“Unfortunately, CEO Rein and I were too busy to attend, but I heard it was a great party.”
“It’s nice to hear you’ve been keeping tabs on me.” He took a single, pointed step closer. “I was worried you’d forgotten all about me, Nuri. You know, I still think of that night—”
“It’s good to see you, Mr. Brixton, but you’ve caught me at a bad time. I was just leaving, and I’m in a bit of a rush.”
“Mr. Brixton.” He scowled. “You’re hurting my feelings. We were closer than that, once.”
Nuri forced himself to smile. “That was a long time ago. We’ve grown up now.”
“Ah, so you’re saying you don’t have time to catch up with an old friend. Shooting me down before I even have the chance to ask? I see my cousin’s icy disposition has worn off on you.”
Maybe if they’d met again under different circumstances, Nuri would at least entertain the idea of continuing this conversation, but as it were, he really did have places to be, and with Silver’s mood still poor from the whole warehouse situation, a friendly chat wasn’t worth pissing off the Emperor.
Nuri retreated, placing more space between them, carefully keeping the friendly smile secured all the while. “I really must be going, but it was nice seeing you.”
“I’m on planet for a while,” Romeo said. “I’ll call you. We can schedule something so that next time there’s no excuse foryou to run off. Unless there’s a reason you’re avoiding me on purpose?”
The statement was weighted, meant to stir up old memories that Nuri would prefer remained buried.
They might not share the same last name, but there was no mistaking that Silver and Romeo were of the same bloodline.
Pushy assholes, the lot of them.
“Don’t be absurd,” Nuri forced himself to say, lifting his wrist to press a button on his multi-slate. “I’ve sent you my business card. Feel free to reach out, though, please keep in mind my schedule is packed for the foreseeable future.”
“I bet.” It was impossible to tell what Romeo meant by that, especially when he grinned a second time and stepped away. “Have a good day, Royal Secretary Narek.”
Nuri bowed slightly and tried not to make it obvious he was desperate to get away as he headed down the hall toward the exit. He made it to the back parking lot without further disruption, slipping into his car and flicking on the heating system as fast as he could.
Just as he’d secured his seatbelt, his multi-slate chimed, indicating a received message. Worry that it was from Romeo had him hesitating, but he put that misguided feeling aside and made himself check.
Ackor Hue’s name flicked across the rectangular screen.
* * *
Nuri stood outside the door to Silver’s office, debating whether or not he should report what he’d heard from Ackor.
On the one hand, it was highly unlikely that the information was true. He’d tried everything he could think of to trace whoever had sent the message, but had been unable to find anything. Which meant there was still the possibility that Ackorhad sent it to himself to give him a way out of taking all the blame.
On the other hand…Ackor didn’t exactly seem like the type to think ahead. Was he really smart enough to come up with a plan like that? And if he hadn’t, then was there still a threat out there?
Nuri’s departure date was tomorrow. When he’d contacted his sister this morning to congratulate her on graduating, she’d been a bit cold. It was obvious that she thought he was going to bail on her—which was a fair assumption, considering he’d done that a million and one times since she and their brother had moved two years ago.
Nuri couldn’t miss his ship and disappoint her like that, but he also wouldn’t be able to go if he didn’t report that this whole ordeal with Ackor had been dealt with…
He nibbled on his bottom lip, stressed over what to do. He’d never outwardly lied to Silver before, but…It wasn’t technically a lie, was it? He had handled things with Ackor. The man had signed the forms and deleted the footage off his devices—Nuri had sent someone to double-check that last part and knew for a fact it’d been done.
He’d sent the file to Eli, a member of the Imperial Guard with a background in cybersecurity, who may have more luck with tracing it than he had, so now there was really nothing left for Nuri to do but wait for a reply. And…It wasn’t like he was the only person on Silver’s staff. He had an entire team dedicated to security, which Nuri wasn’t officially a part of. If there was more to this situation with Ackor, they’d be here to handle it even if he was off planet visiting his siblings.
His relationship with his sister would be irreparable if he ditched her again, and for such an important moment of her life. He had to go. No matter what.
Decision made, he pressed the door panel and stepped into the office. He’d brought the documents to their lawyers to make sure everything was in order, and had waited for the confirmation that the video files had been wiped from Ackor’s devices before presenting it to Silver. Now, he set the documents off to the side of the Emperor’s desk, silently waiting to be acknowledged.
As per usual, Silver was deep in thought, staring at his tablet screen. It was a long moment of silence before he finally set it down and blinked up at Nuri.
“Ackor Hue has been handled,” Nuri told him, motioning to the documents. “If you hear from him again, please let me or Meyer know. It’ll be a breach and we can have him arrested immediately.”
Meyer was the main lawyer on Silver’s payroll, one he kept separate from the team used to help with all of the Imperial business. He was an older gentleman the two of them had been working with since before Rien Inc had been created, and he’d helped bail Silver out of a jam on more than one occasion. Knowing that he’d be leaving the Emperor in such capable hands was also another relief to Nuri, helping to bolster the idea he’d made the right decision.
