Not only was his face visible in the picture, but so was his back, which was a mess of welts and thin cuts from Francis’ cane. Then there was another, and another, and another. Yuri’s face was visible in all of them, although he didn’t remember any of them being taken. Had he been drugged, or just so out of it he didn’t notice? Perhaps it had been both.
Yuri called his father back. There was no help for it. “Dad—”
“You will come home, this instant. Your guards already have their instructions. I will not have my son in the presence of such a monster, let alone sleeping next to him. This stops today, Yuri. It’s gone on far longer than it should. I thought you boys were friends. God knows you were always thick as thieves. But I had no idea this was going on. Your mother and I are reasonable people. We accepted your sexuality when you came out and agreed, against our better judgement, to indulge your insistence on being educated so far from home. We allowed that monster into our home and treated him like one of our own. And this was going on the whole time. It’s too much, Yuri.”
“I know the pictures are embarrassing, Dad, but—”
“I don’t care about what the world thinks. Or at least I care far less than I do about the safety of my son. You will return home at once.”
“But it wasn’t—”
“We will discuss this later, when you are back on Mirean soil and we can speak face to face.” Again, the king hung up on him.
Yuri looked up from his mobile and saw Jacki and Philippe walking toward him with Malcom close behind them.
Jacki enveloped him into a huge hug. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “Those pictures. I can’t believe he did it.”
“Because he didn’t,” Philippe said in a firm yet calm voice.
Malcom remained quiet.
Yuri began to wonder if he was in a dream. Nothing seemed to make sense. “Who didn’t do what?”
“The pictures.” Jacki eyes were very round. “I can’t believe it was Angelo. It just can’t be him.”
“Angelo? What the bloody hell are you talking about?”
Philippe cleared his throat then spoke. “There are… compromising pictures of your highness that have been leaked to the media. The story circulating with them is that they were taken by Angelo and then spread around amongst his friends.”
Yuri snorted. “What friends? He has girls he shags and me.”
“He is close to Roger, on his security team. But I can’t imagine Roger distributing pictures like those. Besides, all of the security are bound by NDAs,” Malcom added.
Philippe gave Malcom a pointed look then said, still calmly, “All of this is moot. The pictures were not taken by Prince Angelo, nor were they distributed by him.”
“It was Francis,” Yuri said miserably. “Who else could it be?”
“Lord Dickface,” Jacki agreed. “Of course it’s him. Asshole.”
Yuri leaned his head back until it touched the wall. “Dad thinks Angelo did this and he won’t speak to me about it until I get home. He’s being completely unreasonable and dictatorial.”
“He’s worried about you,” Philippe said.
“I don’t want to leave and go home. I can’t leave Angelo. I can’t. What if something happens?”
Jacki drew Yuri into a hug. “I’ll stay and so will Philippe. We’ll make sure he’s all right and knows what’s happening. We’ll call you and give you updates.”
Yuri nodded. “Would you, Philippe?”
The older man nodded slowly. “Of course, your highness. I’ll rejoin you when I may.”
“Your father has sent his private jet for you, your highness,” Malcom said. “The sooner we get you out of sight, the better.”
Yuri looked up and noticed that much of the staff in the corridor were staring at him with looks of interest and speculation on their faces. He thought about going to tell Angelo goodbye, then thought better of it. It would only upset him, and then Angelo would insist on coming with him, his health be damned. Angelo needed to stay here and recuperate. Right now, that was more important than anything else.
Yuri hugged Jacki and then Philippe, which he hadn’t done since he was a young child. “Take care of him for me,” he said.
Jacki nodded and Philippe said, “Of course.”
Yuri turned to Malcom. “Right then. We can go.” But as he walked out of the hospital next to his security guard, trying to avoid eye contact with the people they passed, Yuri felt as if he was being torn in two, and the better part of