A young man stormed in, pausing the second his eyes landed on the two of them. He was a bit taller than Nuri, a little broader, but with the same dark hair. His was kept tousled and wild, his clothing a causal pair of black jeans and a green V-neck t-shirt that had clearly seen better days. Though they’d only met on a time or two, Silver easily recognized him.
“Nate!” Nuri gasped and pressed against Silver’s chest, trying to get him to move.
Seeing that set something off in the younger Narek, and in a blink, he was by the bed, grabbing onto Silver’s arm and practically tossing him off of his brother. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”
Silver allowed himself to be moved, not wanting to get into a physical altercation with Nuri’s family. He knew how much Nuri’s siblings meant to him and after the mistake he’d already made with canceling his flight, understood that another error where they were concerned might cost him more than he was willing to spend.
They were bound together forever now, sure, but that didn’t mean he wanted to waste years arguing, trying to coax Nuri into forgiving him for other things.
Nuri shot up and wrapped an arm around Nate’s waist, tugging him back when the younger Narek went as though to attack Silver. “Stop it!”
“He was on top of you!” Nate yelled, murder flashing in his eyes, the same ones aimed Silver’s way.
“Majesty!” Falc ran into the room, three guards with him. “I apologize! His name was on the entry list and they let him in without clarifying!”
“And it’s a good thing too!” Nate continued to struggle against Nuri’s hold. “He was about to rape my brother! You disgusting—”
The guards stepped forward and before Silver could wave them off, Nuri saw and reacted.
He shoved Nate to the side with more force than expected, so that Nate practically fell against the end table, and then he dropped to his knees on the ground, bowing low to Silver. His panic was palpable, his gaze swinging between Silver and the guards. “Majesty, please forgive him, he’s worried about me that’s all! He didn’t mean it!”
“What are you doing?” Nate crouched down next to him, trying to pull him up, but one burning glare from Nuri had him letting go and hanging his head like a scolded puppy.
It would have been funny—one second, he was fuming, but just one look from big brother and he was repentant—if notfor the situation they were now in. Nuri was clearly scared Silver would retaliate against Nate, and in truth, he did have reason to be. If it’d been anyone else, Silver would have torn them apart three times over by now. Not to mention…
“Keep your gaze down,” Nuri hissed at Nate when he went to turn back to Silver.
Dutifully, he dropped his eyes to the floor.
“Majesty—” Falc quieted abruptly when Silver held up a hand.
Silver wasn’t above seizing this opportunity and spinning it to his advantage. While his initial reaction to Nate’s appearance was annoyance, he was starting to see how it could benefit him in the end. He turned and noted that all of the guards had their heads dipped low, avoiding looking directly at him.
Only Falc and Nuri were allowed to see him in this form, and now that Nate had, and had brought guards trampling into his bedroom…
His silence must have made Nuri uncomfortable, and it was clear he’d begun to fear the worst when suddenly he was shoving Nate’s face to the floorboard, his hand on the back of his neck. “Forgive my brother, it’s not his fault. I didn’t teach him well enough. It’s my fault. If someone’s to be held responsible it’ll be me.”
Nate tried to argue, but his words were muffled by his current position, and even though he was the larger of the two, when he struggled to right himself, Nuri easily overpowered him, keeping him down.
“He doesn’t seem all that apologetic,” Silver drawled, crossing his arms for good measure. “In the five minutes he’s been in my mansion he’s committed several offenses, at least three of which would typically lead to jail time or worse. The fact that he’s seen me like this—”
“He’s a mechanic,” Nuri said. “If he loses his eyes he can’t work.”
Interesting that he’d gone there, but Silver couldn’t really blame him considering his father had once ordered that exact punishment be done against a servant who’d walked in on him once. The two of them had been in high school at the time, visiting on break, which meant Nuri had been there to witness the whole nasty ordeal. It must have really stuck with him, despite the fact Silver had never doled out such a gruesome punishment himself.
“My what?!” Nate tilted his head against the floor and this time his words were audible, along with the fear in them.
“There’s also the matter of disrespect,” Falc stated in his brisk, no-nonsense tone. “He put hands on his majesty, threatened him, and accused him of the unthinkable.”
“We can clear up that last part easily enough.” Silver waited until Nuri lifted his gaze and met his. The wariness there had him smiling because at least that meant Nuri was becoming less afraid. He’d do whatever it took to ensure Nuri Narek ended up back in his bed, sure, but that didn’t mean he wanted him terrified or thinking ill of him before he got there.
Silver would never harm either of Nuri’s siblings.
But Nuri obviously didn’t know that.
Which meant Nate had inadvertently just handed Silver another card to use. And he was going to start using it right now.
“Tell them, Narek,” he insisted, motioning to the small gathering still standing just within the doorway.
