Royally Screwed - Lynn Van Dorn Page 0,11

became worse than painful. It was routine. It was boring. It was a chore to be completed.

“What bug is up Simon’s butt, anyway?” Jacki asked. She forked a bite of tart into her mouth then sighed with nearly orgasmic pleasure.

“Stop that. It’s weird. People are looking. And Simon’s pissed off because I won’t go home with him for Christmas.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. I explained to him how I have to be home for Christmas, so he said he could come with me and then I had to tell him why that was not going to happen.”

Jacki snorted. “Yeah. It’s one thing to sow some wild oats. It’s another to bring the field home to meet your parents.”

“Shut up. But yeah. Simon’s upset with me right now. I’ll make it up to him, though.”

“I just bet you will, you perv.”

“Fuck you. How are you and Melanie doing?”

“We are fantastic,” Jacki said, then proceeded to tell him all about how they’d celebrated Melanie’s birthday.

Yuri listened with half an ear, a little anxious about going back to St Johns and seeing Simon tonight. He’d been so angry at Yuri. Maybe, if he was lucky, he could avoid Simon until after the holidays and by that time his temper would’ve cooled down. He could only hope.

Seeing Angelo for the first time in months was far more torturous than Yuri had expected. Angelo was not one tiny iota less gorgeous and he hadn’t grown any fonder of Yuri in his absence.

Angelo spent the break hiding in his room at the castle as much as possible while Yuri had to put up with function after function while wearing the stiffly embroidered and stiflingly hot Mirean royal suit Philippe had insisted he had to wear. Yuri schmoozed with the representatives of various countries while Angelo hid in his room. Yuri diplomatically dodged questions about when his and Angelo's engagement would be made official while Angelo was probably sexting his girlfriend.

It filled Yuri with rage.

“You’re being rude,” Yuri hissed at him at a party. He and his brothers were ridiculously resplendent in their black silk suits embroidered with the crimson griffons and silver wyverns of the Mirean royal coat of arms. Angelo, on the other hand, wore a long navy silk jacket that was buttoned from the high collar to his waist and fell all the way to his knees. It was embroidered with gold lotuses. He’d paired it with loose gold trousers and pointed juttis. He looked absolutely delicious and that added more fuel to the fire of Yuri's temper.

Angelo looked up. “What?” He sounded annoyed.

“Put that damned mobile away and pretend you’re a prince and not an utter barbarian,” Yuri hissed back at him.

“I’m busy. Go away.”

“This is an important function, you cockwomble. You can sext later.” Where I don't have to see you ignoring me.

Angelo looked up from his mobile and his eyes, the same color as the flowers on his jacket, flashed. “You don’t get to order me around, runt. I’m pretty sure I made that clear years ago.”

Yuri felt his rage want to explode out of him but he couldn’t give vent to it, so he turned on his heel and stomped out of the room before he did something he'd regret. Diplomacy, good manners, and proper behavior be damned; if he didn’t leave, he’d end up causing a scene much worse than Angelo’s rude obsession with his phone.

His eldest brother, Alex, followed him out. Of course. “Yuri,” he said gently. “Are you feeling all right? I can get Philippe down here to help you back to your room.”

No. Yuri was definitely not all right. He currently had a boyfriend he was pretty sure he didn't like much, he hadn’t seen Angelo in months, he was on edge all the time, he felt like Oxford was going to swallow him up whole and not even spit out his bones, and his stupid betrothed, after not seeing him in ages, was ignoring him.

“I’m fine,” Yuri said, not looking at his brother. “I don't need Philippe's help.” Or his pity. Philippe never came out and said anything, but he seemed to sense that there was more going on between Angelo and Yuri than a betrothal neither had chosen. So far, he'd said very little on the subject and Yuri planned on keeping that status quo. “Everything is fine, Alex. Nothing to see here. Go fix someone else. Archie is probably up to something.” That was always a safe assumption.

Alex hugged Yuri from behind, resting his chin on his