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A Capone associate, the Bowtie Man, shakes down a restaurant owner who has chosen to buy from one of Capone's competitors.
By this sentence, we can tell the Bowtie man is stronger than the restaurant owner.
Next sentence:
The owner refuses to be intimidated, and the Bowtie Man appears to back off.
If he is strong, why does he back off before the restaurant owner?
How to understand these two sentences ?
In your example, since Bowtie Man is sent to
shakedown
a business owner, we assume he is scary, maybe stronger than the business owner, and is probably carrying a gun when he does this. In the story, Bowtie was only a driver, so the gang was probably trying to figure out if the restaurant owner had some "protection" from another gang.
The restaurant owner fights back and does not back down, however we are given a hint that something will happen later since
the Bowtie Man appears to back off
where the writer is saying it only "looks like" Bowtie Man backs off. Later we find out that a bomb was placed in the restaurant.
