He’d known all along that Silver would get tired of sleeping with him eventually, hadn’t he? So what if this sped that process up a bit? They were going to play round two tonight anyway, which meant there was always the chance Nuri would win and earn his freedom from this whole mess.
There was no reason for him to feel worry or doubt. It wasn’t like he’d be losing Silver.
He’d never truly had him from the start.
“Hey, relax. Nuri, it’s okay. I’m not mad. You’re right, I started to panic when I realized you’re a member at a place like this. It means you’re willing to sleep with other people and that…It bothers me. The truth is, I came back to Ignite to ask you to give me a chance. The timing wasn’t right in college, but now—”
“No, I’m sorry I—” The sound of a gunshot cut off the rest of what he’d been about to say.
A bullet zipped past him, slamming into the meat of Brix’s left thigh, instantly taking him to the ground.
Nuri turned, already knowing exactly who he’d find, yet was somehow completely unprepared for the pure fury written across Silver’s face.
Chapter 18:
Silver had half a dozen guards with him, but he was the only one with a weapon out. He kept the blaster up, aimed at his bleeding cousin, his furious gaze latched onto the cursing man even as he reached Nuri’s side and made a grab for him.
“Majesty, I—” A pained sound escaped him when Silver’s grip tightened around his wrist.
“Take out N.I.M.,” Silver’s voice was gruff, and it appeared as though he was barely keeping himself together and could explode at any second.
Having been programmed to follow orders, Nuri’s free hand slipped into his pocket and did as he was told with little hesitation.
“Roll the dice,” Silver growled.
“Sir—”
The blaster went off a second time, another bullet lodging itself into Brix’s right shoulder.
Nuri’s mouth gaped open, unable to pull his gaze off the splatter of fresh blood across the sidewalk.
“Roll.”
He dropped to his knees to place N.I.M. on the ground, the position awkward when Siler refused to release him and kept hold of his arm. “N.I.M.,” his voice shook, “roll the dice.”
Since he still had it on mute, there were no sound effects this time, but the holographic squares appeared, shook, and shot out, landing on their sides.
“Two,” Silver noted, “unlucky for you.” He shook Nuri’s wrist. “Continue.”
“What the hell are you doing?!” Brix swore. “Don’t hurt him! Let him go!”
“How cute. Is your past lover coming to your defense, Narek?” Silver asked, but there was no missing the thread of rage that lingered in his tone and radiated from his pores.
“What?” Nuri shook his head. “No! No, we’ve never—”
Another shot.
Left shoulder this time.
“N.I.M.!” he practically screamed it as Brix cried out. “Roll the dice for the Emperor!”
The hologram repeated, but Nuri couldn’t tear his gaze off of Brix to check the numbers.
“Twelve.” Silver pulled him up by his arm, baring his teeth when Nuri dared to make a sound of pain. “You lose, Narek.”
“Wait!” He grabbed onto the Emperor’s arm when he moved to aim the barrel at Brix’s head. “Don’t! Please! Silver, please! He’ll sell the shares he collected! You can make him! You don’t have tokillhim!”
As soon as he said it, realization hit him like a freight train, and Nuri frantically searched their surroundings. Because Club Spade held such a prestigious and secretive clientele, it was tucked on the outskirts of the city within a copse of dense trees that prevented cars from the highway to see the property. It was also early enough in the day still that the parking lot was fairly empty, with no one standing around to bear witness.
