"It's almost as if you've been expecting me, " Jacob muses, staring down at all of us with disdainful eyes. "How utterly droll."

Of course, none of us share that sentiment. Taehyung watches Jacob with wrathful eyes, even as Yoongi continues to smirk confidently.

But Jacob pays it no mind, and why would he? He's always gotten his way before.

"If you were truly expecting me, then you must know why I'm here," Jacob says, eyes finally wandering over to where I am sitting.

The sight of my hand enveloped by Taehyung's causes a fire to erupt behind his eyes, frightening me immensely. But Tae, who immediately notices the way that my body tenses in fear, only squeezes my hand comfortingly. No matter how torrid the gaze cast upon us is, he refuses to let go.

And of course, despite all of the tension in the room, Yoongi continues to be entirely unfazed.

"Yeah, about that, " Yoongi begins, shrugging his shoulders in a feigned display of nonchalance. "You might need to spell it out for us."

Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Yoongi waits patiently for Jacob. He watches as Jacob's eye twitches, chuckling in amusement. Kim Yoongi is a frightening man, not even bothered in the slightest by the waves of absolute hatred rolling off of his opponent.

"It's very simple, " Jacob growls, patience beginning to wear thin. "Hand me the girl, and I don't have you all killed."

Yoongi smiles, satisfied with his results so far. At the moment, he has Jacob right where he wants him.

"I don't know, " Yoongi drawls, looking pointedly into Taehyung's direction. "My brother seems to be awfully fond of her. You should hear the two of them going at it. She must have a world-class pussy if the sounds Tae makes all night are any indication. Suppose it'd make sense that you'd want her back."

"Actually, " Tae cuts in, wearing a smirk of his own. "You wouldn't know, would you? After all, she was a virgin our first time together."

Jacob's rage grows visibly, fingers twitching with the urge to wrap themselves around someone's neck.

"You dared to touch what is mine?" He growls. "You must be aching for death. Do you any idea what I do to people who anger me?"

I shiver, beginning to doubt the validity of Yoongi's plan.

Flashback

"So, hyung, what's the master plan?" Taehyung asks Yoongi.

Yoongi smiles brightly, almost as if pleased that the moment to reveal his brilliant strategy has finally come.

"I've given it a lot of thought, " he begins, gleefully rubbing his hands together as we continue to await his further response. "And I know exactly how to take care of this guy. He's a classic sociopath, and a narcissist to boot. Considering the kind of person he is, the idea of not getting his way is probably entirely foreign to him. That will work to our advantage."

End Flashback

"Again, you're gonna have to spell it out for us. We're not too smart, you know?" Yoongi quips smartly.

"I resent that statement, " Namjoon sniffs from his corner of the couch.

Jacob, who by this point is now a seething ball of rage, looks as if he is going to blow his composure any minute now.

"Are you mocking me? Are you seriously mocking me?" He inquires angrily.

Yoongi glances in my direction, and I know what he wants. My defiance could be the thing that tips the scales and forces Jacob to reveal himself, but what if this doesn't go the way Yoongi thinks it will?

Flashback

"So let me get this straight, " I insert, butting into the conversation. "You want us to piss him off? What kind of plan is that? He'll kill us!"

Yoongi shakes his head patiently, refuting my claim instantaneously.

"Oh, he'll probably try, " he says confidently, "but that's exactly what we want. In all likelihood, he probably wants to avoid attacking at all in such a public place. My guess is that he intends to intimidate you into giving him his way, and then deal with us later. We have the upper hand though."

Gesturing the room around us, and then the door that links this room to the next, Yoongi continues.

"I've set up cameras in this room, where we will greet him, and my partner is waiting next door with more than a few of our fellow police officers. The moment he plays his hand, his ass is grass."

End Flashback

For a moment, I am frozen, eyeing the door that hides Yoongi's trump card. Is Jacob really so easily deceived?

No. It doesn't matter. Even should the worst come to pass...

I stand, releasing Tae's hand as I draw myself up to full height. I will trust Yoongi, hadn't I already decided that?

"Good girl, I knew you'd see things my way. " Jacob purrs, anger suddenly appeased only slightly by the false assumption that I might finally be submitting myself to him.

Take note of the word false.

"No, " I assert confidently. "I will not be going anywhere with you. Not now, not ever. Why would I want anything to do with the kind of man who'd be willing to murder others, just to imprison me? I don't want you. I will never want you. Your very existence disgusts me."

My breathing has become heavy with the exertion of laying the truth out before him, but I can't stop now. Like water, my words continue to flow from my mouth, each word making the next even more impossible to contain.

"I know that you murdered Tom and Lisa for helping me escape. I saw the whole thing from the closet in which I'd been hiding." I shiver, remembering that moment with awful clarity. "How many others will you kill before you are satisfied?"

"As many as it takes, " he responds firmly, "for you to know your place. You have no choice in the matter, your aunt has already promised you to me. I've even already paid for your hand. You belong to me."

Seething with hatred for the man before me, and the aunt who would sell me out like so much livestock, I begin to shake furiously.

"There are some things that can't be bought, " I state gravely, fingernails digging into the skin of my palms. "I will not be bought!"

"Oh?" He replies, holding his hand out to the hired muscle beside him.

The man places a gun in Jacob's hands, and fear begins to make an appearance within me once more. My rage had diluted my fear, but now, as he points that gun at Taehyung, I know terror the likes of which I've never experienced before.

"Not even for this man's life?"