Ch 1
Boston, Massachussetts- 12 months later
Jake Rosenbloom's plane touched down at Logan Airport. He was home. 20-year-old Jake and his 13-year-old brother Atticus had decided it was time to come home and start back to college at Harvard. Even though Jake was old enough to be a junior, he enrolled as a sophomore, having taken the last semester off to be with his father and to travel Europe with his brother. Any normal 13-year-old would be entering 8th grade, but Atticus was enrolling as a freshman after he finished high school in his spare time. Atticus was a bonified genius with a 200 IQ. Jake had another reason for wanting to come home however, his girlfriend, 18-year-old Amy Cahill. Jake met Amy two years earlier when fate brought them together to defeat the Vespers. Jake and Amy didn't exactly have instant chemistry; their love was a slow simmer. They hated each other when they first met, so much in fact, Jake had turned her and her younger brother, Dan, in to Interpol for stealing a priceless Caravaggio and Amy had kicked Jake, hard, in the ribs to get away from him. However, it became clear to Jake within a few weeks that Amy was something else entirely.
She was the head of the most powerful family on the planet and she had a real knack for leadership; something Jake found attractive. Not that Amy wasn't pretty, she was, with reddish brown hair and green eyes, but it was more the whole package for him. Her peerless confidence and ability to seriously kick-butt were a real turn on for him, he had to admit. They had never lived on the same continent, much less the same time zone. He closed his eyes and pictured Amy's smile, imagined her in his arms, drinking in her scent.
He must have lost himself in the imagery, because the next thing he knew, his name was being repeated and someone was slapping his knee.
"Jake, Jake…earth to Jake?"
Jake turned to his seatmate, Atticus. "I asked you which Boston specialty you are going to have first now that we're home?" Jake didn't answer right away, still thinking about Amy.
"Uh, I don't know Att, how about you decide and we'll get one before we leave the airport," Jake said smiling at his little brother.
Atticus was really the closest friend he had these days and he was very fond of him. He reached over and tugged on one of his dreadlocks.
"I know what you're thinking about," Atticus said with a small smile.
"Oh yeah, what?" Jake said with mock surprise on his face.
Atticus smirked, "Aaammmyyyy!" he said mischievously.
"Guilty as charged," Jake admitted with aplomb.
Atticus looked a bit shocked, "You admit it? Do you llooovvveee her?" Atticus said with teasing in his voice. He couldn't imagine ever wanting to kiss a girl, much less admitting that he loved one.
Jake laughed, "You know Att, that's not the insult you think. I promise you," Jake said clapping his hand on his brother's shoulder, "there will come a time when you'll be ready to shout your love for someone from the rooftops."
"And that's you?" Atticus asked Jake with skepticism.
"You bet." Jake said, standing to deplane.