Melissa accompanied Antonio into the private chamber of the old warehouse by the port.
Every man in Mexico's underworld knew Antonio's name—and feared it. He wasn't loud.
He wasn't reckless. But when he moved, empires shifted.
Dogg waited inside, surrounded by armed men who tried too hard to look fearless.
Melissa remained at Antonio's side, professional and composed, though she could feel eyes crawling over her skin.
Dogg smirked.
"So this is Castello's shadow," he said. "You bring beauty into war now?"
Antonio ignored the comment.
One of Dogg's men leaned forward, his grin filthy.
"With a body like that, she shouldn't be in meetings. She should be—"
The sound of the gunshot shattered the room.
The man collapsed before he finished his sentence.
Melissa flinched, her heart slamming against her ribs.
Antonio didn't lower the gun. Smoke curled from the barrel as his eyes remained locked on Dogg.
"No one," Antonio said calmly, "finishes a sentence about my assistant unless I permit it."
Dogg's men raised their weapons.
Antonio's men raised theirs faster.
Antonio stepped forward, placing himself slightly in front of Melissa.
"You invited me here for business," he continued, voice deadly calm. "Not to test how many bodies your floor can hold."
Dogg stared at his fallen man, then slowly lifted his hands in surrender.
"Call your men down," Dogg said quietly.
They obeyed.
Antonio finally lowered his weapon.
He turned slightly toward Melissa. "Are you alright?"
She nodded, though her hands trembled.
Antonio faced Dogg again, his voice colder than steel.
"Respect her," he said. "Or respect her absence when I erase your entire operation."
Dogg swallowed.
The meeting continued but everyone in that room now understood one truth:
Antonio Castello was not a man you challenged and Melissa was not a woman you touched — even with words.
The body was removed in silence.
No one spoke until the door closed behind Dogg's men.
Dogg straightened his jacket and slowly returned to his seat, his expression carefully neutral.
The arrogance from earlier was gone. What remained was caution.
"Now," Dogg said, folding his hands on the table, "we talk like men who understand consequences."
Antonio took his seat without a word.
Melissa sat beside him, her composure restored, though her heart still echoed with the sound of the gunshot.
Dogg exhaled.
"My northern routes are under pressure. Customs, rival families, politicians—all hungry. I need protection. You control the coast. You control the money flow."
Antonio listened.
Dogg continued, "In return, you gain access to my inland distribution. Weapons. Pharmaceuticals. Human traffic corridors."
Melissa's eyes lifted sharply, but she remained silent.
Antonio finally spoke.
"I don't touch people."
Dogg blinked. "In this business, everyone touches people."
Antonio leaned forward slightly.
"I break organizations. I don't sell bodies."
Dogg hesitated, then adjusted his tone.
"Fine. Weapons and pharmaceuticals only. Fifty-fifty profit."
Antonio shook his head once.
"Seventy-thirty," he said. "My favor."
Dogg frowned. "You're asking too much."
Antonio met his eyes, calm and merciless.
"You buried one man today. You keep the rest alive by agreeing."
Silence stretched.
Then Dogg nodded slowly.
"Seventy-thirty."
Melissa finally realized something in that moment.
This wasn't a negotiation. It was a declaration of ownership.
Dogg cleared his throat and continued, "We also need to discuss laundering through your hospitality chains. Hotels. Casinos. Clubs."
Antonio turned slightly toward Melissa.
She understood instantly.
"The Riviera project can absorb fifteen percent without detection," she said smoothly.
"More than that raises red flags."
Dogg looked at her with new respect.
"She's not just decoration."
Antonio's jaw tightened.
"She's my strategy."
Dogg gave a slow, impressed nod.
"Then this partnership may actually survive."
But behind his polite smile, Dogg was already planning.
Because men like Antonio Castello were never meant to be partners. They were meant to be overthrown.
"I don't trust him," Melissa said quietly as they stepped into Antonio's car.
Antonio loosened his cufflinks but didn't look at her.
"Why is that?"
She turned toward him, her eyes serious, thoughtful.
"Why would a mafia boss like Dogg seek help from someone as connected and powerful as you?" she asked.
"Men like him don't ask for protection. They ask for permission. I bet he's up to something."
Antonio finally looked at her.
There was no amusement in his eyes—only respect.
"You're right," he said calmly.
Melissa frowned. "Then why did you agree to work with him?"
Antonio leaned back against the leather seat, his voice low and controlled.
"Because men like Dogg don't come for help," he said.
"They come when they're cornered. And when a cornered animal smiles, it means it's planning to bite."
Melissa swallowed. "So this deal isn't real."
Antonio smirked faintly. "Oh, the deal is real. His loyalty isn't."
She shook her head. "Then why walk into it?"
Antonio leaned closer, his voice dropping.
"Because when Dogg makes his move," he said, "I want to be close enough to end him."
Melissa studied him, then whispered, "And what if he moves first?"
Antonio's gaze softened slightly when it met hers.
"Then he will learn why Mexico fears my name."
She exhaled slowly. "You treat war like chess."
Antonio gave a small, dangerous smile. "No. I treat it like insurance."
The car stopped outside the building.
Antonio opened the door for her, then paused.
"You don't trust him because you think like a survivor," he said.
"And I keep you beside me because you see what others miss."
Melissa looked at him, surprised.
"And that," Antonio added quietly, "is why Dogg will fail."
A day passed when it happened. Melissa felt it before she saw it.
The air was wrong. Too quiet. Too clean.
The convoy rolled through the industrial highway, Antonio's armored car in the center.
Warehouses lined both sides like sleeping beasts.
"This is the spot," Melissa whispered.
Antonio's eyes narrowed.
"You're sure."
"No traffic. No workers. No surveillance lights. He cleared this road."
Antonio lifted his hand slightly.
The convoy slowed.
And then—
The first explosion ripped through the road behind them, sealing their escape.
Gunfire erupted from the rooftops.
Missiles hit the front vehicle.
Chaos.
But Antonio had already prepared for this day.
"Phase Black," Antonio said calmly.
Within seconds, hidden vehicles emerged from the shadows.
His men surrounded the attackers from all sides. Drones rose. Snipers locked targets.
Dogg's men realized too late.
They were not the hunters. They were the trap.
Melissa watched from inside the armored car as Antonio stepped out into the storm of bullets like death itself.
His men moved with precision, dismantling Dogg's forces in brutal silence.
Within minutes, the ambush collapsed and then Dogg appeared.
Dragged from a burning vehicle, bleeding, furious, powerless.
Antonio walked toward him slowly. Melissa followed.
Dogg laughed weakly. "You knew… didn't you?"
Melissa spoke before Antonio could.
"I told him," she said calmly.
"Men like you don't ask for help. You ask for time."
Dogg spat blood. "You think killing me ends anything?"
Antonio knelt in front of him.
"No," he said quietly.
"Exposing you does."
Melissa looked at Antonio, confused. He nodded once.
Within hours, Dogg's secret accounts were frozen. His politicians exposed.
..
His allies arrested. His routes seized. His men turned on each other.
Antonio didn't just destroy Dogg. He erased his empire.
Dogg was taken away alive — to face prisons he could never escape.
As the fires burned behind them, Melissa finally understood.
Antonio didn't rule through blood. He ruled through control.
She looked at him softly. "You already planned his fall."
Antonio met her gaze.
"No," he said. "I waited for you to confirm it."
She swallowed. "You trusted me that much?"
Antonio's voice lowered.
"I trust you with my life."
The sirens echoed in the distance. Dogg's empire was gone and Melissa had been right.
The days passed like a blur.
Antonio took Melissa everywhere—ports at dawn, silent warehouses at night, private rooms where empires were divided with a single sentence.
She watched every operation unfold. She learned who betrayed, who survived, who disappeared.
She had always attended meetings before.
But after Dogg, she was no longer invisible.
People waited for her words. They feared her silence and that terrified her.
Power did not feel like strength. It felt like responsibility sharp enough to cut.
One evening, as Antonio concluded another operation, Melissa stood apart from the others, her hands trembling slightly.
Antonio noticed.
When they were alone, he asked softly, "What's wrong?"
She hesitated, then finally spoke.
"I'm scared."
Antonio turned fully toward her.
"Of what?"
"Of this power," she whispered. "Of what I can do to people. Of what I might become. I don't want to hurt the people I love just because I'm standing beside you."
Antonio studied her carefully.
"You think power makes you dangerous."
She nodded. "I don't want to be a pawn in this mafia world. I don't want to be moved, used, sacrificed when it's convenient."
Antonio stepped closer, his voice gentle but firm.
"Then don't be a pawn."
She looked up at him.
"You are only a pawn when you forget you can choose," he said. "And you still choose compassion. That is why you scare my enemies more than my guns ever could."
Melissa swallowed. "But this world doesn't reward compassion."
"No," Antonio admitted. "It punishes it. But it also remembers it."
She turned away, her eyes shining. "What if one day I make a decision that destroys someone innocent?"
Antonio placed his hand over hers.
"Then you will carry that weight," he said quietly. "But you will never pretend it didn't matter. And that is the difference between you and monsters."
She breathed deeply.
"I don't want to lose myself."
Antonio's voice softened.
"Then hold onto me," he said.
"Not because I'm powerful. But because I will remind you when you start fading."
She looked at him.
"And who reminds you?" she asked.
Antonio was silent for a moment. Then he answered honestly.
"You."
In that moment, Melissa understood.
She was not a pawn. She was the balance and Antonio's empire was no longer built only on fear—
It was built on her conscience.