Page 62 of Collateral Claim

“I won’t marry you.”

“I can call and ask. Same difference.”

“August…something. I can’t remember.”

At the front, Connor snickers.

“Something funny?” I ask.

If Cass were here, Scarlett would’ve mourned her father by now, none the wiser that he died because he crossed the wrong people. But that’s an alternate universe, and I operate in this one. I operate in a world where my brother is gone, where I sit in the back of my car, arranging my own marriage. With a woman who won’t marry me. Better yet, neither of us wants to be tied down, but one of us (me) must be the force (not voice) of reason.

“I shouldn’t have to marry you,” I say.Your father should’ve delivered by now.

“Then don’t.”

“I won’t unless I must.”

“Endo, please.” She scoots closer to the dog carrier, a barrier between us. “You cannot mean to really marry me. I’ve got an overseas assignment this summer. I won’t even be here.”

“Unless you stay.”

Scarlett reels back as if I struck her.

It’s not often that I hate myself for what I do, but I do hate myself now. And I can’t stand the fear on her face.

“I don’t have a choice,” I tell her. “I can’t live my life not knowing what happened with my brother. I can’t move on while Cass might be out there somewhere suffering. If they’re torturing him, he is enduring it because he knows I will come for him. I must come for him. I always come for the people who are mine. This is why they’re still mine. There are people in this town who have sworn allegiance to my family since before the region was proclaimed an autonomous territory. I will rescue him or die trying.”

Scarlett’s eyes fill with tears. They spill over and roll down her cheeks.

I wipe them with my thumbs, then cup her sweet face and growl as I press my lips against her forehead. “I’ll call your dad again tomorrow. If I get nothing, we will formally announce our wedding. I’m sorry it has to be you. I really am.”

With that, the car parks at the Keep, and I exit.

Chapter 26

The haunted house

Scarlett

A scalding shower followed by a bath did nothing to calm my nerves. It only increased my anxiety over the possibility of the upcoming wedding and what it would mean for the work I’ve committed to overseas. The assignment starts in August, but I’ve got preparations to make for the move, and now, instead of getting my affairs in order, I’m supposed to plan a wedding.

It feels like I’m living another person’s life.

How did this happen?

How did I get here?

What am I doing here?

Endo happened. Or was it my dad who started it all, and now I’m paying the price for it? No. No, that can’t be true. Endo’s getting into my head. If my dad did business with Endo’s brother, it was because my dad thought Cass was a legit businessman. Cass duped my dad, maybe stole the cargo he was supposed to deliver, and now Endo’s pissed that another criminal organization took his brother.

Or maybe the authorities have him.

Or maybe the man simply disappeared and doesn’t want to be found.

There are a million possibilities, and until Endo uncovers the truth, I choose to believe my father has nothing to do with illegal deals of any sort. At least not willingly. As far as my father lying? He does it to protect my sister and me. We know nothing of his businesses. Politics, arms manufacturing, or the like.

It’s the middle of the night, and I just came back from checking on Marquis, who complained of fatigue. Apparently, he packed and rolled his own suitcase and then tried to load it into the car.