Page 88 of Claim Me
Then I gesture toward Veyron. "And this is Veyron Nolan, my cousin. He runs his own company leasing digital displays and billboards across the city for advertising."
Veyron bows deeply, almost at the waist, adding an exaggerated hand flourish as if greeting royalty, and says with a wide smile:
"It is a great honor to meet you in person, Mr. Lowen. I have heard a lot about you."
Blue cocks his head slightly, almost teasing.
"I assume none of it was good."
Veyron raises his hands in a theatrical, protesting gesture and shakes his head.
"Not at all. Most people simply don't understand great minds and let themselves get… brainwashed into hating what they don’t understand."
A brief silence follows. I stare awkwardly at the ground, but Blue seems inclined to push further.
"Interesting perspective," he says, tilting his head and motioning toward the garden doors.
We all step outside, and Veyron looks around with approval. But Blue clearly wants to press him harder.
"Who is doing the brainwashing, in your opinion?" he asks, narrowing his eyes slightly.
Veyron grins. "People buy into whatever narrative the media pushes, always looking for hot topics and villains to latch onto, something that generates clicks. And often it is nudged along by interest groups."
"Intriguing. Which groups do you have in mind?" Blue asks, his tone slightly edged.
Veyron presses his lips together briefly, probably realizing he's being tested, but he doesn't back down.
"Various shadow groups whose goal is to destroy us, like NFH. They believe we are aliens and shouldn’t exist on this planet… and your work is meant to help us… stay here," he adds more cautiously, but keeps a friendly smile.
Blue leads us toward the loungers and sits down, crossing one leg over the other.
I loudly clear my throat, since the topic is intense and may easily lead us into a volatile debate. Veyron has an easygoingdisposition, but he also has no problem expressing himself freely, even with controversial takes.
"NFH are lunatics," I emphasize, trying to steer the conversation in a more general, less confrontational direction. "They are responsible for massacres of entire villages in Africa and South America. No one in their right mind officially tolerates them, even if some organizations seem to turn a blind eye to NFH ideas, Beta Empowerment being one of them." I hope it will pull Blue away from interrogating Veyron, but Veyron continues on his own.
"Exactly. I would never side with them. In our family," he gestures toward me, "there has already been a fatal victim of NFH’s actions. Our cousin’s husband, a military doctor, was murdered by them. No one with any moral compass would ever support those monsters."
I let out a huff of relief.
Blue’s expression shifts slightly as he speaks. Do I see some relief there too? "If NFH knew the kind of plans I am involved in regarding them, I doubt my popularity would improve," he adds with a faint trace of irony.
"I hope their operations are brought to an end," Veyron says seriously, and I feel it is time to end this uncomfortably intense introduction.
"Listen, we started with super heavy topics, and today is supposed to be about boosting endorphins through physical effort," I say, forcibly turning my tone light.
Veyron flashes a wide smile. "Yeah, I can see the mat is waiting; time for a warm-up."
Then he glances around, letting out a low whistle.
"Okay, but I have to say one thing first. This is a great view. You can see the whole city and the ocean," he squints slightly, "I would say you can even see the marina where my yacht is docked."
"Yeah, yeah," I mutter. "You just needed to mention your yacht, right? Blue probably has, like, five of them."
Blue snorts lightly, "As a matter of fact, I have only one, and I’ve lent it to one of my brothers for the time being."
"Oh, so feel free to use mine if you want a day to relax. I usually live in my office, as I have a small room there; the yacht is unoccupied."
"Okay… thanks for the offer. Let’s get to work," I add, gesturing toward the mats already laid out on the deck.
