No, the more she thought about it, the more she realized something was off. There’s no way Volkan would allow her to go anywhere without him on their wedding day.

“Turn around,” she said loudly, gripping the door handle so tight her knuckles turned white. “I want to go back to the mansion and leave with Volkan.”

“I told you,” Zeynep said in a soothing voice. “Volkan is going to follow. He had a few more people to talk to before leaving and he sent you ahead because he thought you’d be bored.”

Yasmin narrowed her eyes. “You don’t know Volkan at all if you believe he’d say something like that. Up until now, Volkan has been ridiculously overprotective of me. Why would he suddenly be okay with me leaving our wedding without him? I think you’re taking me somewhere else.”

It was hard to squeeze the words out with a chest constricted by panic. How many times could a person get themselves abducted in one lifetime? Did she have a sign on her forehead that read, ‘easy pickings, please take’?

Zeynep glanced in the rearview mirror, meeting her husband’s gaze. He shook his head, glaring at her, but finally Zeynep broke down. “Alright, we’re not taking you to the airport. We’re taking you to a helicopter we arranged to take you out of the country. It’s going to fly you across the border and drop you off in Bulgaria where you can go to the embassy.”

Yasmin was so shocked she couldn’t speak for a moment, then panic really took hold. “No, you can’t do that! Take me back right now.” She frantically yanked on the door latch, but of course it didn’t open. All the doors were locked and the car was in motion. “Stop the car, I need to get out!” Zeynep reached for her hand, trying to pull her away from the door, but Yasmin jerked away from her. “Don’t touch me!”

“We’re trying to help.” To her credit, Zeynep looked guilty but determined, as though she truly thought she was helping. It was Demir’s shifty gaze, resting on her in the mirror, that worried Yasmin. Zeynep continued, “After what happened to Caria, we couldn’t leave you alone with him. Not knowing there’s going to be a baby.”

Yasmin frantically continued trying the door. “You don’t understand. He’s going to think I tried to leave him and he’s going to burn everything until he gets me back. You were there when we disappeared for lunch. There’s no way he’ll allow me to leave for good.”

“He won’t find you,” Demir said, his voice very sure.

Yasmin glared at him. “And why is that?”

It was Zeynep who answered. “We’ve prepared everything for you. Trust me, he won’t find you. Our people are good at this sort of thing.”