Like the lunch incident. Volkan had been angry, but he’d also been afraid for her and, for the first time since he’d abducted her, she felt something other than fear or anger in his presence. She felt compassion because she knew about his ex-wife. Knew that she’d died at the dockyard.

“I won’t leave without talking to you first,” she conceded.

Again, his face softened and when he took hold of her arms, he was gentle.

Hmmm… sooth the beast by giving him what he wanted. Why hadn’t she thought of that earlier? Oh yeah, because the beast was also a kidnapping psycho.

“I want you to tell me everything that you and Zeynep discussed while you were away,” Volkan said, his expression serious. “I hate to say this about any member of my family, but you can’t trust Zeynep. She always has an ulterior motive or manipulation on her mind.”

Yasmin agreed with his assessment. She’d thought the same thing pretty much from the first word out of Zeynep’s mouth. But what she didn’t think Volkan saw was the loneliness and longing that ate away at his beautiful sister-in-law.

“We mostly talked about the sights I should see around Turkey,” she told him truthfully. “Zeynep has extensive knowledge of the area.”

Volkan’s lip curled in disgust as he said, “She comes by it through her family. Her mother was a tour guide before she died in a car accident and her father is a local oyster salesman who sets up his booth in the tourist areas.”

Yasmin glared at him. “Don’t you dare insult blue-collar workers who’re out there making an honest living. My father was a bus driver who raised a whole family on his salary!”

Volkan gave her an indulgent smile and said, “I wasn’t insulting the blue-collar worker, aşkım. I myself enjoy spending the occasional day operating the crane or flying cargo when we’re short on pilots. I was simply saying that Zeynep is a climber. Once she sank her nails into my family and our wealth, there was no dislodging her. She is the one who disdains her upbringing, not me.”

“Oh.” Yasmin had gotten so used to vilifying everything about Volkan that she believed him fully capable of treating lower classes dismissively. Like the waiter in the restaurant who’d nearly gotten thrown off a roof. Though, she supposed it had nothing to do with the man’s job and everything to do with his looking at her. “Wait… you have your pilot’s license?”

Volkan grinned and nodded. “If you’re good, I’ll take you up in my Cirrus SR22.” His face grew serious once more. “Did Zeynep say anything else to you? Inquire after your family or your home country?”