・Chapter 17

Later Some Hours...

Consciousness returned to Y/N like waves lapping at a shore, each pulse bringing more clarity and, with it, more pain. The first sensation was the throbbing in her head, sharp and insistent, followed by the scratchy feel of bandages against her skin. The room swam into focus slowly, unfamiliar walls, heavy curtains blocking most of the natural light, and a figure sitting at the edge of the bed.

Relief flooded her system at the familiar silhouette, broad shoulders tapering to a slim waist, the powerful frame she'd come to associate with safety. But something felt wrong. The posture was different, more rigid, lacking the fluid grace she knew so well.

"Jungkook?" Her voice came out as a whisper, uncertain and questioning.

The figure turned, and Y/N's world tilted on its axis. Where she expected to find warm, familiar eyes, she instead met the calculated gaze of Kim Taehyung. Terror shot through her like lightning, paralyzing her limbs as she took in the face that had haunted her nightmares. Before she could scream, he moved with predatory speed.

His weight pinned her to the mattress as one hand clamped over her mouth, the pressure firm but not cruel. Up close, she could see the constellation of bruises marring his features, dried blood crusted at the edges, but it did nothing to diminish the lethal beauty of his face. His eyes, a deep brown that could have been warm in another life, held the kind of emptiness that spoke of carefully controlled violence.

A phone rang, breaking the frozen moment. Taehyung answered it with his free hand, his expression carved from marble as he listened. His jaw tightened, the muscle there jumping with tension as he spoke in clipped tones. "That fucking Norris played both sides." A pause, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "Jungkook will survive the attack if he got caught... just keep an eye, don't react to anything."

Y/N couldn't help but study him from this forced proximity, the sharp angle of his jaw clenched in concentration, the absolute stillness of a predator at rest. When those empty eyes suddenly locked with hers, she felt her breath catch in her throat. There was something in that gaze that made her blood run cold, not anger or cruelty, but a possessive intensity that spoke of obsession.

The call ended, and the phone landed somewhere on the bed. Taehyung removed his hand from her mouth, his voice carrying a gentleness that contrasted sharply with the darkness in his eyes. "Are you okay?"

The false concern in his tone sparked something desperate in her chest. "You monster!" She started struggling against him, each movement making her head pound harder. "How dare you! After everything you've done!"

His expression remained unnaturally still as she pushed against his chest, her efforts as effective as trying to move a mountain. His eyes tracked her movements with the focused attention of a snake watching its prey, not a single emotion breaking through his mask.

"When Jungkook finds me," she continued, voice rising with hysteria, "he'll destroy you for this! He'll tear you apart for even thinking-"

"I'm waiting," he cut through her tirade, his voice dropping to that dangerous whisper that made her freeze. Something shifted in his gaze then, a crack in his perfect control revealing something dark and hungry beneath. "I'm waiting to show you exactly how daringly I can touch you, how completely you belong to me. But first..." His eyes traced her face with such intensity it felt like a physical touch. "First, everything needs to fall into place."

"I don't belong to you!" She fought harder, tears of frustration burning in her eyes. "I'm Jungkook's wife! I love him! I would never-"

The change in his expression was subtle but terrifying, a slight narrowing of the eyes, a tightening of his jaw that spoke of barely leashed violence. His hand shot out, covering her mouth again as his eyes screwed shut, as if her words were physical blows he had to endure. She thrashed beneath him, but he remained immovable, his breathing heavy with barely controlled emotion.

When he opened his eyes again, the emptiness was gone, replaced by something so dark and possessive it made her want to shrink away. For several heartbeats, they stayed locked in that tableau, her trembling beneath him, his hand silencing her desperate words, his gaze boring into hers with an intensity that promised both worship and destruction.

Then, as suddenly as he'd pinned her, he was gone. The loss of his weight made her gasp as he strode toward the door, his movements tight with controlled violence. Every line of his body spoke of a predator forcing itself to retreat.

Y/N scrambled off the bed, ignoring the way the room spun. "Wait! Stop!" She reached the door just as it closed, her fists pounding against the solid wood. "Taehyung! Let me out! JUNGKOOK! Please, somebody help me!"

But only silence answered her pleas, broken by the sound of her own ragged breathing and the distant echo of footsteps fading away.

Morning Light...

The door opened with quiet precision, Taehyung's tall frame casting long shadows across the morning light that filtered through heavy curtains. His denim shirt, sleeves rolled to expose powerful forearms, provided a deceptively casual contrast to the coiled tension in his movements as he carried the silver breakfast tray. The bruises from yesterday had deepened into a violent watercolor across his features, but his expression remained carefully neutral as his gaze found Y/N.

She lay on the bed like a broken doll, curled into herself as if trying to hold her pieces together. Her eyes, red-rimmed and swollen from a night of endless tears, stared unseeing at the wall. The pink flush across her cheeks stood stark against her pallor, telling the story of hours spent crying for a freedom now lost.

"You need to eat." He set the tray on the bedside table with deliberate gentleness, each movement measured as if handling explosives. When she didn't respond, didn't even blink, something flickered behind his careful mask.

He retrieved the tray, placing it on the bed before her with slow, precise movements. Still, she remained motionless, as if her spirit had retreated somewhere he couldn't reach. The muscle in his jaw ticked once, the only sign of fracturing control.

"Don't challenge me on this." His voice carried that velvet warning that promised consequences. "Eat."

The command seemed to spark something in her. She sat up suddenly, eyes blazing with a fury that transformed grief into weaponized pain. With one violent sweep of her arm, she sent the tray crashing to the floor. The sound of shattering porcelain echoed like gunshots through the room.

"If you think," her voice trembled with rage, "that you can keep me prisoner and I'll just obey your every command like some broken pet, you're delusional."

Taehyung remained perfectly still, only his eyes tracking her movements as she stood from the bed. She advanced on him, chin raised in defiance despite having to look up to meet his gaze. This close, she could see the careful emptiness in his eyes starting to crack, revealing something dark and hungry beneath.

"It will never happen," she spat, each word a bullet aimed at his composure. "You attacked my family, destroyed my home, and thought what? That I'd suddenly accept you? Fall into your arms grateful for my cage?"

His continued silence only fueled her fury. She moved closer, trembling with barely contained rage. "Why? Why did you do this? Why won't you let me go?" Tears threatened again but she fought them back. "I don't even know if my father and brother are alive! I don't know where Jungkook is, if he's-"

The muscle in his jaw jumped at the mention of that name, but still he said nothing. His silence felt like another kind of violence.

Something snapped inside her. She grabbed his collar, yanking him down to her level with strength born of desperation. "This is all because of you! I was happy! We were happy! Jungkook and I had a life, a future, and you-"

"That wasn't your destiny." His voice cut through her tirade like a blade, soft but immovable. "I am your destiny. Your protector."

She released him with a harsh laugh. "Protector? How can the predator be the protection?" Her eyes raked over him with disgust. "You're a monster. A kidnapper. A-"

He remained silent as she paced like a caged animal, her movements growing more erratic with each step. Her gaze landed on an expensive crystal vase, and before he could move, she hurled it against the wall. It exploded in a shower of glittering shards, one piece embedding itself in Taehyung's shoulder. Blood bloomed against denim, but he didn't even flinch.

"I want Jungkook!" The words tore from her throat raw and desperate. "He almost saved me last night! He was there, he was so close before you-"

"It wasn't him." Taehyung's voice carried that dangerous softness again. Blood dripped slowly from his shoulder, ignored. "The attack wasn't mine. Someone else wanted you. I was the one who saved you."

"No!" She shook her head violently, backing away. "No, you're lying! Jungkook, he-" Her voice broke on his name. "I need to see him! Please, just let me go to him! Please-"

The careful control in his expression shattered. In two fluid strides, he crossed the space between them, catching her wrist and spinning her until her back hit the wall. Before she could defend herself, his body pressed against hers, caging her with his presence. His free hand gripped her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.

"Don't." The word ghosted across her skin like a threat. "Don't say his name again." His grip tightened fractionally, precisely measured pain. "And the next time you decide to test my patience, remember, i can be much less gentle."

Tears spilled down her cheeks as she glared up at him, defiant even in her fear. He studied her face for a long moment, something raw and hungry warring with his control. Then he released her abruptly, stepping back as if it physically pained him to do so.

"I'm leaving." His voice had returned to that careful neutrality, though strain showed at the edges. "Someone will bring fresh food. Eat it yourself, or I'll show you exactly how creative I can be about feeding you."

The door closed behind him with quiet finality. Y/N slid down the wall, her legs giving out as sobs wracked her body. "Jungkook," she whispered his name like a prayer, over and over, until the word became meaningless in its desperation.

In the hallway, Taehyung paused, his body pressed against the cool wood of the door as blood continued to drip steadily from his shoulder. Her muffled cries filtered through the barrier between them, each one hitting him like physical blows. The muscle in his jaw jumped once, twice, before he forced himself to walk away, leaving bloody fingerprints on the doorframe like accusations.

At The Norris Mansion...

Glass shattered against the wall, crystal shards raining down like deadly snow. Jungkook's fist connected with the mahogany desk, splintering wood beneath his knuckles, but the physical pain did nothing to quell the inferno raging inside him. Every heartbeat without Y/N felt like torture, each second stretching into an eternity of helpless fury.

"Find her!" His roar echoed through the mansion's halls, making even hardened guards flinch. "I want every camera, every contact, every fucking shadow searched!" Another vase met its demise, porcelain dust settling on Italian leather shoes. "How?" The word tore from his throat, raw and devastating. "How did they get past everything?"

The security room's monitors cast blue shadows across his face as he stalked the mansion like a caged predator. Blood dripped steadily from his split knuckles, marking his path with crimson droplets, but he barely noticed. His mind replayed the attack in endless loops, the gunfire, Y/N's scream, the moment she disappeared into the chaos.

"Boss." His head of security appeared in the doorway, face grave. "Alexander Norris is awake."

Jungkook went perfectly still, that dangerous stillness that preceded violence. "The cars. Now."

Minutes later, the convoy of black vehicles cut through city streets like arrows, every red light ignored, every traffic law dismissed. Jungkook's fingers drummed against his knee with mechanical precision, the only outward sign of the storm raging within.

The hospital corridors parted before them like the Red Sea, nurses and doctors pressing themselves against walls as Jungkook strode past, flanked by armed men. Outside Alexander's room, he paused for just a moment, adjusting his cufflinks with deadly calm.

The door opened silently. Alexander lay propped against white pillows, various tubes and monitors creating a symphony of beeps. Before anyone could react, Jungkook's weapon appeared in his hand, a single shot shattering the glucose drip above the bed.

Alexander's eyes snapped open as glass and liquid rained down. "What-"

"Who were they?" Jungkook's voice carried that velvet softness that promised violence. He moved to the bedside with predatory grace, ignoring the chaos his entrance had caused. "Those weren't Russians. Who attacked your mansion?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." Alexander's voice trembled slightly, his eyes darting to the armed guards now blocking the doorway.

The change in Jungkook was instantaneous. His hand shot out, wrapping around Alexander's throat with precisely controlled pressure. "Don't." The word fell between them like a death sentence. "Don't lie to me. Not now. Not when they have her."

"Please," Alexander gasped, "I swear, I don't-"

"Your mansion." Jungkook's grip tightened fractionally. "Your home. Your security. And you expect me to believe you have no idea who would dare attack the mighty Norris family?" His laugh held no humor. "Try again."

"Son, please-"

"I am not your son!" The words exploded from him as his control finally cracked. "Your daughter, my wife, is out there somewhere because you let them in! Because you-" He cut himself off, chest heaving with barely contained rage.

"I didn't..." Alexander's voice broke. "I didn't know they would take her. I thought-"

"Thought what?" Jungkook's free hand slammed into the wall beside Alexander's head, cracking plaster. "That they just wanted a friendly chat? That they would spare your precious family name?" His eyes burned with something beyond fury. "Every second she's gone is another second I get closer to burning this whole city to the ground. And you..." He leaned closer, voice dropping to that dangerous whisper. "You're going to help me find her, or I swear to God, the next time we meet, I won't stop myself from killing you."

Alexander stared up at him, real fear flickering in his eyes. "You wouldn't! she's my daughter..."

"And she's my everything." The raw honesty in those words seemed to surprise them both. Jungkook released him abruptly, stepping back as if the contact burned. "You have one hour. One hour to remember every detail about last night, every whisper, every shadow." His hand moved to his weapon again. "Because if I find out you're hiding anything from me..." He left the threat unfinished, but its weight settled over the room like frost.

At the doorway, he paused, glancing back over his shoulder. "And Alexander?" His voice carried that deadly calm again. "The only reason you're still breathing is because she loves you. Don't make me forget that fact."

The door closed behind him with quiet finality, leaving Alexander alone with the realization that he'd underestimated just how far Jungkook would go to get Y/N back, and just how dangerous he could be when pushed to his limits.