Page 15 of Harry

I glance away from them to find Aidan looking at me with a questioning stare and shake my head with a tight smile.

“I’m so sorry about Uncle Richard,” Skye says and Brig responds with a quiet thanks.

“We’re here because we need to talk about what’s been going on,” Bram says. “But we need assurances.”

“Go on,” I say.

Aidan

By the time Bram has received assurances and finished what he had to say, all three of the Cordez sisters are stunned into silence.

Vaughan, Julian and I are too.

“Let me get this straight,” Harry says from her place leaning against her father’s desk. “Uncle Philip and your father,” she points to Bram, “Have some kind of trafficking deal going on, with four other dons slash bosses of crime families from all over the world?”

“Pretty much,” Bram says, rubbing the back of his neck.

“And you and your brothers, along with all the wives, have a plan,” Harry adds. “Which is great and all, but none of it accounts for who killed my dad or why. Do you know anything at all that could help us?”

Bram and Skye shake their heads, no, but Skye adds, “I know my dad is an angry man, I wouldn’t put it past him to try something, to get his chance at the top. But with you here…” She trails off looking at Bram and he pulls her closer to his side.

It dawns on me why Skye, being Philip's daughter, was married off to the Grants instead of any of Richard’s daughters. It solidifies for me that Richard had nothing to do with the trafficking, and it eases a niggle I had in the back of my mind.

“Okay,” Harry says. “Once you’ve finished your operation, we can meet again to discuss the terms of the arrangement. But I expect all of you to turn up.”

Bram nods his head, and Skye hugs Brig goodbye before they leave.

Once Bram and Skye leave the office with promises of visiting more, I turn to Harry.

“Now we know their plan, what’s ours?” I ask.

“Harry,” Jack’s voice is quiet but firm. “I can’t be a part of a crime syndicate. I can’t do this.”

She hugs her sister hard before turning and leaving the office, Vaughan following after her.

Harry sighs, before lifting her hands to push through her hair.

“It’s a lot to take in, she needs time. I need time.” Brig says, before also hugging her sister and leaving, this time with Julian in tow. I know they are just protecting the women, but I can’t help but think there’s something more there.

Because I feel like there’s something morehere.

I turn to face Harry, as fed up as she seems right now, her shoulders drooping in defeat while she chews the inside of her cheek, she is still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. She isn’t crumbling and falling to shit despite the grief being enough to knock anyone sideways. She is standing for her dad, and for her sisters. Even if they can’t see it yet.

“What next?” she asks.

“We need to find his will. There’s a safe in here somewhere but no one knows the combination.”

Her eyes light up.

“I can help with that.” She glances around the room, looking at books and inside cupboards until finally, she says “Aha!” and winks at me.

She plucks the books from the shelf and stacks them neatly on Richard’s desk, revealing a safe with a digital display and keypad.

She types in six numbers and it unlocks instantly.

“I feel like it shouldn’t be that easy to get into a safe,” I grumble.

“It’s the same as the house security code,” she says, before adding, “I probably shouldn’t have mentioned that to you.”

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