Page 127 of Silent Shadows

Miles blinks.

Taylor’s mouth falls open before she bites her lip.

Maya whispers, “No way.”

Jax grins. “Oh, this just got fucking awesome.”

The man walks toward us, ignoring Grant’s crew entirely, and picks up Miles’s beer to take a long swig.

Miles stares at him. “Owen? What are you doing here?”

Owen gives him a tired smile.

“So,” he says. “Fun update.”

No one moves.

“I got fired.”

Silence.

Then Jax lifts his drink. “I have never been happier to be in a bar.”

Owen looks around the table, then at Grant, then back at Miles.

Standing next to Miles, the family resemblance is obvious: dark hair, broad shoulders, the same impossible height. I piece together quickly that this is the brother who's been working at Area 51. Or was working there, at least.

Grant’s smile slips. Interesting. It seems whatever chaotic energy Owen walked in with is recognizable.

One of Grant’s guys shifts his weight. The scar-eyebrow one mutters, “Who the hell is this?”

Owen doesn’t even look at him.

He drops his duffel beside the booth with a heavy thud and shrugs out of his jacket like this interruption offends him.

“What are you assholes doing here?” he repeats, gaze flicking lazily across Grant’s crew. “Wait, let me guess.” His eyes land on Grant. “You smelled attention.”

Jax covers his laugh with a cough.

“Oh, I love him already,” I mutter, and I feel Miles flinch beside me.

Grant straightens a little, jaw tightening.

“You got a problem, big Adler?”

Owen looks at him properly. Slowly. Top to bottom. Like he’s assessing structural integrity and finding cracks.

“Several,” he says. “Mostly with men who mistake volume for competence.”

Taylor presses her lips together hard enough to stop a smile.

“Owen,” Miles says, calm. Owen glances over. Miles tips his beer slightly toward Grant. “Grant was just leaving.”

The temperature at the table shifts. Something about the way he says it with flat certainty.

God, it’s hot. Something low and fiery unfurls in my stomach.

Ego sparks behind Grant’s eyes. But also calculation. Because the odds look different now that Owen is here. For half a second, I wonder if Grant will take his chances and swing.