Morgan clears her throat. “Yeah… about that. Bennett isn’t just some travel blogger. He’s Theo’s cousin.”

My mouth goes dry, my thoughts tripping over each other in an attempt to fit this new knowledge into the larger picture. If he’s Theo’s cousin, then why the hell was he sneaking around town, pretending to be some random writer?

“Then what was with the cloak and dagger at the cafe?” I ask, my voice sharper than I intend.

Theo exhales beside me, rubbing a hand down his face before crossing his arms across his broad chest. “Yeah. Turns out my dad’s brother had a son no one ever knew about. And Bennett is his son.”

Bennett shifts his weight like he’s suddenly hyper-aware of everyone staring at him. He rubs a hand along the back of his neck, a tic I recognize from our brief interactions before.

“I didn’t know either,” he says. “Not until an ancestry DNA test from my adopted mom led me to Theo’s dad. When I was going through her things after her death I found login information for 23+Me. I saw the message from my uncle and messaged him back. When he didn’t respond after a week I started digging. He died the day after he messaged me, and it didn’t sit right with me, so when I hacked into some old records—”

“Wait, hacked?” Orion narrows his eyes, his voice sharp with suspicion.

Bennett shrugs, completely unfazed. “It’s one of my many talents.”

I blink. My brain is short-circuiting. The charming guy from the cafe is not only Theo’s long-lost cousin but also a hacker. And he didn’t come here for some fake blog—he came here to investigate his family?

Theo runs a hand through his hair, clearly still grappling with the whole situation. “The TL;DR of it all is he found out his dad died, he still doesn’t know who his mother is, and we’re cousins.”

Bennett nods, his expression grim. “And considering how things have been going around here, I figured I should stick around. Looks like I was right.”

Silence smothers the room.

The air feels thick—like we’re all waiting for the ground to crack open beneath us, for some unseen force to make sense of what we just learned. My gaze flickers to Theo, his jaw tight, his eyes clouded with emotion he doesn’t reveal.

Without thinking, I reach out under the table, brushing my fingers lightly against his hand. Just enough to let him know I’m here, that he isn’t alone in this.

His fingers press back, a brief but steadying touch.

One thing is certain: tonight’s meeting just got a hell of a lot more interesting.

But the moment shatters when Bennett speaks again, his tone brisk. “With that out of the way, let’s get to it.”