“I know about Caria and how she died. It must have been so horrible for you.” She guessed he’d been overly worried because of what had happened to his previous wife. When his frown deepened, she quickly added, “I know you told me to leave it alone, but I was curious about your wife and I asked Defne. It’s not her fault, though. I led her to believe that you’d told me the entire story.” When he didn’t say anything, she gripped his arm harder. “Please don’t be mad, Defne is innocent and I don’t want her to get in trouble because of something I did.”

His frown melted into a thin smile, and he gripped the back of her head and pulled her against his chest. “It warms my heart to hear you defending my sister.” He pulled back just enough to look down at her. “I knew you would fit in well with my family.”

Yasmin wasn’t so sure about that, but now that he seemed calmer, she wasn’t about to contradict him. “I’m sorry I disappeared.” He nodded and she relaxed in his embrace. “Who were those people out there? There were so many of them.”

“Most of them were dockyard security, though I pulled a few others in from the estate when I realized you were missing.”

Worried that he was going to be upset again, she hurried to say, “I truly didn’t think you would mind. Zeynep thought you were out at a meeting and wanted to welcome me to the family by taking me out for lunch and showing me some sights.”

Volkan’s gaze grew hard. “I would never leave for any reason without telling you first, and if I had a meeting that required me to leave, I would expect you to accompany me.”

Yasmin sighed. There was the autocratic kidnapper she’d grown accustomed to. “And I’m used to being able to make my own decisions without running them by anyone. I would have told you if I thought you were here.”

“Regardless, you are never to leave again without first talking to me. Do you understand?”

“I’m not in kindergarten, Volkan, I understand basic English.”

He took her chin in a hard hold and forced her to look at him. “I won’t tolerate defiance from you on this. You will do as I say, or you will spend all your time within the confines of the mansion.”

Yasmin thought Volkan’s privileged upbringing led him to think being locked up in a mansion with endless amusements available, a pool to swim in, and a huge property to walk and admire was ‘confining’, but she wasn’t going to argue. She was learning that arguing with Volkan never led to anything good. She was better off trying to reach him on a human level, to try to understand him so she could understand his motives.