Jade Cabral strides into the 21st century as a golden guy. Brilliant and beautiful, with a California cool and a Harvard education, he is poised for wealth and success in New York’s Financial District.<br><br>But Jade harbors a secret flaw, a thirst for revenge against Se?or Rodriguez, the California landowner who deprived his father – Se?or’s out-of-wedlock son, John Virgil -- of his family’s rightful inheritance and place in the world. Jade thinks if he succeeds in New York, he can make up for every loss and humiliation his family has endured at the hands of Se?or. That searing quest leads him into the arms of Nan Spencer, a lovely, fragile socialite, and to the top of the financial world, the Twin Towers, on September 11, 2001.

Seamless Sky

“I don’t know why, but I’m in such a good mood,” he told Mrs. Schoenfeld at breakfast. “I think I’m going to leave for work early and walk part of the way. And then I’ll do something I rarely do: I’m going to get a latte at Starbuck’s and one of those Krispy Kreme jelly doughnuts. I’m going to buy all the papers to read about the US Open and then, when I get to the office, I’m going to plan an expensive lunch out.”


“Good for you,” Mrs. Schoenfeld said, hitting her breakfast table with her hand. “It’s about time you indulged yourself a little. You work too hard. Besides, it’s too fine a day to stay indoors.”


“I’d advise you to go out, too, Mrs. S.”


“You know, I think I shall. Bethany and her young gentleman—I think I told you, Jade, that my granddaughter and her fiancé, Damian, are up at Columbia this fall, studying architecture—are coming down for lunch. Perhaps I can persuade them to walk in the park afterward.”


Chapter 21