He spun on his heels, intent on making a quick exit, but giving his back to the Emperor proved a costly mistake.
The breath whooshed out of him when he was yanked back, and in a flash, he found himself up against the wall, Silver’s larger form pinning him in place. One hand settled around his throat, lightly squeezing, only easing up when Nuri’s shocked gaze lifted and met Silver’s furious one.
“You can’t leave me,” the Emperor’s voice was dark, quiet despite the clear threat. “I forbid it. You’ll remain right here, by my side, like you always have.”
Nuri’s mind was struggling to catch up to what was happening. The anger was easy enough to identify, but there was something else there, some other emotion written across Silver’s face. He’d never seen an expression like that on the Emperor before.
“It didn’t have to come to this,” Silver continued. “You momentarily forgetting your place is what brought us here. Get your act together, Narek. You’re the Royal Secretary.MyRoyal Secretary. You don’t get to walk away from me. You don’t get to run off to another planet—”
Mention of Vitality snapped Nuri somewhat out of his stupor, and he forced his arms between them and attempted to shove him away. It was futile, but he didn’t give up.
“Move,” Nuri demanded. “Let me go!”
“You’re seriously still thinking about leaving?” Siler’s hand tightened, cutting off Nuri’s oxygen for a split second, just long enough to get him to cease struggling. “Have you really not figured out what’s going on here? My father tasked you with caring for me. Hegave youto me. Not for a brief period of time. For forever. Your life is mine, and you sure as hell won’t be allowed to spend it on another planet away from me, be it Vitality or any other.”
His body acted without thinking. Nuri kneed Silver between the legs, bolting for the door the second the Emperor emitted a pained sound and faltered.
Silver recovered quickly enough to bellow out his name as he raced through the outer office, practically running by his desk—no, Marta’s desk now—and the pale woman seated there gapping after him.
“Nuri! Get back here!” Silver yelled.
He half expected the Emperor to shut off the elevators, even though that would be an extreme course of action even for him, and Nuri knew logically he didn’t mean nearly that much to the other man, but he took the stairs anyway.
No one stopped him in the parking lot, and he made it into his car, not even risking a glance in the rearview mirror until he was several blocks away from Rein Inc. and the man who up until twenty minutes ago, had been his whole universe.
Now that it was done, the anger was starting to fade, overtaken by a well of grief that threatened to swallow him whole. Fat tears rolled down his cheeks and he furiously wiped them away with his sleeves, clenching his jaw tightly in an attempt to keep himself from completely breaking down and bawling like the pathetic idiot he felt he was.
There was still a laundry list of things he needed to tackle now as well, like calling his sister and explaining why he couldn’t make it—and then figuring out how he was ever going to be able to. He wouldn’t be able to leave the planet until Silver lifted his name from the no-fly list and…After the way he’d just acted, he wouldn’t put it past the Emperor to refuse out of spite.
While he didn’t consider Silver the vengeful sort—because that entailed actually caring about other people and the way they made him feel, which he did not—he certainly wasn’t the type that liked to lose. Having Nuri quit on him? He wouldn’tview that kindly, which Nuri had known even when he’d stormed into that office, and yet…
Silver’s reaction hadn’t been anything like Nuri had anticipated. He was used to getting what he wanted, to people doing as he pleased, sure, but the way he’d thrown Nuri against the wall like that, and the words he’d spoken…It was all too out of character to not leave Nuri shaken.
Maybe he should have waited. Maybe he should have given himself a chance to calm down first, to work through his anger before confronting the most powerful man on the entire planet. If he wanted to, Silver could completely and irrevocably ruin Nuri’s life.
He shook his head at himself and slammed a palm against the steering wheel as he slowed at a stoplight. This was why he hadn’t been able to leave sooner, because the second he even considered it, his thoughts turned against him and placed the blame where it so very logically didn’t belong.
It wasn’t Nuri’s fault that Silver was an asshole. He’d done everything right leading up to his vacation. He’d scheduled ahead, found a replacement for when he was gone, and informed Silver multiple times of his departure so there was no way the other man could forget and be inconvenienced further. Silver may be the emperor, but Nuri was still a regular employee with rights. He was allowed to take time off.
Hell, he couldn’t even recall the last time he’d exercised that right, so caught up in what Silver wanted and needed. He’d neglected himself and his family for far too long, and all in the name of the man who’d never look twice at him unless it was to give him another work-related assignment.
The N.I.M. ball in his pocket was vibrating, letting him know that his multi-slate, which he could also feel in his other jacket pocket, was receiving a vocal communication. With a hiss, he yanked both devices out and tossed them unceremoniouslyinto the back seat, ignoring the way his chest constricted at the sound of them slapping against the tough leather.
He’d always cherished N.I.M. more than he should, attached to it because it’d been a gift from Silver, even knowing that in actuality the emperor had merely been using him as a free guinea pig to test out a new product.
Hadn’t he just made things clear? Confusing as his words had been, one thing was painfully obvious.
Silver thought of him as nothing more than a tool gifted from his late father. He was clinging to Nuri not out of affection or friendship, but because he’d gotten it in his head that Nuri belonged to him.
That Nuri’s sole purpose was to work for him and do his bidding for the rest of his days.
In Silver’s eyes, Nuri wasn’t an employee or a subject, he was property. All those years spent together, studying and building Riem Inc…apparently they’d meant nothing to the Emperor. Nuri had been fooling himself into thinking otherwise. Into believing, even slightly, that there was any sort of bond between them, person to person.
People weren’t people to Silver.
Quitting was a good thing. It would give him the space he desperately needed so that he could finally put his head on straight and get over this childish one-sided crush once and for all. So what if he had to basically implode his own life to do it? It was about time.
It wasn’t like he’d ever even wanted anything from Silver. He hadn’t. He was delusional, clearly, but never bythatmuch. He’d never hoped for a relationship with him, hadn’t fantasized about being his boyfriend or his Royal Consort. In fact, Nuri rejected the very idea. Being Royal Secretary was already too much responsibility for him to bear. It kept him from his family and friends, from those that actually, truly cared for him.
