And of course, her criminal of a fiancé lied beautifully to smooth the situation over. He sat next to Yasmin, slid his hand behind her back and tugged her against him. “We had a small misunderstanding when I was visiting Yasmin in Toronto and I went home believing she never wanted to see me again, but the more I thought of her, the more determined I was to win her back. When I found out about her new position in London, I followed her. It was there that we reconnected and rekindled our love. It took some convincing, but I finally got her to agree to move to Turkey with me and become my wife.” His expression shifted to one of apology as he added, “It was never my intention to upset you or make you worry over your daughter’s safety. You must believe that Yasmin’s well-being is my first priority.”

Yasmin’s mother wasn’t a stupid woman and continued to question Volkan, but slowly, his wildly romanticized version of their coupling won Mrs. Mahdi over until she was chattering excitedly about their upcoming nuptials as though she’d been on board with the wedding from the very beginning.

Yasmin’s father agreed with his wife on most things, and Yasmin’s rushed wedding was one of them. It pleased him that his daughter had found a wealthy businessman for a husband, and though he would miss having her nearby, he was comforted when Volkan offered him the use of his private jet any time the family wanted to visit.

Only Yasmin’s sister was vocally negative about the wedding and texted Yasmin constantly, begging her to reconsider the wedding, or at least wait until she could attend. Aisha was stuck in Canada, working on a big case that she couldn’t get away from.

Aisha told Yasmin that she knew her better than anyone else in the family and Yasmin would never do anything as spontaneous as hook up with a guy on the other side of the world, follow him to his home country and marry him after only knowing him such a short time. There had to be something shady going on and she was going to find out what.

Volkan now trusted Yasmin with a phone and had gotten her a brand new one with a gold encrusted case and a slew of games and apps pre-installed. He’d also gone through her contact list and removed everyone except for her immediate family and a few girlfriends from Toronto. He’d added his family members in as well as Henry and a few other bodyguards that she had regular contact with. Noticeably absent were any men unrelated to her, including her old roommates.

As she lay in bed that night after settling her parents into another suite, she stared at the last message from her sister.