“Where’s Harry?” I ask.
“Right here,” comes Harry’s voice as he appears behind his daughter. “What’s so urgent?”
“We have guests,” snaps Nancy.
“Witnesses,” I correct.
Harry closes the door. “What’s going on?”
“Good question,” I say, pulling out my mobile. “My father is very good at blackmail…” I find the video I want and turn my phone to them both. “Whilst I went searching for one thing, I found so much more.”
Harry steps closer, his expression hardening as the footage plays of my father with Nancy, then Nancy again, and again, each scene worse than the last. Men in masks. Familiar rooms. Familiar power. Groans of pleasure, cries of ecstasy.
Nancy gasps, clapping a hand over her mouth.
“Now,” I say coldly, “I’m all for sharing. But this?” My lip curls. “This goes too far. Even for me.”
“Daddy, I—”
The slap cracks across the room. I flinch despite myself as Nancy stumbles back, clutching her cheek.
“You stupid little whore,” Harry snarls.
My father’s head lolls forward, then back, his body struggling to keep up with what his mouth no longer can. A wet, useless sound escapes him.
“Things are about to change,” I say calmly, swiping to the next file, showing Nancy on her knees, another powerful man, another unmistakable setting.
Nancy lets out a feral sound, fists clenched as she turns on my father with fury. “Why did you keep these?” she screams.
“He won’t live to use these against you,” I add evenly.
Harry’s chest rises and falls, his nostrils flaring. “What’s the catch?”
“There isn’t one.” I glance at my father as he tries to speak again. Nothing intelligible comes out. “We continue business exactly as we have been. Minus the marriage.”
Nancy’s head snaps toward me.
“I’ll end the engagement publicly in a month or so,” I continue. “Irreconcilable differences.”
“I’ll be humiliated,” she sobs.
“Or,” I say sharply, “I leak the videos.”
“No.” Harry cuts in immediately. “You won’t.” He closes his eyes briefly, then nods once. “Agreed.”
“I’m expanding,” I add. “Italy. My uncle has ships and routes already in place. Cleaner. Safer. Better organised. I expect your full backing.”
Harry nods stiffly, his gaze drifting to my father, who’s now gurgling, his body beginning to sag.“What’s wrong with him?”
I glance back. “Heart attack.”
His eyes narrow. “You’re killing him in a building full of senior law enforcement.”
“Heart attack,” I repeat, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “We should return to the party. Be seen.”
“And him?” Harry asks. “You’re just leaving him?”
I steer him toward the door. “My men will find him shortly. An ambulance will be called, one paid to pronounce his death, not revive him. He’ll be taken to a private hospital. I’ll handle everything from there.”
