Heartlessly bribes peers (6)
I believe the answer is:
nobles
'peers' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'heartlessly bribes' is the wordplay.
'heartlessly' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters).
'bribes' becomes 'nobbles' (nobble can mean to bribe or influence).
'nobbles' with its middle taken out is 'NOBLES'.
(Other definitions for nobles that I've seen before include "Aristocrats" , "Dukes, earls and other titled chaps" , "Men of high rank" , "Members of Lords" , "Titled peers of the realm" .)