You fucking idiot, Taehyung cursed himself when everything clicked. He knew that name. Stintsons. Fuck! He even wrote it down, double-underlined it so he could come back to it. He had the missing piece in his fucking hands for two days. He could have saved you from this. All he had to do was just been a detective for a fucking second, instead of fucking around with his thoughts of fucking his married client.
"He understands," Mina's gazed moved to Taehyung when your face showed no signs of overcoming confusion. He could see you turn to him in his periphery, but he didn't look back. He had no time now to sympathize or explain, or to feel embarrassment or shame for not picking up on the connection sooner.
"We have no idea what he's been up to, or what he does, and we don't want to know," Taehyung spoke, trying to keep his voice from vibrating in anger. "Let us go. We won't talk to anyone; we'll forget he exists. Erase him."
"What?!" you breathed out at his proclamation. He winced wishing you had just kept still instead.
"I don't think so," said Mina. "Like I said, you showing up today is of great convenience to me, given the circumstance. I'm going to need you to do something for me first."
Taehyung sighed and closed his eyes. When it comes to the mob, you never just "do something first." That "doing something" leads to more doings, to incrimination, until you're trapped, in jail or dead.
"I'll do it. Whatever you want, just let her go. She doesn't need to be apart of this," he finally adjusted his tone towards Mina in his attempt at a plea. The corner of her mouth pulled up in a smug satisfaction to finally see him grovel.
"She's already involved," Mina said as she turned to walk out of the room. "It's you I don't need. So, you decide how long you'll be sticking around. But..." she pointed her finger towards you, "...she's not going anywhere." The two burly men followed her, closing the door behind them, leaving you alone. But Taehyung knew they would be back soon.
"What does she want?" you turned to Taehyung the moment the door closed. "Is she going to kill us?"
"I know we just met," Taehyung cut you off before you could spin out. "But I need you to trust me. I need you to listen to everything I say from here on."
"I do trust you, Taehyung," you responded without missing a beat. His gaze darted to your eyes immediately, shocked by how easily those words slipped from your tongue, knowing that trust was something he wasn't worthy of. "But you heard her. She doesn't need you. You should leave if she'll let you."
"No," he said firmly, ensuring you received the message without question. "This is my fault. I'm gonna get you out of this."
"It's not your..." your retort was interrupted when the door swung open with an industrial squeal.
The two men had returned. The brute, the one who had clocked Taehyung not long ago with his fist, pulled a knife off his waist and headed towards you. Your body tensed, leaning back into the chair as if you would be able to escape him.
"No!" Taehyung called, his heart beginning to pound. "No!" he called again, this time pulling hard at the ties around his wrists, nearly breaking skin as he did.
The man reached you, and with a strong grip pinned your arm still against the chair. He then dug the blade between your wrist and the zip-tie, and with a smooth flick the band snapped in half and fell underwhelmingly to the floor.
Taehyung let out a heavy breath, and he was fairly sure you did to. They were just releasing you from your confines, but he wanted to kick the man's ass for being so fucking dramatic about it.
