Chapter 19: Chapter XIX
The office inside the L.A. branch of Guerrero Inc. was exquisite, sleek and soundproofed—made for power moves and quiet wars. Callum paced by the floor-to-ceiling windows, the city humming below, unaware that the man above it was one bad move away from losing everything.
Alex stood by the bar, pouring two glasses of whiskey with no ice. He knew Callum wouldn’t want the sound of clinking glass right now.
“She planned this,” Callum said, voice low and sharp. “She set me up.”
“Of course she did,” Alex said, handing him the drink. “Milanna’s always been shady and always steps ahead to create chaos. Why the hell did you go to her?”
“I didn’t have a choice.” Callum took a swallow, letting the burn anchor him. “She had evidence. Real stuff. Files from Tulum. People, names… evidence.”
Alex went still. “How did she find out about that operation? It was highly confidential.”
"I believe she has someone on the inside that's leaking our information. Julian is working on finding out who the traitor could be." Callum answered.
Alex exhaled, dragging a hand through his dark hair. “Jesus, Cal. If that ever comes out—”
“It won’t,” Callum cut in. “She’s bluffing about some of it, but not all. She wants leverage and now she’s got it and a media circus to back it up.”
He threw back the rest of the drink and slammed the glass down on the desk.
“I can’t believe I let this happen.”
Alex leaned against the edge of the desk, arms crossed. “She’s not interested in just ruining you. She wants to control you. That’s how women like her work. They can’t have you, so they try to take the world you built and set it on fire.”
“She threatened Ariana” Callum admitted quietly.
That made Alex go still.
“What do you mean?”
Callum hesitated. “Said she’ll drag her into this if I don’t fall in line. She knows about us. Enough to twist it.”
Alex’s jaw flexed. “We need to protect Ariana from all this. Hell, send her back to Manhattan under the guard team whilst you figure it out. If Milanna’s unstable enough to leak this, she’s unstable enough to do something worse.”
“I can’t just send her back” Callum said. “She’ll think I’m pushing her out.”
“Aren’t you?”
Callum gave him a look. “Not because I want to. If I’m being honest that’s the only semblance of peace in my life right now”
There was a long silence. Alex studied Callum intently.
“Are you serious about her?” Alex said at last.
Callum didn’t respond. He didn’t need to.
Alex softened, stepping forward to squeeze his shoulder. “Then you need to decide what matters more—your pride, your secrets, or protecting something that’s not real. Because you can’t have all three.”
“I know” Callum muttered.
“You said Milanna still wants something with you?”
“She wants me to come crawling. To give her a seat at the table.”
Alex frowned. “Then we cut her legs out from under her before she knows what's coming. Discredit her. Trace the leak, leak something back. If she wants war, we hit first.”
Callum nodded slowly, mind already shifting into strategy.
“I need a cleaner in Mexico. Someone who is familiar with the area and can help to find the leak, someone who can intercept if she tries to contact old names.”
“I’ll get Julian on it.”
Callum hesitated.
“There’s more.”
Alex raised a brow. “Of course there is.”
“I… I kissed Ariana.”
Alex blinked. “Okay…”
“I kissed her like I’ve never kissed anyone before. And now I can’t look her in the eye because I don’t know how to keep her out of this without hurting her.”
Alex stared at his younger brother—the one the world saw as dangerous and untouchable—and saw, for the first time in a long time, fear.
“She’s not like the others,” Callum said. “And if Milanna drags her name through the press, or worse—if someone else sees her as leverage…”
Alex didn’t let him finish.
“Then we make sure that never happens. We get ahead of the story, protect Ariana, and we bring Milanna down without letting the rest of the skeletons spill out.”
Callum met his brother’s eyes, jaw tightening. “You with me?”
“Always.”
They exchanged a silent understanding—the kind forged in war, not blood.
Alex turned toward the door, already pulling out his phone. “Let me get Julian on the line and lock down the next twenty-four hours. You're not making any public moves without my go-ahead. And Callum?”
“Yeah?”
“You’ve survived worse. But this time, don’t go through it alone. You need to send Ariana back to Manhattan. You can protect her more there.”
Callum nodded, but his thoughts were already with Ariana. What she would say when she found out?
He needed to protect her from a past that refused to stay buried.