Caged Princess| KTH

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟰

Taehyung

I braced my arms on the railing and looked out over the city, letting the cool air ruffle my clothing. Even after all this time, it still hurt to admit that Eon Jin and Chan-yeo weren't coming back. Would I ever get over their deaths?

Probably not.

I heard the door open behind me, but I didn't turn, not wanting to see the pity in Y/n's eyes.

"Did you buy this for him?"

I did turn then, seeing that Y/n was placing Hyun Ki in the small, gated area I had put out here so that Hyun Ki could enjoy some sun on his face and fresh air. The gated area was piled with toys, and I couldn't help but smile as he crawled over to the toy I had given him yesterday. "Yeah, I did."

"He seems to know it pretty well," she said, placing her hands in her pockets.

"Just ask the questions you want," I said instead, knowing she was likely thinking about a thousand different questions.

"How did they die?"

"They were murdered."

"By who, Taehyung?"

I rolled my shoulders, trying to ease the tension. "By Byun Baekhyun."

Y/n frowned, turning her attention back to Hyun Ki. "Is he an enemy of yours?"

"Our families have been feuding for generations," I bit out, picturing his head on a silver platter. I was going to be the one to end it though. I would go down in history as the man who fucking killed Baekhyun and eliminated the Byun family.

Then, and only then, would my family be safe. "Byun slaughtered my sister and my nephew after I refused to allow him to cross over into my territory and sell guns." It had been a stupid thing to fight him on, but I was trying to prove a point, and by prove a point, I meant I had killed the men that he had sent into my fucking territory.

But never in a million years would I have thought he would go after my sister.

I frowned as I looked at the blood on the floor. "Get this shit cleaned up," I told Jungkook as I wiped my knife on the nearby covering over the chair. "And dump his ass on the doorstep of Byun Enterprises."

"That will be the third one this week," Jungkook said dryly as I tucked my knife back into its holder and picked up my coat, shaking it out.

"Byun," I sneered, looking at the mess I had just made of one of his men. "Since you haven't learned your lesson yet, I will be delivering another present for you."

He chuckled. "Well, the good news is that I have a present for you as well, but you will have to guess where I hid it."

"Don't you have something better to do than play these games?" I asked, nodding to Jungkook before walking out of the room.

"What I have is a step up on you," he replied evenly. "You know what? I'm feeling generous, Taehyung. I will give you a hint as to where your present is. It's where you spent your evening last night. Too bad it's not as secure as your penthouse."

"Good," I responded, shrugging it on. My cell buzzed, and I pulled it out of my slacks pocket, holding it up to my ear. "Yeah."

"Taehyung."

My blood ran cold, and I broke into a dead run, heading toward the exit where I knew the car would be waiting.

I knew exactly where he had been.

I shook out of the memory, feeling the ache in my chest that never truly went away. Y/n had made her way over to me and was now touching my arm. "I'm so sorry, Taehyung. I didn't know."

She wouldn't know. I had cleaned up the mess, keeping it out of the news with the assistance of the police commissioner. It had cost me a hell of a lot of money and favors, but I didn't want people to know that I had failed my own family.

I glanced over at Hyun Ki, who was oblivious to the tension around him. "That is why you have to stay in this penthouse. Byun will stop at nothing to take everything away from me."

Y/n drew in a breath, clutching at my arm. "You've put a target on our backs."

I couldn't lie to her. I had put one on them by taking her out of her life and inserting her into mine.

But she would be in just as much danger if Byun had ever found out about them before I had. At least this way I knew I could protect them. "He is the future of the Kim name," I continued, nodding toward our son. "From the day that he was born, he was meant to follow in my footsteps. He will be a 조폭 one day."

Y/n dropped her hand. "I don't want my son to be in this. I don't want him to be—"

"A monster?" I interrupted, pulling her around so that she met my eyes.

Y/n's eyes met mine. "No," she said softly. "I don't want him to feel like he has to do anything. He should be allowed to make his own decisions."

He couldn't. Hyun Ki was my son, my flesh and blood, and his legacy was to take the Kim name to the next level, to ensure that we would remain at the top.

I was going to put us there the moment I killed Baekhyun. It was only a matter of time.

Reaching out, I pulled her against me. "In two days, we are going to a charity gala," I told her. "You and I." It would be the first time I introduced her officially as my wife, and while I was taking a chance in doing so, I would have it adequately protected as well.

"Really?" Y/n asked, clearly surprised at my declaration. "But I thought we couldn't leave."

"You can as long as you are on my arm," I told her.

And under my protection.

She eyed me. "Why do you want to take me, Taehyung?"

"You're my wife," I said evenly. "Why wouldn't I want to take you?"

Her fingers played with one of the buttons on my shirt, and I imagined her stripping it off, pressing her lips to my chest like she often did. Fuck me, I was hard as a rock and all I had pictured her doing was playing with a fucking button.

She drove me crazy.

"I don't know," she finally said, looking up at me. "I mean, this would make everything official."

As if it wasn't already. This marriage was official to me, and in the eyes of the law, it was fucking final. She was mine, my wife, and nothing was going to change that. "You are mine," I finally grated out. "I want you at my side, Y/n, at this gala, and I won't take no for an answer."

She drew in a breath. "Then it looks like I don't have a choice."

She never did. "Good," I told her, releasing her. "We will pick out your gown later on. I have work to do."

If she was going to be on my arm, she was going to dress like it.

TBC