“Let’s go in,” Sanyu said, a frown on his face as he pulled the door open. The children crowded toward them, ignoring their therapists as they moved toward the door.

Johan sat down on a chair so he was closer to eye level with the children. This was one thing he didn’t have to worry about faking. A bold little girl with two afro puffs walked up to him.

“Are you from Liechtienbourg?” she asked.

“Yes,” Johan said. “But I came to visit my friend Sanyu, and he brought me here because he said you were the coolest people in Njaza.”

The girl crossed her arms. “My mother says never to trust a Liechtienbourger because they’ll steal your land from you while handing you a lollipop.”

Sanyu laughed and Johan grinned while patting at his pockets.

“Your mother is very smart. I ran out of lollipops, though, so your land is safe.” He waggled his fingers to show empty hands and the girl smiled.

Nya came and knelt beside him. “What’s your name?” she asked the girl.

“Angela. And yours is Nya.” Angela patted Nya’s leg. “We saw it on the news. They say that you will be a princess!”

“She’d make a very beautiful princess, don’t you think?” Johan cut in, seeing Nya’s surprise and hesitation.

“Yes!” Angela cried out. Nya settled on the ground beside him and they passed the next half hour that way, playing with the children, before being escorted to visit with other older patients and to talk with hospital staff.

At the end of the long day, they shared dinner together.

Shanti bowed her head after everyone had been seated. “I hope everyone enjoys the selection. I cooked it myself to honor both the newfound relationship forming between Liechtienbourg and Njaza, and to welcome the sister of my land and to . . . congratulate her.”

“Super,” Johan said, keeping his tone from being overly warm. “We appreciate your kindness and your hospitality.”

“Yes,” Nya added. “Oh, you made goat stew! Thank you!”

“Thank you, Wife,” Sanyu said, but as he lifted a spoon to taste, one of the aides behind his chair, who had followed him everywhere throughout the day, stepped forward.

“Taste test, Your Highness.”

Sanyu grudgingly held out the spoon. The man sipped at the broth, spit it into a napkin, and shook his head. Another aide surged from behind him to pull the plate away. “It does not meet royal standards. The meal from the royal chef will be brought out.”

Sanyu sighed, and Shanti placed her own fork down.

“Well, I think it’s delicious,” Nya said brusquely. “And I bet you worked very hard, Shanti. Thank you.”

She shot Sanyu a pointed look.

“Yes, Wife. Thank you,” Sanyu said in his gravelly voice.

Shanti nodded, but kept her gaze down as she excused herself from the table.

Sanyu continued the conversation smoothly, and Johan went along with it as they discussed other possible ventures Sanyu had planned. Sanyu couldn’t hide how he glanced at the empty seat, and Johan felt a bit of pity for the man.

Love really could be terrible. Good thing he was an expert at avoiding it.

Chapter 10

The bedroom prepared for Nya and Johan was luxurious bordering on excessive, but then Sanyu’s father had been very into visual displays of power. He hadn’t started charities for children and pressed for help reentering the national stage in order to gain allies and help shore up his country’s infrastructure, as Sanyu had discussed over dinner.

As Johan sprawled on the bed, large enough to hold a football scrimmage on, he was dismayed to find that he might actually be growing to like Sanyu. He was really going to have to stop this liking people business.

Nya came out from the shower, sporting a plush-looking bathrobe that was much too large and threatened to slip off her shoulders. Johan didn’t want it to—if he was given the chance to see her body, he wanted it to be her decision. The robe, not caring about what Johan wanted, suddenly slid down, revealing the thin spaghetti strap of her nightgown and the smooth curve of her shoulder.

“Fuck,” he muttered.

“What?” she asked.

“Druk. A Himalayan kingdom and Njaza’s main trade partner,” he said. “Are you glad you got to see your friend?”

She stretched out on the other end of the much too large bed. She wasn’t even within arm’s reach, which was perhaps why she had flopped down without trepidation. That and she was probably exhausted.

All of this had started with sharing a bed, on the private jet, and an accidental cuddle. When she’d listed the scope of their relationship, cuddling hadn’t been included, which was disappointing but probably for the best.

“Shanti? We weren’t friends before, though I hope we are now. I didn’t have any, really, and I don’t think she did either. All I know of her is that her family was determined that she would marry royalty and she spent most of her life training to be the perfect political wife.” Nya sighed. “That, and the fact that Ledi threw up on her during her illness.”

“Hmm.” Shanti had seemed more like the perfect Stepford wife, but he considered that he might be misunderstanding some cultural aspect of her behavior.

“She’s miserable,” Nya said.