home or, worse, sent to anall-girl boarding school in England like Jane had been.Worked out brilliantly for me, but only because I’m gay.

Jane pulled her key out of the ignition. “I am not going to judge you.”

“Yes, you are! You have been judging me this whole time.”

“There isjudging you,and then there is being concerned for your safety.” When Cecelia wasn’t about to say anything else, Jane changed tactics. “Let’s go upstairs, huh? By the way? You are so grounded.”

“You can’t ground me!”

Maybe Jane should have held off on that before they made it up to the flat.What if she takes off as soon as the doors open?Jane really hadn’t thought this through.

“Yes, Icanground you. In fact, I just did. I think you will find it is a common thing here in the West! If I say you have to stay home and cannot go out and see your friends outside of school and clubs, well, that is how it is!”

“You’re not my mom!”

Thank God for that.“No, I am yourguardian.Which means your family signed these powers over to me when I picked you up from the airport. Do you understand?”

“Why am I grounded? That’s so stupid.”

“Seriously? You lied to me about where you were going and who you would be with. Did you even watch a horror movie with this boy? Or did you lie about that too? Come on, did you really think you would get away with this if I caught you?”

Cecelia said nothing. She merely crossed her arms in a pout and huffed.

“I want tea. Let’s go upstairs.”

“So I can be trapped there forever?”

“You want to be trapped in this car?”

Sighing, Cecelia opened the door. “No.”

She trudged behind Jane up to their flat.There has to be a way to mitigate this…She knew they had humiliated each other, but the fact was? Cecelia had lied. Big time. She was in trouble, but that didn’t mean Jane wanted any animosity between them.Why aren’t you here, Cait? Becca?Why did she have to deal with this on her own?

As soon as they entered the flat, Jane turned toward the kitchen to make tea. She thought Cecelia would sit in the living room and immediately start texting all her friends how evil her mean Aunt Jane was, but instead, the girl rushed to her room, where she slammed her door so hard that the pictures rattled on the wall.

Jane braced herself against the counter.God give me strength.Didsheact like this as a teenager? Did she owe her mother an apology?

She went ahead and brewed the tea that was supposed to calm her down. She made Cecelia a cup as well and took it to her door.

“I have some tea for you here, love,” she said after knocking. “Don’t let it get cold, huh?”