Wilted | The King Series #1

1 | green apples and crowded bars

R O S A L I A

Oh, the rage she felt as she sat in the blue sports car with the second, third, and fourth-most people she wished didn't exist in the world. Her arms and legs were tied up and a bright green apple shoved into her mouth to stop the onslaught of as many curse words she could muster.

'They knew she hated green apples.'

The cyan blue numbers on the car dashboard read 12:15 and all she could see outside was darkness. Rosalia's brain couldn't stop picturing a woman with long hair, dressed in a white dress, jumping onto the road and other worse scenarios.

It did not seem to bother the three other men.

'I bet they sleep with their feet out of the blankets.'

Carter sat next to her in the back of the blue sports car, his large arm placed around her shoulders as he munched on another apple with a smug smirk on his face.

Rosalia glared at him and jabbed her elbow into his ribs as hard as she could, causing him to spit out the chunk of the apple he had just broken.

"You bitch, do you want to fucking die?" Dion turned his head to look at Carter from the driver's seat, sneering at him.

Carter pointed at Rosalia with his finger and his mouth agape. "She's the one who jabbed me!"

Dion took a side-glance at her before focusing on the road. His hands clenched around the steering wheel, his knuckles turning paper-white. "Spit in my car one more fucking time Carter, and I will strand you here."

The whole while, Hayden stared out the window. He hadn't even bothered sparing her a second glance after throwing her into the backseat two hours ago.

The tension in the car was suffocating her, the only noise disturbing the silence was the loud whirring of the car engine.

To embarrass her further, her stomach let out a loud grumble, reminding her she hadn't eaten for around 18 hours. Hayden and Dion exchanged side glances with each other.

Carter cleared his throat. "I think we can make a pit-stop, can't we? I need to take a piss anyway."

A few minutes later, their car was parked in front of a gas station convenience store. Carter had run off to the bathroom and Dion walked away to 'feed his baby', leaving her alone with Hayden.

Hayden, being the gentleman, had yanked her out of the car as if she were a rag-doll. Rosalia assumed he was going to tighten her binds, but to her shock, her wrists fell free.

Before she could blink, a small, cold weight sat on her left wrist, and a metal clink rang through the silence of the night.

Confused, she stared at her wrist as Hayden walked ahead of her, tugging her along... through the handcuffs.

"You cannot be trusted yet. This way, you don't have a chance of running." He said as he pushed through the entrance doors of the store.

"I think you carrying handcuffs around is more concerning." She quipped with a dissatisfied tone.

He grabbed a small basket with his left arm, handing it to his right arm, collecting snacks and drinks here and there. Rosalia dragged him to the refrigerators, grabbing three cones of pistachio ice cream.

If they were going to kidnap her and leave no chance of escape, she might as well annoy them as much as she can.

She continued to collect snacks and candy till the basket was filled to the brim as Hayden watched with narrowed eyes.