Chapter 4 - The Mother Everyone Buried
Elena Lombardi had disappeared for twenty years.
Not from the world.
From Sebastian.
She had watched him grow through photographs.
She had watched him become the most feared man in Chicago.
She had watched him reject woman after woman.
And every time Sebastian appeared in the news, she turned the television off before anyone could ask why.
Now she sat in a quiet hotel room and waited.
Sebastian arrived with Clare and Gabriel.
A gunman stood outside the door.
Another watched the hallway.
Inside, Elena rose slowly.
Sebastian stopped moving.
He had imagined this moment in nightmares.
In some dreams, he was fifteen again.
In others, he was thirty.
Sometimes he screamed.
Sometimes he struck her.
Sometimes he simply asked why.
But reality was quieter.
He whispered, “Mom.”
Elena’s eyes filled with tears.
“My little boy.”
He flinched.
“Don’t call me that.”
She swallowed.
“I know.”
“You were dead.”
“I wanted you to believe I was.”
“Why?”
“Because I was afraid.”
Sebastian laughed bitterly.
“You were afraid while I buried you?”
“I was afraid of the man who killed your father.”
“Who?”
She looked at Gabriel.
Then Clare.
“The fourth name.”
Sebastian’s jaw tightened.
“Who is it?”
Elena sat.
“Victor Marlowe.”
Gabriel went pale.
Sebastian noticed.
“You know that name.”
Gabriel said nothing.
“Gabriel.”
“I’ve heard it.”
“Where?”
“From your father.”
Elena nodded.
“Victor was your father’s oldest friend.”
Sebastian stared.
“He betrayed him.”
“No. Worse.”
Elena’s voice shook.
“He made your father believe loyalty mattered. He became family. Then he convinced him to trust the wrong people.”
“What happened the night my father died?”
“Victor arranged it.”
“Why?”
“Money. Power. Fear.”
Sebastian’s fists clenched.
“And you?”
“I found out.”
Elena looked toward the window.
“I was supposed to die too.”
“How did you survive?”
“Your father’s driver got me out.”
“Daniel.”
She nodded.
“The world believed I disappeared. Victor believed I was dead.”
Sebastian stared at her.
“You watched me suffer.”
“I watched you survive.”
“That isn’t the same thing.”
“No.”
She stood.
“I have regretted that every day.”
Clare had remained silent.
Now Elena looked at her.
“You are the therapist.”
“Yes.”
“You are also the woman my son trusts.”
Clare’s heart skipped.
Sebastian looked away.
Elena smiled sadly.
“That is why Victor is watching you.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he cannot control Sebastian through money. He cannot control him through fear. But he can threaten what Sebastian loves.”
Silence.
Sebastian turned toward Clare.
She saw something in his expression that scared her more than any gun.
Possessiveness.
Not ownership.
Fear.
The kind that comes when losing someone becomes unbearable.
That night, Sebastian told Clare she was moving into his secure residence.
She refused.
He argued.
She refused again.
Finally he said, “Fine. Then I’ll move into yours.”
She stared.
“You cannot fit your entire security team into my apartment.”
“I can try.”
She laughed despite herself.
It was the first time Sebastian had heard her laugh openly.
He smiled.
That smile became a problem.
Because people began to notice.
The newspapers noticed.
The family noticed.
And Victor noticed.
Two weeks later, Sebastian’s cousin Adriana returned from New York.
She hugged Clare warmly.
Then whispered, “You have no idea what you’ve done.”
“What?”
“You made him human.”
Clare frowned.
“That sounds dangerous.”
“It is.”
Adriana explained that women had always been presented to Sebastian for marriage.
Political alliances.
Business mergers.
Family protection.
He rejected them all.
“He doesn’t trust anyone.”
“He trusts Gabriel.”
“Gabriel is blood-adjacent.”
“That’s not a real category.”
“In this family, it is.”
Adriana smiled.
“You’re different.”
“How?”
“You don’t want anything from him.”
Clare looked down.
She almost said that she wanted a future for Oliver.
But she knew what Adriana meant.
Sebastian had spent his life surrounded by people who wanted his name.
Clare wanted him alive.
That distinction mattered.
Meanwhile, Sebastian’s physical condition improved.
He could stand for nearly two minutes.
Then five.
Then eight.
The first day he walked three steps without support, he refused to celebrate.
Clare did not let him hide.
“You’re smiling.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“No.”
“Sebastian.”
He looked at her.
“I thought I’d never walk again.”
Clare reached for his hand.
“You might.”
He looked at their hands.
Neither moved.
Then he kissed her.
It was brief.
Careful.
Almost uncertain.
Clare stepped back.
“This is a bad idea.”
“I know.”
“You’re my patient.”
“I know.”
“I work for you.”
“I can fix that.”
“How?”
“I’ll fire myself.”
She laughed.
“You’re impossible.”
“I’ve been called worse.”
But their happiness lasted only three days.
On the fourth day, Oliver disappeared.
Clare was in the kitchen when she received the call.
A strange number.
A child crying in the background.
Then Oliver’s voice.
“Mom?”
Clare nearly dropped the phone.
“Oliver! Where are you?”
A man took the phone.
“You have thirty minutes.”
Sebastian was beside her instantly.
“What happened?”
“Oliver.”
His face changed.
“Give me the phone.”
The voice returned.
“Come alone, Lombardi.”
Sebastian’s expression became cold.
“I’ll bring everyone.”
“You’ll bring only yourself.”
“Wrong answer.”
A gunshot sounded.
Then the line went dead.
Clare screamed.
Sebastian moved toward the door.
Gabriel stopped him.
“It’s a trap.”
“I know.”
“You can’t go alone.”
“He has my child.”
“He has hers.”
Sebastian looked at Clare.
He walked to her.
“You stay here.”
“No.”
“Clare.”
“I’m coming.”
“You’ll get killed.”
“I don’t care.”
“I do.”
The sentence stopped both of them.
He took her face in his hands.
“I do.”
Clare stared at him.
Then she whispered, “Bring my son home.”
Sebastian nodded.
“I will.”
The location was an abandoned warehouse.
Sebastian entered alone.
Or so Victor believed.
Behind him, dozens of hidden operatives surrounded the building.
Inside, Oliver sat tied to a chair.
Victor stood behind him.
Older than Sebastian remembered.
Calm.
Elegant.
Smiling.
“You look just like your father.”
Sebastian aimed his gun.
“You took my mother.”
“I took your future.”
“You took my father.”
“I took the opportunity he wasted.”
“You touched Clare’s son.”
Victor smiled.
“That is why you finally came.”
Sebastian’s finger tightened.
Victor laughed.
“Now I know your weakness.”
Sebastian’s voice became quiet.
“No.”
He lowered his gun.
“You think Clare is my weakness.”
Victor waited.
“She isn’t.”
Sebastian’s men stormed the building.
Gunfire erupted.
Victor vanished through a side corridor.
Gabriel found Oliver.
Clare ran to him.
He threw his arms around her.
“Mom!”
She cried into his hair.
Sebastian watched from across the warehouse.
Then he saw something on the floor.
A flower symbol.
And underneath it, written in blood:
YOU’RE LOOKING AT THE WRONG ENEMY.
Sebastian turned.
May you like
Victor was gone.
And Elena was missing.
