The brooding, intense Brock Lombard came to Oakdale in 1989 on business. A wealthy businessman, he was wooed by competitors Walsh Enterprises and Montgomery & Associates. Although only Walsh Enterprises was looking to get Lombard as a client, they mysteriously backed out on advice from Ellie Snyder. When M&A employee Emily Stewart caught wind of the situation, she took advantage and convinced her boss to get Lombard as a client. Upon arriving in town, Brock immediately became attracted to Emily. As Brock flirted with Emily, he reacquainted himself with a woman who he made very nervous—Ellie. Ellie and Brock had been an item not long ago and he relished in taunting her about their past. Although Brock told Ellie he'd drop Emily if she came back to him, Ellie refused his offer. He tried to change her mind with a smoldering kiss, but her only response was to slap him hard. Not long after, Brock's wife, Marjorie arrived in town demanding that he stop stalling their divorce. When Marjorie saw Brock and Emily in an embrace, she decided to gain the advantage by digging up dirt on Emily. Brock discovered what she was doing though and angrily shoved her and warned her about butting into his personal life. Undeterred, Marjorie discovered that, as a teenager, Emily was arch criminal James Stenbeck's lover and wasted no time informing Brock. Furious, Brock denounced Emily as a slut and walked out of her life.

In the wake of this break-up, Brock intensified his pursuit of Ellie who still wasn't interested. Meanwhile, Brock's father, mobster Philip Lombard, arrived in town and the reason for Ellie's nervousness became clear—the Lombards were a mob family. Upon arriving, Philip told Brock that in no uncertain terms was he to leave his wife for the lowly Ms. Snyder. Tired of being controlled by his father, Brock decided to break away from the family. Just as he went to the Snyder farm to inform Ellie of his intention, he spotted her and Craig Montgomery making love at the pond. Bitter and hurt, Brock decided against leaving the family for now. However, Ellie's presence was making Philip very nervous since she knew secrets about the family. After dismissing his son as weak, Philip tried to give him a chance to redeem himself by ordering him to kill Ellie. Instead, Brock tried to assure his father that Ellie was no threat.

After this incident, Brock was eager to reform and break away from the family. Wanting a fresh start, he went to Emily and begged her forgiveness for what he'd said to her. After a tense confrontation, the pair ended up making love and began a passionate affair. At about this time, Emily was arrested for the apparent murder of Stenbeck and Brock's association with Emily became a cause for concern of Philip's. When Philip tried to threaten Emily into staying away from his son, Brock turned around and threatened to turn state's evidence if Emily was harmed. Not long after, Emily confessed to Brock that Stenbeck had gone after her because she'd slept with his teenage son, Paul. To her surprise, Brock was forgiving and informed her that he was planning on divorcing his wife, in secret, so that he and Emily could be together. In the meantime, Philip was becoming more and more concerned that his son had gone soft and decided to test his loyalty by ordering him to plan a hit on a rival family. However, Brock talked his father against the hit and tried to come up with a less violent alternative. He further angered Philip by refusing to break up with Emily. Later, while agonizing over whether to turn state's evidence against his family, Brock received a visit from Ellie's brother, Caleb, who warned him to stay away from Ellie. That same night, Brock was found shot to death with an unconscious Caleb in the next room. Although suspicion immediately fell on Caleb, when the prints on the gun turned out to be Ellie's, she became suspect number one. However, soon the police started to suspect that Philip killed his own son. Although the hired hitman ultimately confessed that he'd been hired by Philip, he died immediately after from his injuries. Luckily for the Snyders, Brock's mother, Connie, knew the truth and provided the necessary evidence against Philip.