Page 11 of Collateral Claim

“I have obligations. My life doesn’t stop because you decided to announce a fake engagement. In fact, if you want this engagement to be as believable as you seem to want it to be, I need to attend the event. I’ll wear your ring out in public,smile, nod, explain whatever we’re not doing with each other.” I emphasizenot, and I stand.

Endo dabs his mouth with a cloth napkin, then throws it onto the plate as he rises. “Meet me at the car. I’ll just be a minute.”

I’ve tried nice and not nice with Endo, and nothing works. I’ll give nice another go. “I’d rather go alone. Please.”

“No can do,” he says as he walks past me and opens the door.

I cross my arms.

Wilfred joins me and slides a hand around my waist.

I gasp.

Endo makes it to us in two strides. He grabs Wilfred’s throat and pins him against the wall.

“Please calm down,” my father says.

“Iamcalm,” Endo says. “You calm, Wilfred?”

“Mmhm,” Wilfred answers, clearly choking.

“How about you, luv? You calm?” Endo asks me, not taking his eyes off Wilfred.

“Yes,” I say, swallowing past the rock lodged in my throat while running triage scenarios in my head in case Endo strangles Wilfred. Could he snap his neck with one hand? Endo’s blessed with long, strong fingers. I bet he could.

“See this distance between us?” Endo says to Will. “It’s called arm’s-length distance. This is as close as you’re allowed to get to my fiancée.”

“I’m not your fiancée,” I mutter. “You said so yourself.”

“I know, but fake fiancée doesn’t sound as serious as I mean it. And I mean it. Arm’s length, Willy.” Endo releases Wilfred, who coughs as he makes his way to the minibar.

“Jesus Christ,” he says, holding his throat. He pours himself a scotch neat and throws it back quickly, making a noise in the back of his throat. He slams the glass down. “You’ve made your point.” Wilfred glances at me, then at my dad, holding hisgaze. Their silent communication is beyond me just as much as Charlotte’s and mine is to them.

“Scarlett, would you please stay in your room?” my dad says.

“Are you telling me not to go to the luncheon?”

My dad nods.

“Yes, Daddy, I can do that. Right after we clear up the elephant that is my fake engagement to a deranged man who’s holding us hostage in our own house.”

Endo claps. “I’m with her. Let’s clear it up right away. Tell me what you did with my brother.”

“Scarlett,” my father says, a warning in his voice. He wants me to leave like the good little girl I’ve always been. I always did what Mommy and Daddy asked.

“I’m not trying to be difficult, but?—”

“Get out!” my father shouts.

“Take it easy,” Endo says. “I thought we were all calm, but when you yell at her like that, you don’t sound calm. You sound stressed out. Taking out your frustration on your daughter over here, who’s a victim of your poor decision-making, tells me you’re a pathetic, weak man who is afraid to face the cause of his frustrations. Me.” Endo points at his chest. “I’m trying very hard to keep you and Willy breathing, but when you yell at her, you get me all excited. In fact, I’m considering relieving myself of weapons just so I’m not tempted to kill you if you ever raise your voice to my fake fiancée again.” He turns to me. “There, luv, I said fake.” Endo smiles. “Imagine what would happen if she were really mine.” He trails his thumb from his throat down his navel, indicating the path of a cutting blade. “You’d both be dead.”

I take a moment to reassess this man and our situation. It occurs to me that Endo is really trying, and the only thing keeping us alive is the fact that he thinks my dad has information about his brother.

“I’ll be upstairs in my room.” I am a doctor. I am here to help people and heal them, not hurt them. It is my life’s mission, and I won’t let some deranged stranger push me off my path.

Endo remains at the door, so I can’t pass. “Finish your meal. We’ll move to the office. Let’s go,Dad.”

My dad marches past me and violently swings open the office door. “Wilfred,” he calls out, and Wilfred follows after him.