Chapter 10
Thanks to Nate, he was being backed into a corner.
No, not thanks to Nate. It wouldn’t be fair for Nuri to place the blame on his brother when in reality all of that lay straight on Silver.
“You’re blackmailing me,” he pointed out, even though he knew it wouldn’t make a difference. Just because it was him on the other side of Silver’s ill intentions didn’t mean the Emperor would suddenly grow a conscience and change his mind.
“Very astute, as always,” Silver said. “One of the many reasons I can’t afford to let you go. But,” he added before Nuri could speak, “I understand how these things work. Games aren’t any fun unless there are stakes.”
If he continued to refuse to play, the Emperor would take it out on Nate.
He had good enough reason to as well, considering how Nate had laid hands on him like an idiot.
While he could appreciate that his brother had been worried about him, there was still no excuse for physically accosting an Imperial, let alone the actual emperor.
“How did Nate get in here?” Nuri had heard Falc mention his brother had been on the list, but he wanted confirmation. It seemed odd that his siblings would have been given all access to the mansion, a place Neve had never been and Nate had only been the once, years ago when he’d still been a kid.
“Your siblings names have been on the list since I took the throne,” Silver told him.
“If I wasn’t here to grant their clearance, I didn’t want them having to wait in the cold.
I assumed, and rightly so if this is any indicator, that they’d take after you and make split-second decisions based on emotion.
No doubt that’s what drove Nate to barge in here as though he owned the place. ”
If Silver had moved to the Imperial Palace where the emperor was meant to reside, this wouldn’t have happened.
Even though security was strict at the mansion, if someone’s name was on the list they were to be treated as a royal guest. That must have been how Nate had made it up here so quickly, before Falc could be properly alerted to his presence and stop him from entering the Emperor’s bedroom unannounced.
This might not be the palace, but that was still a major offense worthy of jail time if not worse. On top of that, there were witnesses who’d seen the way Nate had yelled and reacted to Silver…
Even if they were given a proper case, Nate didn’t stand a chance.
“What’s done is done.” Silver tapped his fingers beneath Nuri’s chin until he had his undivided attention once more. “All that’s left is damage control. Your specialty.”
He swallowed the lump in his throat and clenched his fists in his lap. “What’s the game?”
They’d done this plenty of times in the past. In high school and in college mostly. It’d been Nuri’s idea in the beginning, a means to teach Silver to control his chaotic nature by adding an element of challenge to the mix. They’d played all sorts of games for all sorts of reasons.
Cards once in an attempt to get Silver to apologize to a classmate he’d run over with his hoverbike—Nuri had won, and the apology had been delivered.
A popular boardgame to decide whether Nuri would spend summer vacation with Silver in the tropics, or if he’d be given at least a week with his siblings at home.
Sometimes, when they’d been bored, they’d even played for mundane things like deciding on what to have for dinner.
But it’d been a long time since those days. So long, in fact, that Nuri had honestly almost forgotten.
“Dice?” Silver suggested. “We’ll use your N.I.M.—I’m having it fixed as we speak—to roll for us.”
“All right.” It was a fairly simple game, so at least there was that. Though, Nuri had a sinking suspicion that was by design. The terms were where the complications would ensue. “What are we playing for?”
“You, for your release from my employment. If you win, I’ll accept your letter of resignation.”
Nuri searched his gaze, but there were no signs he was bluffing. “And if I lose?”
“You give me whatever I want.” Silver’s hand slipped across his jaw to the base of his skull, fingers tangling in the short strands of hair there. He dug them in, gripping him tightly, and with a single tug, yanked Nuri onto his knees before him.
Nuri sucked in a breath, his face now inches from Silver’s where he stood bent over him. Another fuzzy memory from the afternoon flickered through his mind, vanishing before he could get a real hold of it.
“I won’t rescind my resignation,” his voice only slightly shook, and he hoped it wasn’t noticeable.
“Not right away,” Silver agreed, only to have Nuri stand his ground.
“Not ever.”
“Come now, Narek,” he chided, “I’m going all in, which means you have to as well. It’s only fair.”
If he wanted a chance, he had to be willing to give up on quitting, but that would defeat the purpose…
“You’re acting like you have a choice, pet,” Silver said, “you do not.”
Nuri couldn’t help the shiver that raced through him at the suggestive nickname. “Don’t call me that.”
“I’ll call you whatever I like.” He lowered into a crouch, his knees hovering at either side of Nuri, trapping him even further.
“This is the only chance I’ll give you. You play and win, you get your resignation.
You play and lose, and you’ll spread those legs for me like you did earlier. Any other questions, pet?”
He really shouldn’t have made that comment about Silver never having taken care of him before, clearly that was what was driving him to these lengths now.
Nuri had hit a nerve, even if it was the wrong one, and here he was about to pay the price.
The fact that it was going to be through sex, that sex was something Silver even wanted from him, was shocking, but he didn’t really have the time to pick that aspect of all of this apart.
“How many rounds?” Because there was no way in hell he was going to bank his entire future on a single roll of the dice. He may be stuck—and stupidly aware of the heat wafting off of the Emperor’s strong body, the smell of him…—but he wasn’t a complete idiot.
“A call came in from another of our distributors while you were sleeping,” Silver began.
“The warehouse in Catthus was hit. Fortunately, those stronger security measures you implemented over the week were affective and we were able to put it out without sustaining much loss, but it’s clear now that someone is targeting us. ”
“I still haven’t discovered who it is,” Nuri admitted. There’d been no clues left behind at the first location.
“It shouldn’t take you longer than six weeks,” he decided for him. “That’s when the shareholders gather for their annual meeting to discuss how successful or not they’ve found their CEO this past year. You’re aware how this will look for me if you fail, aren’t you?”
Nuri glared. “If I quit, someone else who is more competent can—”
“Six weeks,” he reiterated firmly. “Six rounds. Each rounds begins the first day of the week.”
“That means if you win, I have to give you a whole week,” Nuri pointed out.
“You’ll give me your time no matter what, Narek,” he said cryptically, but before Nuri could pick that apart and seek out the hidden meaning, continued.
“Do you agree or not? I’m fine with forgetting about this whole thing.
You can return to the office as soon as your ankle is healed, and we can put this mess behind us and pretend like it never happened. ”
“No.”
“To which part?”
Nuri heaved a sigh of frustration. “How long will it be before I recover?”
“The doctor mentioned roughly a week or so. Since you can walk on it,” Silver’s eyes darkened by the memory, “I’d say no longer than six days.”
“Six days and six weeks, huh?”
“Admittedly, it was a random number I came up with on the spot. The doctor’s diagnosis must have been on my mind.”
“And until those six days are up?”
“You’ll remain here.” His eye twitched. “Under my care.”
Nuri was going to regret saying that for the rest of his life.
“My brother?” He couldn’t forget about the most important part. As badly as he wanted to be free of his past, Nuri would do anything to ensure Nate was safe. Honestly, a part of him was confused over why Silver was going through all this trouble of offering a game in the first place.
He had to have known he could leverage Nate’s safety to force Nuri to sign a new employment contract, locking him in for another decade or longer.
So why wasn’t he?
What was Nuri missing?
“So long as you agree to play, he’ll be free to go,” Silver said.
“Unharmed?”
“Of course.”
“Fine.” Nuri didn’t really have a choice and they both knew it. “All I have to do is win once, right?” One time out of six wasn’t bad. It actually put him at an advantage even.
“Why? Want to switch it to best two out of three?”
“No.”
Silver grunted.
“Why are you giving me the advantage?” He’d tried not to ask, partly out of fear he wouldn’t like the answer and partly because he was worried pointing it out might make the Emperor change his mind, but he couldn’t help it. Curiosity gnawed at him.
Silver never did anything for anyone else’s benefit, so why now?
Maybe he didn’t want him to stay on as his secretary after all…That would add proof to Nuri’s earlier assumptions that this was all about pride for him and didn’t have anything to do with Nuri as an individual.
He hated himself a little when that notion made him sad.
“Because,” Silver lowered his head, his mouth coming dangerously close to Nuri’s, the proximity instantly wiping all other thoughts from his head, “when I win, I plan to take and take until you have nothing left. I’m going to devour you, Nuri.
” He planted his forehead against his, smiling when that had Nuri freezing.
“And then the only thought left in that sexy little mind of yours is going to be how badly you want to give.”
Silver pulled away so quickly, Nuri was still trying to process the sudden loss by the time he realized the Emperor was speaking again.
“I own you, Narek.” Silver stared down his nose at him and adjusted the cuffs of his dress shirt. “I’ll always own you. But you’re more than welcome to try and get away, so long as you’re willing to play by my rules in the process.”
Nuri didn’t know what to say to that, so all he managed to do was glower up at him in infuriated silence.
“Get some rest,” he motioned over Nuri’s shoulder at the large bed. “Tomorrow you’ll have to entertain your brother and catch up on all the work you neglected today.”
“I—”
“Work for me unless you win in our little game,” Silver clucked his tongue. “A deal is a deal.” He took a step toward the door and Nuri must have hit his head pretty damn hard in that accident, because he scrambled to his feet to stop him.
“Where are you going?”
Silver cocked his head. “Is that an invitation?”
“This is your room,” he said dumbly. “I can go back to—”
“Stay. My bed is more comfortable and I’ll be just down the hall. Don’t get any ideas, Narek. There’s no escape for you even if I’m not hovering over your bedside twenty-four-seven. Is that clear?”
“Yes,” he replied tightly, because really, he didn’t have any other choice but to go along with it. As per usual. “I understand.”
“Good.” Silver surprised him yet again by returning to place a soft kiss between Nuri’s brow. He cradled his head a moment, seeming like there was something else he wanted to say, but in the end opted to keep it to himself. “Sleep, Nuri. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Nuri stared at the closed door long after Silver had gone, more confused by his emotions now than he’d been when he’d woken a couple of hours ago.