“Yes, that must be it!” Defne said, seizing on the thought. “He’s just busy. I’m going to go to my room and watch the weather radar on the computer to see where he might fly.” Before she could take more than a few steps, though, Defne collapsed.

Henry caught her before she hit the ground and lifted her in his arms.

“Oh my god!” Yasmin rushed to them and picked up Defne’s wrist, holding her hand. “What’s wrong? Should I call an ambulance?”

“She’ll be okay,” Narin said grimly, walking swiftly from the house toward them. “She got over-excited, that’s all.” Looking at Henry, she said, “Bring her inside. We’ll get her settled in bed, then I’ll call her doctor to come check on her.”

Narin walked back into the house followed by Henry who held Defne cradled in his arms. He cast a look back toward Yasmin but followed Narin inside.

Chewing on her lip, Yasmin tried to decide if she should follow them. She was concerned by Defne’s collapse, but truth be told she was somewhat frightened of the tough Kartel matriarch. Narin was the picture of gentle etiquette on the outside but had shown herself to be as sharp and manipulative as her son.

It was the first time she was alone without the family or a bodyguard watching her and she wondered what she should do. Probably go back inside and either check on Defne or go to her suite and wait for Volkan to return.

She wondered briefly if she should be worried about what Defne had said… but no one else seemed worried. One would think if something was wrong with Volkan, his mother would be just as upset and Henry would be doing more than trying to get Yasmin out of the sun.

It was strange how distraught Defne had become over the possibility of Volkan flying into a storm. And what did she mean when she’d said he was missing? Had Defne tried and failed to contact him?

Yasmin felt a flash of worry, but without more to go on there wasn’t much she could do about Volkan. When he returned, she would ask him if he’d been in any danger and why he couldn’t check in. Maybe next time she would be in a better position to ease Defne’s worries.

Instead of going inside, Yasmin decided to go down to the beach. It wasn’t strictly forbidden to her, but it also wasn’t a place she was supposed to venture to without a bodyguard. Oh well, Volkan wasn’t here to admonish her and she had a sudden desire to sink her toes into the warm sand while looking out at the sparkling ocean.