The elevator ride up to my dad’s floor seems like it takes an eternity. I thought Rick would come up with me, but he declined, saying he’d wait in the lobby. He never waits in the lobby. Things only get more ominous when Louise, my father’s assistant and someone who’s pretty much an aunt to me, won’t even look up at me from her desktop computer.

“Good morning, Louise,” I say sweetly, hoping to get her to glance at me. She doesn’t.

“He’s been waiting for you,” she answers, still avoiding eye contact.

All I do is nod.

It’s better to get this over with. It truly can’t be that bad, right? The worst thing I’ve done is date someone hired by my family. Which isn’t something I should do, but it isn’t the end of the world.

I’ve always done as I’m told. This one thing can’t be the reason my dad is this upset with me. The only problem is I haven’t done anything else. It’s the only thing that comes to mind when I think of what could be this urgent.

Maybe it has nothing to do with me at all. Maybe something is happening with the company.

My family has been in the luxury hotel business for generations. I know Dad has been working on some big projects recently. He’s needed me now more than ever to be in the public eye, for the public to see our family as approachable.

It’s one reminder my father has been telling me for as long as I can remember. I’ve been told from a young age that we’re always in the public eye. That our enemies are always watching—and my family has made plenty in this business—and because of that, we need to be ahead of the game.

His office doors feel heavier than normal as I push them open. I search his large office for him, taken aback by not finding him sitting at his desk. When my eyes do land on him, my stomach plummets.

He’s in the far corner of the room, a glass tumbler in his hand. It’s still morning. Even though he’s known to drink far more than he should, it isn’t normally this early.

“Dad?” His name comes out more like a question than anything. My mouth feels dry from nerves.

His back straightens as he looks out the office window. This building has one of the best views in the city; it just takes me by surprise that Dad is facing that direction, with his back to me and a drink in hand when most of the time he’s seated at his desk.

“Take a seat, Winifred.” His tone is dry and void of any emotion.

I try not to flinch at the use of my full name. It was my great-grandmother’s name, and no one really calls me that. I’m just Winnie. But my dad reserves using it in times when I’ve disappointed him.

The large office chair on the other side of his desk makes a loud groaning noise as I pull it back slightly. I slide into it as quietly as possible, trying not to make any more noise than necessary.

“Everything okay?” I ask, hating how meek the question sounds coming from my lips.

I’ve always been naturally quiet. Maybe it is because my life has always been planned out for me. There’s never been any point for me to speak up and give my opinion.

The most free I ever felt was in college when I first met Margo and Emma, my two best friends. Even then, I’d have to check in with my dad weekly to update him on my life. I still wonder if he’s disappointed I didn’t find someone rich and powerful to marry while there.

Something I’ve been reminded of at many family dinners because of how I could help the family by marrying someone that we could use to our advantage.

I try not to think about his regret if he ever found out about me and Blake. Blake has nothing to give to my family. He had a rough upbringing, one he wouldn’t tell me about. He certainly doesn’t bring anything to the table to help my father or Bishop Hotels.

Maybe that’s why I liked him so much.

“Dad?” I push, my skin prickling with anxiety at the fact he’s stayed silent.

His sigh is loud and full of regret. Finally, he turns to face me, and the moment our eyes connect, the pit in my stomach intensifies. The look on his face can only be described as immense disappointment.

He keeps eye contact with me the entire time he goes to take a seat. The chair groans underneath his weight. His knuckles turn white from the aggressive way he holds the sides.

“We have a problem. A big one,” he tells me, his voice stern.

My foot taps anxiously against the ground. Luckily, it’s completely out of view from him. He doesn’t like weakness, and I don’t want him to see how much his words rattle me.

My adrenaline spikes. “What kind of problem?”

“One that is because of some terrible choices you’ve made recently.”

I swallow past the lump in my throat. He uses the silence as an opportunity to open the drawer to his desk and slap down a photo. My mouth falls open when I see who is in the picture—what’s happening in it.

“What?” I gasp. A tremor runs through my entire body.

“There’s plenty more where that came from,” he spits. “A video, too,” he adds at the last minute.

“I don’t understand…” I blink repeatedly, trying to stop the burning in my eyes. This can’t be happening.

“Blake dropped them off with my assistant first thing this morning. He’s coming after our family, Winifred. How could you be so stupid?”

“He what?” My voice breaks at the end of the second word. I’m shocked I’m able to get any sound out at all with the feelings coursing through my body.

“He wants to take down our family as some sort of revenge. He’s threatening to send this to every major publication.”

“Revenge for what?”

Last night, I was questioning if I’d slowly fallen in love with this man. I thought I knew everything there was to know about what kind of man he was. Our secret romance had been going on for so long behind closed doors, and I thought last night was the first step in something new.

It turns out it was both the beginning and the end.

“We’re still figuring out the details. He didn’t give us a reason. He said he didn’t have to, that he was the one with the power, not us.”

I sit back in my chair, fearing my heart might beat right out of my chest from anxiety. “I thought he wa⁠—”

“You clearly weren’t thinking at all,” he booms. I try not to jump at the venom laced within his words. “How could you be so stupid? How long has this been going on?”

My entire body trembles as I try to come up with how to respond. No excuse will be good enough for him. I don’t know if I have a good one anyway. I was blinded by something I believed to be love.

Blake waited patiently for us to sleep together. Sure, I could tell he was frustrated when I always found excuses to tell him no. But still, he waited. He was tender and thoughtful, and I believed he might love me.

I believed I was falling for him.

“Last night was the first time we…” My words fall short. I don’t know why I’m embarrassed to tell him we had sex. Obviously, he knows since Blake sent him photos—and a video—of the experience.

My dad opens his mouth to speak, but he gets cut off by his office phone ringing.

“Hello?” he clips out, his eyebrows furrowed so intensely that two deep ripples appear on the center of his forehead. “Send him in,” he tells the other person on the line.

My stomach drops. Surely, he doesn’t mean Blake…

I’m about to ask him who he’s talking about, but I don’t get the chance. His focus moves from the phone to over my shoulder.

His office door opens, and I can barely hear anything over the rush of blood pumping in my ears.

I wasn’t expecting Blake to walk through the door. But I really wasn’t expecting the man who steps through the door.

His intense focus pinned straight on me.

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