“That’s not quite how things went down,” Yasmin said urgently, moving her hand out from under Defne’s and gripping the other woman’s hand. She had to make Defne see the reality of what happened and she didn’t have much time. “Your brother — “

“My ears are burning,” Volkan drawled from behind Yasmin, his hand falling heavily on her shoulder and squeezing hard enough that she had to suppress a flinch. “What are you two talking about?”

“You caught us,” Defne said with a laugh, pulling her hand out from under Yasmin’s grip. “We were talking about how you lied and cheated in order to convince such a lovely woman to fall for you.”

Yasmin sat stiffly, worried that Volkan would blame her for his sister’s words, but he chuckled and his grip on Yasmin’s shoulder eased. He leaned over and kissed Yasmin on the neck, drawing a blush from her.

“There’s no getting away from me now,” he said in her ear, loud enough for his sister to hear.

“You two are so cute together!” Defne giggled. “When’s the wedding going to be?”

“That is my question, too.” Narin returned to the dining room through the French doors, her guarded gaze on Yasmin’s face.

“One month,” Volkan said, and when both his mother and sister tried to argue that it wasn’t enough time for them to prepare, he held up a hand, stopping them. “I won’t change my mind. It was difficult enough to wait the three months it took for Yasmin to graduate. I won’t be denied my bride any longer than I have to. You two are clever enough to throw a wedding with four weeks’ notice.”

Narin shook her head and let out a heavy sigh. “You must always have your way, my son. Very well, we’ll do what we can to make the wedding a magnificent event. We’ll need your bride though. She’ll have to be fitted for a dress, choose her colours, flowers, the caterer.”

The room started to spin around Yasmin and she gripped the edge of the table to stop herself from falling over.

“Yasmin, are you alright?” Defne asked, concern in her voice.

Yasmin tried to nod, but the dizziness continued. Stress. She’d been under so much stress since Volkan snatched her that her body was protesting.

“It’s all happening so fast,” she said faintly.

“Look what you’re doing to your fiancé by rushing the wedding,” Defne scolded, patting Yasmin’s arm.

Volkan knelt next to the chair and took Yasmin’s other hand, looking into her face. She desperately wanted to get away from everyone and be by herself so she could process everything.