Page 143 of My Dark Horse Prince

When I wake up this time, my head isn’t pounding. My mouth is dry, and my eyes feel exhausted by the light, but the first person I see is Grigoriy, and he’s smiling.

“Is it fine?” I ask.

“He said it was a success. He thinks you’ll walk again.”

“Walk?” My voice sounds like the croak of a frog.

“Isn’t that great?” Kristiana asks.

“I guess?” I try to sit up.

Aleksandr presses me back down. “This is going to hurt a bit,” he says.

And then I’m nearly drowning in an ocean of pain. My leg feels like hot pokers are being driven into it from all angles. My chest feels as if a thousand-pound plate is pressing against it. My entire body bows outward, like it’s being pulled by a million iron cords.

But then it finally stops, and I collapse in the middle of the hospital bed. “Next time,” I croak. “I want to wait a few days.”

“It’s not as effective if you wait.” Grigoriy’s huge hand strokes my hair.

A few months ago, my mom was with my stepdad. My friend had lost her farm and was AWOL. I was doomed to a wheelchair, and I hadn’t ridden in over a decade.

Now I’ve won a World Cup qualifier. I’ve got a boyfriend, and I have a best friend at my side.

“I’m so relieved you’re okay,” I say.

“Me?” Grigoriy asks.

“No,” I say. “Kristiana. If you’re here, fine, how did you get them to release me?”

Grigoriy lifts one eyebrow as he meets Aleksandr’s eyes.

Kristiana tilts her head. “What are you talking about?”

Oh, no.

This time, I do struggle until I sit up. “Where’s Adriana?”

Kristiana blinks. “I don’t know. Where should she be?”

“I called her,” I say. “I called her and told her where they wanted you to go. I told them I was calling you. I wanted her to warn you. Kris, they were obsessed with you.”

Kris frowns.

Grigoriy freezes.

“They have my sister,” I say. “She must have pretended to be you.”

“The question is, why did they want her, and have they figured out it’s not her yet?”

“But it wasn’t the guys who had her,” I say. “Not Mikhail and Boris.”

“What?” Aleksandr frowns. “Slow down. You’re not making sense.”

“They were taking orders from someone else.” I collapse back against the bed. “Someone they had saved in their phone as Rukovoditel.”

“The one who controls?” Grigoriy asks.

I nod.

---