Page 24 of Wear It Like a Crown

Leo helped Joshua clean up the table before saying his goodbyes, leaving Joshua sprawled on the outdoor bed, quiet and withdrawn, still poring over the list of pros and cons. There was a distinct chance it was the last Leo would see of him.

Jesus Christ, he’d spent several hours alone with Joshua—in Joshua’sflat, no less. Leo’s younger self would have had a heart attack.

Well, thank God he wasn’t the smitten teenager anymore. These days, he was able to talk to Joshua like an adult, like anequal, and he was able to let things go without obsessing over whether he’d ever hear from Joshua again. Maybe he would, maybe he wouldn’t. If Joshua decided to come out, Leo hoped that James’ team would be in on the action.

That was a big if. Leo wasn’t holding his breath.

It was just past noon by the time he made it to the office. When he tried to duck past Nate’s open door, his attempt to sneak past was foiled by Nate spinning his chair around. Nate’s grin was huge.

“I hear someone’s been fraternising with princes.”

Why did Leo even try? All he’d told James was that something had come up and he’d be late to the office, but Nate had probably tracked Leo’s every move via GPS and security cameras. With a sigh, Leo leaned his hip against the doorframe and crossed his arms. “There’s a thing called privacy, you know?”

“It was accidental,” Nate said immediately. At least he looked faintly contrite.

“How can youaccidentallytap my phone?” Leo asked. “Or whatever it is that you did.”

“I didn’t tap yours. I tapped Johnson’s. Guy made a stop at Joshua’s flat, must have dropped something off, and I was scrolling through some footage when Joshua popped up.” Nate waggled his brows. “About forty minutes before you did.”

Wait, Joshua had spent the night somewhere else? With someone else?

That wasn’t actually the issue at hand, and also none of Leo’s goddamn business. The rest of what Nate had said was though, and Leo straightened. “What do you mean, Johnson dropped something off? Did you check what it is? What if it’s?—”

“I sent Carole,” Nate cut him off, “since I didn’t spot you there until after. I thought, you know, it’d be best if we didn’t trouble the Prince unless we had to.”

“He’s a fully functional person, you know.” Exhaling, Leo crossed the floor and plopped into the chair in front of Nate’s desk. “As in, capable of rational thought and processing information. No need to coddle him.”

“Is that so?” Nate twisted it into something suggestive. “Funny how you couldn’t stand him just a day ago.”

“It wasn’t personal,” Leo said. The protest sounded weak even to his own ears, and Nate’s snort proved that he agreed.

“In that case…” Nate ducked down to fish something out of a drawer, then slid a small parcel towards Leo, barely larger than a letter. “How aboutyoufill Joshua in, mate? Turns out it was an apology, also a USB stick with another copy of the video. If we’re lucky, it’s the last one.”

“An apology?” Leo reached for the parcel and turned it over in his hands, frowning. “That’s not good enough. I think the guy deserves much worse than just having his license revoked.”

“He’s left the country.”

“He what?”

Nate shrugged. “He went to Heathrow right after stopping by Joshua’s place, destination San Francisco. James said to let him go, so I did. Might be better for everyone involved, don’t you think?”

“I suppose it is.” Shaking his head, Leo rose from the chair but was stopped by Nate’s question.

“So what was it you and Prince Joshua had to talk about in such detail? Pretty long conversation for two literal strangers, mate.”

“Surprised you didn’t hack my phone to listen in,” Leo said. At the flash of hurt in Nate’s eyes, Leo sat back down and gave him a small smile. “Sorry, that was… I’m just a little out of it, is all. He’s thinking about coming out, wanted an outsider’s opinion.”

“And he asked you?”

“Harsh.”

“It’s just…” Nate lifted a shoulder. “You guys got off to such a bad start, I’m surprised he was able to look past that. Speaks in his favour, doesn’t it?”

Nate had a point. Leo hesitated before he replied. “To be honest, it’s not like he had much of a choice. His friends are too close to be impartial, and I take it he doesn’t know a lot of gay men. Especially not gay men who know about him. We both saw his list.”

“The communications dude is gay.”

“I’m not going to ask how you know that,” Leo told him.