Page 216 of Secret Heir For The Billionaire Twin

“Is the road actually closed?”

“Not yet, but security expects it will be within the hour if the rain keeps up. Once that happens, nobody is leaving until county crews clear it.”

As if to confirm his point, thunder rolls somewhere beyond the glass.

Julian checks his phone.

“What about the aircraft tomorrow morning?”

Marcus shakes his head.

“Depends on the weather. For tonight, it’s grounded.”

Priya slips her tablet beneath her arm.

“I’ll have someone take your luggage over to the annex.”

“Thank you,” I say.

Julian nods toward Marcus.

“Let me know if the road status changes.”

“I will.”

We separate a few minutes later, and I follow one of the site coordinators through a covered walkway toward the guest building.

The annex is quieter than the main campus, with only a handful of occupied rooms and a small lounge overlooking the darkened grounds. Rain hammers the roof as the coordinator shows me my room and points out Julian’s directly across the hall.

I thank her and step inside. The door closes behind me. For a moment, I stand there listening to the storm. Julian is across the hall.

No New York office.

No interview schedule.

No elevator waiting downstairs.

Just the two of us stranded in the same place overnight for the first time since Lake Como.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Julian

By 8:30, most of the facility has gone quiet.

The storm has settled over the campus with enough force that the rain no longer sounds like rain. It hits the windows in heavy sheets, driven sideways by wind that bends the trees beyond the glass and turns the outer walkways into silver streaks beneath the security lights. Every few minutes, thunder rolls somewhere over the hills and rattles faintly through the building.

Sophie and I end up in one of the smaller executive dining rooms off the main lounge because neither of us feels like going back to our rooms yet.

Dinner is simple by Blackwell standards: grilled chicken, roasted vegetables, bread, and whatever the kitchen staff managed to keep available before most of them headed home or moved into the overnight staff quarters. There is a stocked refrigerator behind the bar, so I grab two beers and set one in front of Sophie.

She looks at the bottle.

“You remembered what type of beer I drink?”

I sit across from her.

“You drank beer in Boston.”