PLAYBOY PRINCESS (gxg) ✓

02. Rory Preston

              None of that happened.

              She didn't even have time to scream before her head hit the snow and everything went white.

✫✫✫

              "YOU'VE DONE IT NOW," SIMON SAID. "YOU'VE really, truly outdone yourself."

              "I always do," Rory said.

              She had no idea where she was. A hospital bed. An IV digging into her wrist. A bracelet with her name. Lana Stevens. No—that wasn't her name.

              Outside, she could hear something.

              What was that? The faintest sound of . . . screaming? 

             "Do you understand how furious the king is going to be?" Simon hissed.

             Rory thought of her father. His stern, severe face. The grey that had peppered his trim beard since Declan's death.

            She shrugged. "Not my problem."

            Now, how to get this damn IV out?

           Rory's fingers tightened over the clear tube as Simon said, "Do you even know what's wrong with you?"

           Everything hurts. 

           Rory shrugged again—and yanked out the IV, gasping at the shock of pain that raced up her wrist. She slipped the thin blankets off her, deliberately ignoring Simon's glare. 

          "You," she panted, "just wait and see. I'm going to get out of here."

          Simon only crossed his arms, his brown skin glowing under the hospital's fluorescent lights. Was that . . . smugness? 

          With another puff, Rory said, "I don't care what my father says. I'm going to—"

          It took her all of two seconds to roll out of bed.

          It took her less than that to collapse.

          And the pain—the burning, searing, crackling pain.

          It was coming from everywhere, but she could feel it most in her leg. Her leg. And her stomach turned as she remembered: the angle of her knee as she collided. The snap of bone against the tree.

          She was going to throw up. She was going to faint.

          She was going to—

          The screaming erupted. And she could hear it now for what it was: cheering. Shouting. Excitement. Flashing lights and the rapid-fire click of several cameras at once.

          Paparazzi. The paparazzi were outside.

          Rory looked up, at the nurse who had just entered the room. With a soft click, she shut the door behind her, and the noise faded.