Ever since Blake was six, his father, Derrick, had been close friends with his boss, Mr. Chapman. Mr. Chapman had been his father’s boss for decades, and he was extremely rich. Blake didn’t realize how rich until he’d gotten a little older, and started noticing that other people’s bosses didn’t have multiple vacation homes. Almost every summer, Blake and his brother Jackson accompanied their father to visit Mr. Chapman in one of his many places. The first time Blake went on one of these trips, back when he was six, was when he met Cassandra.
Cassandra was Mr. Chapman’s daughter, his only child, his pride and joy. When Blake first met her, she was ten, and she had toys that other kids could only dream of.
Now, Blake was twenty one. He stood in a hallway in one of Mr. Chapman’s vacation homes (the one just outside of Venice) clutching at the handle of the suitcase in front of him. He had hazel eyes and a lean swimmer’s build, and he’d chosen to wear his thick wavy brown hair a little longer this year. His normally likable face was twisted into a frown as he listened to the voices coming from the living room.