an airplane was horrible. He couldn’t do it. Not yet.
“We can arrange for proper medical transport,” Angelo’s father pointed out. “You’ll be cared for the entire way.”
Angelo wished any of his doctors were here to argue with his parents over his mobile’s speaker. They had taken out his catheter and were encouraging him to use the room’s bathroom. The pain in moving that small distance had been tremendous, and Yuri had been there, by his side, helping him. The idea of being transported to an airport, then onto a plane, then the flight, then reversing the process once he was home, was not something he thought he could bear, and Angelo had always thought he was a strong person. Apparently not. Apparently all that took to turn him into a useless mass of cranky jelly was one English nobleman with a knife.
Arsehole.
Yuri hadn’t wanted to talk about it, but Lord Dickface wasn’t in prison where he belonged. Instead, his father and fleet of lawyers, according to Yuri, had spirited him away somewhere. He was no longer in Oxford, but that was all.
His father’s angry voice broke into Angelo’s thoughts. “And I’d like you to explain this to me.”
“What? I’m sorry. I missed part of what you said. Explain what?”
Yuri, who’d been silent during the conversation, now looked up and rolled his eyes then stuck out his tongue. It made Angelo laugh a little, which of course hurt like hell.
“This isn’t funny, Angelo. I want you to explain why there are pictures of you and that boy in bed together circulating around the internet.”
Pictures of him and Yuri in bed? How? It was impossible. “Yuri?” he asked. “What’s Dad talking about?”
Making his face fall into serious lines, Yuri brought his mobile over to Angelo. On it was a picture of Yuri lying next to Angelo in the hospital bed. It must have been one of the hospital staff who’d taken it.
“Oh. Well, we’re both dressed. I don’t see what all the fuss is.”
“The fuss is that you’ve humiliated yourself and our entire country.”
“What?” Maybe it was the drugs, but Angelo didn’t follow that at all. “How?”
“You. In a bed. With that boy.” Angelo’s father spat the words out as if they tasted bad.
His mother said, “Now, please calm down. This isn’t the worst thing that could’ve happened.”
“The entire world has seen my son in bed with another man!” the king shouted.
“No. A small part of the entire world saw your son in a hospital bed with his betrothed. No one is outraged besides you,” Yuri said icily.
“And the council,” Angelo’s mother sighed.
“This is an outrage! You’ve allowed that boy to corrupt you. You need to return home!” Angelo’s father was furious and Angelo still wasn’t sure why.
“I don’t understand. As Yuri said, we’re betrothed. We’ve always been betrothed. We’re supposed to get married. Why are you so upset?”
“Because it was supposed to be in name only,” Yuri said with a curl to his lips. “Isn’t that right?” he asked Angelo’s parents. “A long betrothal to secure that much needed trade agreement, then, before we could be married, you’d find a reason to end it, but make it look like my fault.”
Angelo could only stare at Yuri, who was every bit as furious as Angelo’s father. He heard his mother draw in a sharp breath and his father let out a curse.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, boy,” the king growled. “Be silent.”
“You’ve got no power over me,” Yuri shouted back. “How do you think I know this? Philippe told me. Philippe told me everything.”
There was a silence on the other end of the line that was eventually broken by the queen. “I think we should all calm down. We can resume this conversation later when we all have cooler heads. I love you, Angelino. Feel better.”
“Love you, too, Mama,” Angelo rasped out, then disconnected the call. He pierced Yuri with a look. “Explain.”
Yuri looked down at his mobile while he spoke. “They—your parents—never intended for you to marry me. They went along with the plan to secure resources from Mirea.”
Angelo wrinkled his brow. “But we have coffee, tea, chocolate, and most of all, oil. Your country has cows and farmland and—”
“Phosphorus,” Yuri said. “In the mountains. Shortly before we were born, a large phosphorus deposit was found in the mountains near Berthornne.”
“Ah,” Angelo said. “Yes. That.” Unlike Mirea’s fertile soil and abundant farmland, Tanzhir was largely rainforest with poor farmland. It was impossible to feed a country without fertilizer, as