Javier stood between the car and Elena Voss, his coat fluttering slightly in the cold night wind. His hands were at his sides, completely calm despite the semi-automatic rifles pointed in his direction. Valeria stepped out beside him, her Glock raised, but Javier gently lowered her wrist."Not yet," he murmured.Elena smiled. It was the kind of smile that promised pain. "You're outnumbered, Javier. Outgunned. And frankly, out of time."Javier tilted his head. "You always thought power came from loud voices and loaded weapons. But it never did."With no warning, headlights flared behind Elena's convoy. Black unmarked vehicles poured in from both ends of the road. Tires screeched. Doors burst open. Men and women in suits and tactical gear emerged with precision and speed.Elena’s face finally faltered.One of her men reached for his weapon but was tackled before his finger touched the trigger. In seconds, all twelve of her guards were disarmed and restrained.A tall man in a dark trench

“What happened here?”The question hung in the air like a blade. The woman’s voice was clear—neither loud nor soft—but it carried authority that silenced the room.The barista blinked, startled by the presence of the woman in the fitted gray suit. He straightened, trying to recover his smug posture. “Oh, nothing, ma’am. Just a bit of confusion with a customer who doesn't belong here.”Javier turned his head slightly to the side, calmly observing the sudden change in tension. The woman stepped forward, heels clicking against the pristine marble floor.She eyed the scene. “Confusion?” Her eyes shifted to Javier, lingering a moment longer. She didn’t recognize him—yet something about him made her pause. There was no panic in his posture, no defensiveness, no need to defend his dignity. He stood with a kind of quiet control that unsettled her.“Yes,” the waitress chimed in from the side, clutching her phone as if still contemplating whether to call security. “He’s been… difficult. We trie

“There you are,” she said. Her heels clicked on the sidewalk as she approached. “We need to talk. Now.”Everyone inside the café froze again.Valeria Everhart wasn’t just beautiful—she was magnetic. She had the kind of presence that could silence boardrooms and fracture alliances. Her tailored navy coat, the elegant clutch in her hand, the icy gloss on her lips—everything about her demanded attention. And now all of that fury was directed at one man.Javier.His expression remained calm, but a flicker of surprise passed through his eyes.“Valeria,” he greeted smoothly. “I wasn’t expecting you.”She stop

Silence descended like fog.Javier stood still, unreadable, but his chest rose with a slower breath—measured. Calculated.Valeria’s voice had been quiet, almost a whisper. But in the ballroom, it was a bell that echoed, drawing all ears and all eyes.“Who is she really, Javier?” she repeated.The photo crinkled slightly in her hand.He didn’t answer at first. Not because he didn’t want to—but because everyone was waiting for a lie.Javier never lied.“She was my sister’s daughter,” he said quietly, “and she died five years ago in a car accident.”The crowd, previously breathless with scandal, hesitated. Even Valeria blinked.“She what?”Javier’s gaze remained steady. “Her name was Maren. She was only nineteen. The girl in the photo looks like her. Almost identically. But it’s not her. That’s why I asked Heather to look into it. I didn’t tell you… because I wasn’t sure what I was looking at yet.”Valeria’s fingers slowly uncurled from the photo.“You thought she was—?”“My niece, yes,”

The red lights flashed like the slow rhythm of a heartbeat. Javier’s eyes scanned the room — not in panic, but precision.Valeria’s breath hitched as the tremor passed through the floor beneath them again. But Javier didn’t move. His grip on her hand remained steady, anchoring her in the chaos.Across from them, the girl — Maren — didn’t flinch either.Vincent Rhys’s voice continued to echo through the speakers. “Did you think burying my name would keep me gone, Javier? I taught you everything. And now I’ll take everything back.”Javier exhaled through his nose, slow and quiet. “You always did enjoy melodrama.”He pressed the hidden button in his cufflink.The floor stopped shaking.The red lights blinked once. Then off.Silence.Valeria looked around. “What…?”Javier turned his head slightly toward the wall. “You should come out now, Callen.”A second later, a panel near the core flicked open — revealing a hidden surveillance room behind one-way glass. Inside stood a tall man in a na