Chapter 2 - The Fortress at River North
By 7:00 PM, the rain outside Calder House had turned into a torrential midwestern deluge.
Instead of sending me back to my tiny apartment above the laundromat—where Julian’s men could easily track me down—Sebastian insisted on moving Lily and me to his private residence on the top three floors of the historic Calder Building in River North.
A sleek, bulletproof black Town Car took us through the underground parking garage. Two heavily armed private security details escorted us up a private elevator that required a biometric fingerprint scan to activate.
When the elevator doors opened, my jaw dropped.
The penthouse was a sprawling, glass-walled masterpiece overlooking the glittering lights of the Chicago skyline and the dark ribbon of the Chicago River. Soft velvet sofas, warm hardwood floors, and priceless modern art filled the space. Yet despite its grandeur, the penthouse didn't feel cold. A roaring fireplace burned in the main living room, casting a warm golden light across the floor.
"This... this is where you live?" I stammered, holding Lily close. I felt entirely out of place in my stained waitress uniform and worn-out sneakers.
"It’s secure," Sebastian said, taking off his wet suit coat and tossing it over a chair. He motioned to a woman in her late fifties wearing a cozy knit sweater who stepped out from the kitchen corridor.
"Maya, this is Mrs. Gable, my house manager and a certified pediatric nurse. She was my nanny when I was a boy."
Mrs. Gable smiled warmly, her eyes crinkling at the corners as she looked at Lily. "Oh, look at this sweet little angel! Give her to me, dear. I’ll prepare a warm bath and a bottle of fresh organic milk. You look like you're about to collapse."
I hesitated for a second, my maternal instincts screaming at me not to let Lily out of my sight. But looking at Mrs. Gable's kind, maternal eyes, my exhaustion won.
"It's alright, Maya," Sebastian assured me softly. "Mrs. Gable is safer than a vault."
I gently handed Lily over. Mrs. Gable cradled her with experienced ease, cooing at her as she led the way down the hall toward a beautifully furnished nursery room.
Once they were out of earshot, the physical and emotional exhaustion finally caught up with me. My legs buckled.
Before I could hit the floor, Sebastian's strong arms caught me by the waist. He swept me up into his arms as if I weighed nothing at all and carried me over to the plush velvet sofa near the fireplace, lowering me down gently.
"Easy," he murmured, sitting beside me and pouring a glass of warm water from a crystal carafe. "Drink this."
I took the glass with shaking hands, taking small sips as the warmth spread through my chest.
"Why are you doing this, Mr. Calder?" I asked, looking up at him through my eyelashes. "I'm just a twenty-seven-year-old waitress. I broke company policy by hiding a baby in your linen room. You should have fired me. You shouldn't be risking your reputation to protect me from the Vance family."
Sebastian leaned back against the cushions, staring into the flickering flames of the fireplace. The light carved deep shadows across his sharp jawline.
"Do you know why I built Calder House, Maya?" he asked quietly.
I shook my head.
"Thirty years ago, my mother was a line cook in a high-end French restaurant downtown," Sebastian revealed, his voice dropping to a low, painful rasp. "She worked eighteen-hour shifts to feed my sister and me. One night, when I was six years old, I got sick with a terrible fever. My mother had no babysitter, so she hid me in the dry storage room behind bags of flour."
My breath hitched in my throat.
"The head chef found me," Sebastian continued, his gray eyes flashing with old, unhealed trauma. "He didn't care that I was sick. He didn't care that my mother was desperate. He fired her on the spot, threw our belongings into the snow, and called child protective services. My mother spent three years in court fighting to keep us."
He turned his head and looked directly into my eyes, his expression fierce and unwavering.
"When I saw your daughter’s blanket on my basement floor today, and when I saw Veronica Hale trying to destroy your life... I didn't see an employee breaking a rule. I saw my mother. And I swore long ago that as long as I have breath in my body, no arrogant monster with a pocketful of money will ever steal a mother's child in my city."
A tear slipped down my cheek, not from terror, but from a profound, overwhelming feeling of gratitude.
"Sebastian..." I whispered, using his first name for the very first time.
Before he could answer, his encrypted smartphone buzzed violently on the glass coffee table.
Sebastian picked it up and swiped the screen. The caller ID read: MARCUS VANCE.
Sebastian pressed the speaker button, his expression instantly morphing back into the cold, ruthless billionaire the world feared.
"Speak," Sebastian growled into the phone.
A rich, arrogant voice echoed through the room over the speakerphone.
"Calder," Marcus Vance—Julian’s father and the CEO of the Vance Group—said smoothly. "I hear you have my granddaughter and her runaway mother in your penthouse."
"I have my guests in my home, Vance," Sebastian replied coldly. "And if your son steps foot within two blocks of my property again, he will leave in a body bag."
May you like
Marcus Vance let out a cruel, rattling laugh over the line. "You think you're untouchable because you sell expensive steak and wine, Calder? Tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM, the Cook County Family Court will issue an emergency custody warrant for Lily Delgado based on affidavits of maternal neglect signed by Veronica Hale. My legal team will take that child from your arms, and there isn't a damn thing your billions can do about it."
The line went dead.
