Chapter 14 #2
Nuri turned to find Silver still watching him, most likely because his sister was practically screaming in his ear, and with a quick bow, he excused himself to the hallway.
As soon as the door to the study was shut tightly behind him, he blew out a breath and dropped down onto one of the two bench seats set in an alcove at the end of the hall.
“I’m sorry. I meant to call you first but things have been a bit hectic,” he said, before recalling what Nate had told him earlier. “I thought you had work until the afternoon?”
“It is the afternoon,” she snapped, before adding, “But I did leave an hour earlier. I couldn’t wait to hear from you. Nate said you’re all right but still…”
“I didn’t mean to worry you.”
“Yeah, well, thanks to the Emperor you didn’t.
I can’t believe I now have to be grateful to him.
I hate that. He explained you were in an accident and that’s why you didn’t make it.
” She grew quiet for a brief moment and then, “He also told me he’d accompany you here as soon as you’re better… Is that true?”
It was the first he was hearing about it, and he sent a frown toward the closed door. For now, it was best to just roll with it and not upset Neve even more than she already was.
“It shouldn’t take me too long to heal,” he found himself saying. “The injuries are minor.”
“Should I come—”
“No,” he said firmly. “You just graduated. It’s bad enough Nate took time off. I’m fine. Really.”
“And I’ll see you soon? Here?” She clearly was on the fence over whether or not she believed that, but like him, was probably thrown by the fact she’d been given that information directly from the Emperor.
As far as Nuri knew, Silver and Neve hadn’t spoken since she’d left the planet, and even before that, he’d certainly never had reason to call her.
“Yeah,” he promised, hoping it was the truth.
Wondering what exactly he was going to have to do for Silver to make sure it was.
“It’s my fault, isn’t it?” Suddenly, Neve sounded on the verge of tears. “If I hadn’t pressured you into coming and gotten mad, you wouldn’t have been in such a rush to make it to the airport and this never would have happened.”
“Don’t say that,” Nuri softened his tone. “It was an accident, and I’m fine. Besides, I’m the one who’s sorry. I broke my promise again. I should have been there for you.”
“I understand,” Neve reassured him, a forlorn sigh broken at the end with a forced laugh. “This time.”
He appreciated her trying to lighten the mood and chuckled himself. “It won’t happen again.”
She snorted.
“Hey, come on. You heard it straight from the Emperor himself. I’m coming.”
“So is he.” It was obvious she could do without that.
“It’ll be worth putting up with him to see me finally, won’t it?
” Nuri teased, grinning when she laughed again.
Footsteps caught his attention and he lifted his head just in time to see the man of topic pull open the study door and step out into the hall.
His smile vanished. “I’ve got to go, but I’ll contact you again later, okay? ”
“Make sure you rest,” Neve ordered. “If he’s working you even when you’re unwell—”
“I’ll take care of myself,” he said, wanting to end the conversation fast, watching as Silver came over and took the empty bench across from him.
“I love you even though I’m such a brat to you, you know that right?” Neve asked.
“I love you, too,” Nuri replied warmly, frowning when Silver noticeably paused with the coffee cup he’d brought along halfway to his mouth. He clicked the communicator cuff on his ear to end the call and tilted his head at the Emperor. “You spoke with my sister.”
“I did.” Silver sipped at his coffee and then slowly placed the cup back onto the saucer held in his other hand, glancing up to meet Nuri’s gaze with a cool expression.
“Why?”
“You were distraught,” he replied nonchalantly. “It was never my intention to sour your relationship with them. After seeing how upset you were, I assumed giving you an alibi was the least I could do. It also seemed it would be more believable coming directly from me. Was I wrong?”
“You’re saying you did it for me?” Nuri found that hard to buy.
“Why the suspicion, Narek?”
“What’s it going to cost?”
“Excuse me?”
“For you to keep your word and allow me to go to Vitality,” Nuri elaborated.
“Have you always thought of me this way and I just never noticed?” He took another drink of coffee, leaning back in his seat.
“Are you saying you don’t want something in return?”
The corner of his mouth tipped up.
“What do I have to do?” He’d known there was a catch.
“Be good for me, Nuri,” Silver surprised him by saying. “Be good, and at the end of the week I’ll take you to Vitality to visit your siblings.”
Wording was everything and that wasn’t lost on Nuri.
Silver was insistent on going with him because he was afraid Nuri wouldn’t return otherwise.
Still, knowing he couldn’t argue those points, especially not right now, without risking making the Emperor change his mind entirely, he latched onto the other hidden meaning in those words.
For the millionth time in the past sixty minutes alone Nuri thought about the scene in the kitchen.
“You mean make it good for you,” he corrected tersely.
“I want you in my bed,” Silver agreed. “You didn’t seem disappointed to be there the other night when you were ruining my sheets and screaming my name.”
“I told you, I—”
“Barely remember,” Silver waved him off, “yes.”
Suddenly, someone cleared their throat and they both turned to find Falc standing a few feet away.
Nuri squeezed his eyes shut, face heating. There was no way the older man hadn’t heard that.
“What is it this time?” Silver asked, not even the least bit embarrassed by being listening in on.
“Mr. Nickel is at Master Narek’s house now and was wondering whether or not he should collect the stack of Digi-folders from his coffee table?” Falc said.
“What?!” Nuri shot to his feet, letting out a pained sound when that immediately put pressure on his injured ankle.
“Sit down, Narek,” Silver demanded, but Nuri shook his head.
“What is this about? Why is Mr. Nickel at my home?”
Nickel was a man under Silver’s employee who acted in a similar capacity as Nuri, only he was given the lowlier assignments, ones that required muscle and grunt work more so than brains and a business understanding.
Which wasn’t to say the man wasn’t smart, he was.
Nickel had graduated top of his class at AU University but for some reason had applied to work for the Imperial family directly after graduation.
Nuri wouldn’t consider them close, but he’d always gotten along with Nickel.
That didn’t mean he wanted him riffling through his personal belongings.
“Since you’ll be staying here for the foreseeable future,” Silver explained, “we needed someone to collect all of the work items you left at your apartment. Don’t worry, he’s under strict instructions not to touch anything else.
It’s not like you’ll need any of it anyway, everything you could want will be provided for you here, at home. ”
“Stop saying that,” Nuri snapped. This wasn’t his damn home.
“You’re losing hold of your temper again, Narek,” Silver warned. “What did we just discuss?”
“Majesty,” Falc drew their attention back his way before a full-blown argument could happen, “The folders?”
“Yes,” Nuri answered, with a bit more attitude than was necessary considering Falc was only trying to do his job, “bring them.”
“Very well, Master Narek.” Falc left, his retreating steps echoing throughout the wide halls and then down the stairs.
“You keep crossing lines,” Nuri said the moment they were alone again.
“It seems so.” Silver sighed. “If you were more amicable, there would be no need for me to.”
“Remember how in that video Ackor Hue told you no and you continued anyway?” Nuri reminded him. “And remember how I told you that made what you did wrong in the eyes of society? No matter what your excuses are, sir, forcing someone to bend to your will isn’t acceptable.”
“Isn’t socially acceptable,” Silver corrected without skipping a beat. “You’re forgetting I set the rules on this planet.”
“What is it you want from me exactly?” Nuri switched angles, used to having to navigate conversations with Silver when he got like this. As annoyed as he was about Nickel being at his house without his permission, Nuri could acknowledge that Silver really hadn’t meant any malice with the act.
Silver had truly believed he was doing something nice by handling it for Nuri. He didn’t understand what he’d done was overstepping a boundary and invading his personal space. That’s what made getting along with him so difficult, and why most people took his actions and words as pure arrogance.
He was arrogant, but that stemmed from a lack of being able to tell what others considered right and wrong and typically not bothering to even try to.
“I’ve already told you,” Silver began, only to have Nuri shake his head, stopping him.
“Do you want to just have sex with me, or do you want me to be good?”
“Ah, so you’re admitting you knew I wasn’t actually referring to in the bedroom after all.”
“Sir.”
“Can’t I want both?”
“That’s your prerogative,” even if Nuri didn’t know why that was, “but if that’s your goal, you’re going about it the wrong way. You can’t force something like this. Either I’ll want to be here with you or I won’t.”
Silver cocked his head. “If I don’t make it impossible for you not to stay, you’ll go the first chance you get. Don’t think I’m unaware of that fact, Narek, you’ll only piss me off.”
“We have an agreement.”
“Which I also had to corner you into.”
Nuri blew out a breath and tried again. “If you went back into the study right now and found Marta from the office collecting your things, what would you do?”
“Have her fired and arrested,” Silver said.
“Even if she told you that I was the one who sent her there?”
“I don’t see—” Silver paused and glanced away.
“And if you had an important meeting with the CEO of Hyper and you made it all the way to the airport only to find out I’d canceled your ticket, how would you react?
” Hyper was one of their largest competitors and was located on the other side of the planet.
They didn’t meet often, but when they did, it was always with something important on the line.
“You’ve made your point, Narek.”
“I’m not sure I have,” he stated. “We have an arrangement, a deal, and we haven’t even played a single round yet. I’ll honor the terms that were set. Being good for you wasn’t one of them.”
“I didn’t think it needed to be,” Silver admitted, “since you’ve always been that way for me.”
“That was before you almost destroyed my relationship with my siblings and turned me into a prisoner,” Nuri said.
“I’ve apologized for the first and tried my best to make amends,” he pointed out.
“As for the second, I have no regrets. If that upsets you, I’m sorry for it, but that won’t change my stance on the matter.
I want you with me, Nuri. If I have to chain you to my side in order to make that happen, I will do so.
Shamelessly. Without remorse. However,” he tapped his fingers on the armrest and nodded a few times, “I do see what you’re trying to tell me.
I won’t release you from our agreement, but if I promise to try harder not to cross those other boundaries of yours, to not…
force your hand anywhere other than in the bedroom, will that satisfy you? ”
Honestly, Nuri was too shocked to respond right away, though he did his best to hide that fact. He’d never heard Silver be so forthright before, and the fact there’d also been an apology thrown in there for good measure…
“I still don’t understand why you’re doing all of this,” he admitted, “however…yes, that will do. For now.”
“I’ll have Nickel deliver your things directly to you,” Silver said. “You can sort them as you wish. I do have one other thing to confess, since it seems pertinent I do so now instead of waiting, lest you get the wrong idea and think I broke this newly formed accordance.”
“What’s that?” Nuri braced himself.
“I called you out of the office all week,” he told him.
“But that can change. I’ll assess your health later tonight and decide whether or not we should work from home tomorrow as well.
Obviously, I’ll now leave that decision in your hands.
But,” his eyes darkened slightly, “you have to be honest, Narek. Even if you don’t like being here, if you’re in pain that’s not a good enough reason to force yourself to go into the office. ”
There was no real reason to argue with that, but Nuri found himself pushing anyway.
“We’re playing the first game tonight, aren’t we?” he asked. “I might end up winning and not having to work for you come tomorrow at all.”
Silver’s eyes narrowed. “That won’t happen.”
“How do you know?” They were using his N.I.M. to roll and the odds were split fifty-fifty.
Slowly, Silver rose from the bench, staring down at him all the while. “You’re mine, Nuri.”
“That may be,” he said, “For now. I have three chances to change that.”
Silver opened his mouth but then closed it once more. After a moment he finally motioned toward the study. “Let’s get back to work. The sooner we’re done for the day the sooner I can teach you whose cock you’re going to worship for the rest of your life.”
Nuri sputtered, shocked by the vulgarity of that statement, but Silver had already turned away, leaving him with no other choice but to follow.