He’d slept with Silver Rien.
“Oh Light.” Nuri covered his face with both hands and barely resisted the urge to scream. Not only had he slept with the Emperor, but he’d also been the one who initiated the whole thing.
As much as he didn’t want to, he forced himself to think, trying to collect all of the pieces. Unfortunately, it seemed like the mixture of meds he’d been on at the time had also stripped him of most of the details. He recalled that he’d asked for it and that he’d believed he was dreaming, knew they’d eventually done it but…The way it’d felt, the things they’d said to one another during…all of that was a blur.
What did that say about him when his first reaction to that was to feel cheated? He’d finally gotten to sleep with the Emperor and he couldn’t even remember it!
He dropped his arms.Whyhad Silver done those things to him? He’d never shown an interest in Nuri before, yet it hadn’t been all that difficult to convince the Emperor to have sex with him, and while he’d been in a vulnerable state at that. There had to be a reason. Silver never did anything that didn’t somehow benefit him and Nuri refused to believe it was because he’d simply wanted to fuck him.
There was no way…
He shook his head, inwardly scolding himself. No. Silver was a master manipulator. Since Nuri had inadvertently shown his hand by coming onto the Emperor, he’d given him the perfect in. He’d slept with him in an attempt to convince Nuri not to quit, he was sure of it. Hadn’t his manipulation of things been the root cause of all of this in the first place? Nuri had quit and run because Silver had put him on the No Fly list.
Placing blame was pointless. What he should be doing was figuring out a way to get out of here before Silver got back and Nuri was forced to confront the things they’d done.
Carefully, he moved to the side of the bed, lowering his feet to the ground before inhaling and attempting to stand. It certainly didn’t feel good when he applied pressure to his ankle, but it could be worse. He’d have to take his time, but he was fairly confident he’d be able to walk on it without the aid of crutches or the like, which was good since a glance around the room proved that no one had bothered to leave him any.
There was no sign of either his multi-slate or N.I.M., which meant he couldn’t call for transportation. Had they been damaged in the crash or had Silver simply confiscated them to cut Nuri off from the outside world?
He felt a cold wave sweep over him and he froze. That was it, wasn’t it?
Silver had slept with him because he’d been trying to get Nuri to stay. He wasn’t above stooping that low. The second Nuri had come onto him, he must have seen it for what it was and seized the upper hand.
Did he think this would be enough to convince Nuri not to quit? It wasn’t. Not only because he could barely remember it, but also because Nuri refused to be manipulated like that. Indignation caused him to bristle. What did Silver take him for? Some horny, easily controlled, weakling? Did he think Nuri wasso sex starved he’d give up everything for the promise of another ride on Imperial cock?
Fat chance.
All these years he’d sacrificed for the Imperial family, for Silver, and for what? To be insulted like this.
Nuri needed to get out of here.
He needed to sever this toxic bond tying them together once and for all. Being banned from intergalactic travel was a problem, but if he could escape and gain access to a multi-slate, he was confident he could find someone who’d be willing to help him. In this line of work, favors were traded all the time, and Nuri was owed by many powerful business men and women in the galaxy.
That was the plan. Get out of the mansion. Find help. Get to Vitality. He’d be with his siblings again. That was where he belonged. Where he should have been all of this time, instead of toiling his life away over some misguided loyalty to a man who treated him like property.
There were still a million spiraling thoughts plaguing him, but if he gave into them now he’d drive himself mad. It was best to hold off and wait until he was in the relative safety of his apartment before he completely broke down. He could manage until then. He had to. He’d go there and get his old multi-slate. Silver was confident he couldn’t go anywhere, so Nuri doubted he’d bother to follow after him right away.
So long as he could slip out of the mansion, he’d be fine.
First, he went to his dresser and pulled out the thickest winter coat he could find, not trusting himself enough to be able to fully change out of the wrinkled pajama set he was in. Once the black material was over him, he limped to the door, easing it open slowly to avoid making as much sound as possible.
It was well into the middle of the night which meant everyone should be fast asleep by now. Sure enough, the hallswere quiet and still, and he slipped out of his room without a sound, relieved when no one immediately appeared to shuffle him back in.
His injuries really mustn’t have been all that serious for Silver to bring him here instead of leaving him in the hospital. Not to mention to do all those things to him like he had—
He stopped himself.
There was no way he was going to stay in the mansion. His days of playing the dutiful soldier were over—even if he’d been second-guessing himself and his decision to leave right up until the very moment that drunk driver had crashed into him. If anything, this whole ordeal proved that he’d made the right choice after all.
This was an unhealthy attachment to the familiar, nothing more. A codependency issue, even, if he really wanted to put a label on it. He’d spent too many years at Silver’s side that cleaning up his messes, protecting him from the press,wantingto remain in that spot no matter how stagnant his life felt, had turned into second nature.
Nuri was going to have to relearn what it meant to be his own person, and that was scary. But it was also necessary. Nate and Neve deserved better from him. They deserved the big brother they’d lost when Nuri had accepted this job from Sij.
Since he didn’t have his multi-slate he was going to have to call for a taxi downstairs using the house communicator. Fortunately, it was located right at the foot of the stairs, in the foyer.
It was going to cost him a pretty penny to order a cab at this time of night, but he figured he’d worry about finances later. Now that he was unemployed, it was certainly something he was going to have to carefully deconstruct. He may even have to do away with a few unnecessary things—not that he’d ever hadmuch time for anything like streaming subscriptions, what with how busy Silver always kept him.
The original plan from last year had included buying his own home on Vitality so as not to infringe on his siblings new, adult lives, but he might have to impose for a bit after all. The house he’d purchased for them had enough space, so it wouldn’t be a problem, and they’d probably be glad to have him living with them again anyway.
