Nuri wouldn’t consider them close, but he’d always gotten along with Nickel.
That didn’t mean he wanted him riffling through his personal belongings.
“Since you’ll be staying here for the foreseeable future,” Silver explained, “we needed someone to collect all of the work items you left at your apartment. Don’t worry, he’s under strict instructions not to touch anything else. It’s not like you’ll need any of it anyway, everything you could want will be provided for you here, at home.”
“Stop saying that,” Nuri snapped. This wasn’t his damn home.
“You’re losing hold of your temper again, Narek,” Silver warned. “What did we just discuss?”
“Majesty,” Falc drew their attention back his way before a full-blown argument could happen, “The folders?”
“Yes,” Nuri answered, with a bit more attitude than was necessary considering Falc was only trying to do his job, “bring them.”
“Very well, Master Narek.” Falc left, his retreating steps echoing throughout the wide halls and then down the stairs.
“You keep crossing lines,” Nuri said the moment they were alone again.
“It seems so.” Silver sighed. “If you were more amicable, there would be no need for me to.”
“Remember how in that video Ackor Hue told you no and you continued anyway?” Nuri reminded him. “And remember how I told you that made what you did wrong in the eyes ofsociety? No matter what your excuses are, sir, forcing someone to bend to your will isn’t acceptable.”
“Isn’t socially acceptable,” Silver corrected without skipping a beat. “You’re forgetting I set the rules on this planet.”
“What is it you want from me exactly?” Nuri switched angles, used to having to navigate conversations with Silver when he got like this. As annoyed as he was about Nickel being at his house without his permission, Nuri could acknowledge that Silver really hadn’t meant any malice with the act.
Silver had truly believed he was doing something nice by handling it for Nuri. He didn’t understand what he’d done was overstepping a boundary and invading his personal space. That’s what made getting along with him so difficult, and why most people took his actions and words as pure arrogance.
Hewasarrogant, but that stemmed from a lack of being able to tell what others considered right and wrong and typically not bothering to even try to.
“I’ve already told you,” Silver began, only to have Nuri shake his head, stopping him.
“Do you want to just have sex with me, or do you want me to be good?”
“Ah, so you’re admitting you knew I wasn’t actually referring to in the bedroom after all.”
“Sir.”
“Can’t I want both?”
“That’s your prerogative,” even if Nuri didn’t know why that was, “but if that’s your goal, you’re going about it the wrong way. You can’t force something like this. Either I’ll want to be here with you or I won’t.”
Silver cocked his head. “If I don’t make it impossible for you not to stay, you’ll go the first chance you get. Don’t think I’m unaware of that fact, Narek, you’ll only piss me off.”
“We have an agreement.”
“Which I also had to corner you into.”
Nuri blew out a breath and tried again. “If you went back into the study right now and found Marta from the office collecting your things, what would you do?”
“Have her fired and arrested,” Silver said.
“Even if she told you that I was the one who sent her there?”
“I don’t see—” Silver paused and glanced away.
“And if you had an important meeting with the CEO of Hyper and you made it all the way to the airport only to find out I’d canceled your ticket, how would you react?” Hyper was one of their largest competitors and was located on the other side of the planet. They didn’t meet often, but when they did, it was always with something important on the line.
“You’ve made your point, Narek.”
