Page 120 of Secret Heir For The Billionaire Twin

“Sorry. It took longer than I expected.”

Her expression shifts as she studies my face.

“Something happened?”

I take the glass a member of the staff offers me, but I don't drink from it yet.

“We need to leave tomorrow.”

Sophie’s eyebrows lift.

“Tomorrow? I thought we had another day?”

“We did.”

“What changed?”

I glance toward the terrace before looking back at her.

“The situation Vivian flagged in Milan has escalated. Legal is dealing with it, but I need to be back in New York.”

“Is the company in trouble?”

“Not necessarily.” I keep my answer measured because I don't yet have enough information to give her anything more useful.

“There are legal issues developing. Right now, there are more questions than answers.”

She watches me for a moment.

“And you're going to tell me that's all you know?”

“It’s all I know with any certainty.”

“That isn't exactly the same thing.”

“No,” I admit. “It isn't.”

Sophie could push. She has every professional reason to do it, especially now that something involving Blackwell Technologies is clearly moving behind the scenes.

Instead, she takes a small sip of wine.

“All right,” she says. “Tomorrow.”

The staff begins serving dinner, and we move to the table. I deliberately left my phone upstairs. For the next hour, I don't want New York in this room.

Dinner is quieter than the night before, although not uncomfortable. There is simply an awareness between us that wasn't there yesterday. Our time here has acquired an ending neither of us expected to arrive this quickly.

Sophie looks out through the open doors toward the darkening lake.

“It's strange,” she says.

“I've spent weeks trying to figure out your family, and I think I understand less now than I did when I started.”

I smile faintly. “That doesn't sound promising for the article.”

“It probably makes the article better.”

“That sounds more promising.”