Something was definitely wrong, but no matter how much Silver searched Nuri’s expression, he couldn’t figure out what that something was. He seemed more laid back, more relaxed, but also more in control—
The way he treated all of those people Silver set him on. This was Nuri’s business persona, the take-no-shit, leave-no-survivors version that he’d always appreciated watching Nuri turn into.
When it was aimed at other people.
He’d never, not once in the entire history of their relationship, looked at Silver that way.
“What happened?” he asked, instinctually lowering his tone, trying to sound coaxing and calm amidst whatever storm was raging inside of Nuri.
“Nothing.” Nuri’s smile widened.
Fake. So fake.
And calculating.
“Well,” he held up the N.I.M. again, “are we playing or what?”
Seeing that he wouldn’t get answers until they settled this first, Silver exhaled and waved at him, setting his hands on his hips as his frustration threatened to bubble over. “Fine. Yes. Let’s get this over with.”
Nuri hummed in understanding and bent to set the N.I.M. carefully on the floor, then he rested back against the desk, spreading his arms out to grip the edges in a display of sheer casualness that was honestly baffling. “N.I.M., roll the dice, please.”
Silver didn’t even glance at them as they were tossed, keeping his eyes locked on Nuri’s face instead, still searching for any clues to help fill him in on what was going on here. But Nuri was a blank slate, his expression set in a pleasing partial smile that only had the sense of danger building in Silver’s mind.
“Six,” Nuri announced, glancing up at Silver coquettishly before giving his attention back to the device. “N.I.M, roll the dice for the Emperor, please.”
He really didn’t get it. They hadn’t officially made up from their fight, but Silver had hoped after last night, things would be at least a little better. Sex could be a good ice breaker. It’d worked for them in the past.
The dice were cast and Nuri straightened from the desk, but instead of coming to him like Silver assumed, he went to walk right past him.
“Where are you going?” Silver grabbed onto his arm, air catching in his lungs when Nuri turned to him and he noticed the fury in his eyes now. Gone were the faked niceties. There was only anger and disgust now.
“I’m leaving,” despite all of that, Nuri’s voice still came out crisp and clear.
“What are you talking about? You can’t leave.”
“Of course I can,” he disagreed. When Silver continued to stare, that cutting smile returned and he tipped his chin over Silver’s shoulder.
Silver turned to look, eyes dropping down to the holographic dice that were still being projected across the floor. The world seemed to come to a complete stop the second he realized what the numbers on the surface were.
“Snake eyes,” Nuri said. “That means you rolled a two, majesty. I rolled a six. I win.”
“How—” He gasped when Nuri yanked his arm out of his hold.
“How could you have lost?” He spat, losing the cool tone with each and every word until the man left before Silver was practically shaking with pent-up emotion. “It’s a game of chance, isn’t it? It shouldn’t be surprising that you lost when the odds were fifty-fifty. Oh. But they weren’t fifty-fifty, were they?”
He’d found out.
That’s why he was acting differently. That’s why he was so angry. Nuri had found out.
“I can explain.” Not really, but it was the best thing he could come up with.
“Explain?” He laughed, the sound mocking. “Where will you start? Will you begin with how you hacked my N.I.M. andrigged the game from the very beginning? Or will you start further back than that?”
Silver frowned and shook his head, but Nuri didn’t give him a chance to speak.
“How about telling me why you filmed yourself having sex with another man and then played the damn video for me?” Nuri swung an arm out toward the wall where the projection screen was. “Or why you concocted this bullshit story about how he was blackmailing you?”
“Nuri,” he held up a hand, but that was slapped out of the way as well.
