Chapter 3 - The Secret Meline Died to Protect
By sunrise, Luca was asleep in Sebastian’s penthouse.
He had refused the guest rooms.
Too big.
Too unfamiliar.
Instead, he had fallen asleep on the leather sofa in Sebastian’s office, curled beneath one of Marco’s jackets with the toy dinosaur clutched against his chest.
Sebastian had not left the room.
He stood at the windows watching the storm fade while Houston slowly reappeared beneath a bruised gray sky.
Behind him was proof that his life had continued without him.
A son who liked grape juice.
A son who hated thunder but pretended he didn’t.
A son who had asked whether Sebastian owned the whole building and seemed disappointed when told he owned only the top eight floors.
Sebastian felt something dangerously close to wonder.
Then he looked at Meline’s hostage photograph.
Wonder became fury again.
Marco walked in carrying two coffees.
“No sleep?”
Sebastian took one.
“You?”
“Twenty minutes in the security room. I’m basically a new man.”
“What do we know?”
Marco placed a folder on the desk.
“Tomas Vescari is alive. He entered the country fourteen months ago using a Croatian passport. We have footage of him in Miami, New Orleans, and Houston.”
“Why didn’t we know?”
“That question is becoming the theme of the week.”
“The ledger.”
Marco’s expression darkened.
“Yeah.”
Sebastian knew what the kidnappers meant.
Twenty years earlier, Sebastian’s father had kept records of every financial relationship the Falcone organization maintained—politicians, police, judges, contractors, shipping companies.
When Sebastian took control, he destroyed almost all of them.
Almost.
One handwritten ledger remained.
Not because he needed leverage.
Because it contained evidence of his father’s crimes, including names Sebastian had spent years quietly protecting from retaliation.
Only four people knew where it was hidden.
Sebastian.
Marco.
Victor Falcone.
Adrian Falcone.
The lake house.
Trust no one who knew about the lake house.
Sebastian turned.
“Bring Victor and Adrian here.”
Marco nodded.
“Already sent cars.”
“Separate rooms.”
“Already done.”
“You’re irritating.”
“That’s why you pay me.”
Luca stirred on the sofa.
Both men stopped.
The boy opened his eyes.
For a second, fear crossed his face.
Then he saw Sebastian.
It disappeared.
“Mom?”
Sebastian hated the hope in that one word.
“Not yet.”
Luca sat up.
“You said you’d get her.”
“I will.”
“When?”
Sebastian sat across from him.
“As soon as I can do it without making things worse.”
“That’s what Mom says when I ask for ice cream before dinner.”
Marco coughed into his coffee.
Sebastian gave him a look.
Luca rubbed his eyes.
“Do you know where she is?”
“We’re finding out.”
“She told me never to tell anybody our real names.”
“You did well.”
“She said if you ever came, I had to make sure it was really you.”
Sebastian leaned forward.
“How?”
Luca crawled off the sofa, retrieved his backpack, and pulled out a small envelope.
Sebastian recognized Meline’s handwriting.
FOR LUCA ONLY.
The boy opened it.
“Mom gave me questions.”
“What questions?”
Luca read slowly.
“Number one. What did Mom call the ugly statue in your old house?”
Sebastian froze.
Marco looked intrigued.
Sebastian said, “Napoleon.”
Luca frowned.
“Wrong.”
Sebastian stared.
Then remembered.
“No. Sorry. She called it Little Angry Pants.”
Luca giggled.
“Right.”
The sound hit Sebastian harder than any bullet ever had.
“Next.”
“What food did Mom burn on your first date?”
“Garlic bread.”
“Right. What did Mom say you do when you lie?”
Sebastian sighed.
“Touch my left cuff.”
Luca looked at his bare wrist.
“You’re not wearing cuffs.”
“I’m not lying.”
“Okay.”
He returned to the paper.
“Last question. Where did you first tell Mom you loved her?”
Sebastian’s chest tightened.
A rooftop.
Not theirs.
A hospital parking garage.
Meline had spent the night sitting beside a friend recovering from surgery. Sebastian brought coffee at dawn. She had accused him of stalking her.
He had told her, without planning it, “I love you.”
She stared at him for ten seconds and replied, “That’s inconvenient.”
Sebastian smiled at the memory.
“On top of St. Joseph Medical Center’s parking garage.”
Luca checked.
Then looked up.
“You’re really him.”
“Yes.”
“Dad?”
Sebastian heard Marco quietly leave the room.
Luca seemed to test the word.
“Dad.”
Sebastian’s eyes burned.
He had faced guns without blinking.
This was harder.
“Yes.”
Luca stepped closer.
“Mom said you didn’t know about me.”
“I didn’t.”
“So you didn’t forget me.”
Sebastian’s face changed.
“No.”
“Because I thought maybe—”
“No.”
The word came too sharply.
Luca flinched.
Sebastian lowered his voice.
“I could never forget you. I just didn’t know where you were.”
The boy nodded slowly.
Then climbed onto Sebastian’s knee as if the decision required no ceremony at all.
Sebastian sat perfectly still.
Luca leaned against his chest.
“You smell weird.”
Sebastian blinked.
“What?”
“Like smoke and trees.”
“Cedar.”
“I don’t like it.”
“I’ll make a note.”
Five minutes later, Luca was eating pancakes at the desk while Sebastian met his brother.
Adrian Falcone entered furious.
“What the hell is going on?”
He was thirty-five, lean, handsome, and polished in the way Sebastian had never cared to be. They shared the same eyes but little else.
Then Adrian saw Luca.
His anger vanished.
“Who’s that?”
Sebastian watched every micro-expression.
“My son.”
Silence.
Adrian laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
Because the alternative was shock.
“You have a son?”
“Yes.”
“With who?”
Sebastian said nothing.
Adrian’s face changed.
“No.”
Luca looked between them.
Adrian whispered, “Meline?”
Sebastian nodded.
“Jesus.”
Luca lifted a forkful of pancake.
“Mom says not to use Jesus like that.”
Adrian stared at him.
Then slowly crouched.
“You must be Luca.”
The boy looked at Sebastian before answering.
Sebastian nodded.
“Yeah.”
“I’m Adrian. Your uncle.”
Luca studied him.
“You look like Dad but less scary.”
Adrian smiled.
“That may be the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
Sebastian interrupted.
“Where were you last night?”
Adrian looked up.
“You’re questioning me?”
“Yes.”
“After telling me I have a nephew?”
“Yes.”
Adrian stood.
“Charity dinner. Four hundred witnesses.”
“When did you last visit the lake house?”
“Years ago.”
“Who did you tell about it?”
“Nobody.”
Sebastian watched him.
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“You think I had something to do with Meline?”
“I think someone did.”
Adrian looked toward Luca.
“Not me.”
“Then help me prove it.”
Victor arrived next.
Sebastian’s cousin was fifty-eight, heavyset, silver-haired, and had worked beside Sebastian’s father long before Sebastian took control.
He was family.
Which meant very little now.
Victor stared at Luca without warmth.
“A child complicates things.”
Sebastian felt his suspicion sharpen instantly.
“A kidnapped woman complicates things.”
Victor sighed.
“You said Meline is alive?”
“Apparently.”
“You’ve seen her?”
“A photograph.”
“Could be old.”
“It isn’t.”
Victor glanced at the boy.
“Children make men reckless.”
Luca stopped eating.
Sebastian stood.
“Careful.”
Victor raised his hands.
“I’m simply saying whoever sent that message knows exactly how to control you.”
“Do they?”
“They want the ledger.”
Sebastian’s eyes narrowed.
“I didn’t tell you that.”
The room froze.
Victor did not move.
But a muscle near his mouth twitched.
Sebastian stepped closer.
“How do you know they want the ledger?”
Victor recovered quickly.
“It’s obvious. What else could anyone possibly want?”
Marco entered from the hallway.
Sebastian didn’t look away from Victor.
“I never said the kidnappers asked for anything.”
Victor smiled faintly.
“You’re tired.”
“No.”
“You’re grieving.”
“Not anymore.”
Luca watched silently.
Victor’s hand moved toward his jacket.
Marco drew first.
“Don’t.”
Victor stopped.
Sebastian’s voice became quiet.
“Take his phone.”
Marco searched him.
One phone.
Then another.
A hidden burner.
Sebastian felt something inside him break.
Marco unlocked it using Victor’s thumb.
Recent messages appeared.
Most were coded.
One was not.
PACKAGE SECURED.
BOY ESCAPED.
WAITING FOR S.
Sebastian stared at his cousin.
Victor closed his eyes.
“Sebastian—”
The first punch knocked him backward.
Marco caught Sebastian before the second.
“Not in front of Luca.”
That stopped him.
Only that.
Sebastian turned.
Luca had gone pale.
Sebastian immediately stepped away.
Victor wiped blood from his mouth.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“Your father started this.”
“My father is dead.”
“His debts aren’t.”
“What debts?”
Victor looked at Luca.
“The kind that created you.”
Sebastian moved closer.
Victor continued.
“Your father partnered with the Vescaris for years. When he tried to walk away, he hid records proving they owned half the officials in this city.”
“The ledger.”
“Yes.”
“And Meline found out.”
“Not at first.”
Victor’s eyes lowered.
“She found me.”
Sebastian’s blood went cold.
“When?”
“Five years ago.”
“What did you do?”
Victor’s silence was answer enough.
Sebastian grabbed him by the collar.
“What did you do?”
“I told her to leave.”
“Why?”
“Because Tomas Vescari already knew she was pregnant.”
Luca dropped his fork.
Sebastian slowly released Victor.
Victor looked at him with something close to shame.
“Meline begged me to help her disappear. I did.”
Sebastian stared.
“You helped her?”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you working with Tomas now?”
Victor’s eyes filled with fear.
“Because after five years, he found my daughter.”
Sebastian said nothing.
May you like
Victor whispered:
“And unless I give him that ledger tonight, he kills Meline, my daughter, and anyone else you love.”
