Page 203 of Claim Me
What I see is… strange.
His expression is somewhat stunned. I can tell he’s trying not to show anything, but through the Bond I still feel it, confusion, strong emotions, something deeply tangled, so complicated I can’t unpack it.
Is he secretly annoyed that I stepped in because it wasn’t my place? I’m just muscle, why would I even speak up? I could have made things worse for him.
I would want to ask what he really feels, but I can’t, because Simon is riding next to us with an equally strange expression, staring out the window.
So I just sit close to Blue, not saying anything.
Then… a movement.
I feel it, a slight shift near my thigh, Blue’s hand slipping slowly into mine, and a warm, almost electric shiver runs through my whole body.
I lace my fingers with his, turning toward him, and when I meet his sapphire eyes he gives me a small, almost shy smile, like a sweetthank you.
For the rest of the drive Imighthave been almost happy, if not for what happened to Winter.
Soon we pull up in front of the building where the meeting with representatives of the Japanese government and the company running recruitment for the Beta Activation program is set to take place.
This time there’s a large security presence in the parking area, forming a kind of human corridor that lets Blue move safely into the building.
During the meeting, which takes place in a relatively small room, I stay outside alone with my thoughts.
It drags on for hours, and I keep going back and forth on whether I should message my family. The Nolans must be going through hell right now, but I’m only a cousin, not Winter’sbrother, so in the end I decide to give them a couple of days before I send my condolences.
My head is full of heavy thoughts. I know Winter never had much luck in his personal life. He never found the right person, and now his body is somewhere at the bottom of the ocean.
I truly feel like I owe him a lot. If he hadn’t stepped in with Jacob, I don’t know how it would have ended. I’d probably berotting in prisonright now, serving a decade.
I stand there leaning against the wall, lost in it, thinking about how all those situations shaped the fate of both families, and I feel anger, because I used to be one of them, one of those people who didn’t think about consequences, and if those people in the Malden lab had burned alive, it would have meant tragedy for six families, for their parents, siblings, children.
Marcel didn’t care. He had his vision and believed it mattered more than individual suffering, and if my father hadn’t taught me empathy, I might have followed down the same path. He always said that when you turn away from someone’s suffering, you lose part of your own humanity.
Now hundreds of families are suffering because of that plane, because of a single decision someone made. Was it Rocco Ferro? Or NFH? I have no idea, since no one has stepped forward to claim responsibility yet, and the investigation will likely take a while.
???
I spend the next stretches of time sunk in those thoughts.
There are two breaks during the meeting. Simon comes out and brings me snacks, avoiding my eyes in a way that feels off, but Blue never steps outside, and when I ask how much longer it will take, Simon explains that the meeting that was originally supposed to happen with Sariel and Winter has been mergedwith Blue’s, which is why it’s taking so long, because Blue also has to present the project Sariel worked on. But once it’s done, we’re heading straight to the airport and going home without delay.
That’s a relief, because it means we’ll finally have some time alone soon.
Eventually the long hours crawl to an end. Blue steps out of the meeting room, with Simon right behind him carrying a stack of documents and notes.
Blue looks pale, and exhausted.
When he sees me there’s a slight shift in his expression, something at the corner of his mouth, a shadow of a smile.
"We’re heading back to the airport?"
"Yes," Blue says quietly.
"Did you get the contract signed?"
"Yes, of course."
"Then congratulations. You had to present the project yourself?"
