“You’ve had to sneak women out of Turkey before?” Yasmin asked sarcastically.

“Well, no, not this exact thing, but they’re good at what they do.”

She believed Zeynep had somewhat good intentions when it came to helping Yasmin, but she didn’t think Demir cared one iota about her, which meant his actions were a lot more suspect. There was no way she was getting on a helicopter he’d hired to take her away. She could end up being tossed out over the ocean.

Reasoning with Zeynep was her only hope. She turned on the seat and reached out to grip Zeynep’s hand. “You’ve made a mistake; I don’t want to leave Volkan. Please, you must take me back to him. When he finds me missing, he’s going to think my family had something to do with it.”

Zeynep shook her head. “We thought of them. Don’t worry, they’re already on their way to a private jet, which we’ve chartered to take them back to Canada. He won’t be able to touch them.”

She frowned. “Then why aren’t you taking me to them if you’re so concerned about my safety?”

Zeynep looked confused and glanced at her husband, clearly wondering the same thing.

“Okay, even if my parents are safe, you have no right to assume I don’t want to be with Volkan. Maybe our relationship wasn’t perfect in the beginning, but he loves me and I’m getting used to living here with him.” She dropped her hand to her belly and added, “I’m pregnant with his child. Why wouldn’t I want him to be part of our lives?”

She was desperate, trying to get them to believe her, but as the words tumbled from her mouth, she realized they were at least partially true. She didn’t know how she felt about Volkan, but she did know that leaving him on their wedding day was not what she wanted.

She had to find a way back and explain to him that this whole botched ‘escape’ wasn’t her idea. Even if Demir and Zeynep had gotten her parents out of the country, she didn’t believe for one moment that they were beyond Volkan’s sphere of influence. Nor did she trust him not to retaliate by using them.

“Please take me back,” she said desperately, hoping they could hear the worry in her voice and realize she didn’t want to take part in whatever this was.

“You don’t understand,” Zeynep said softly, so only Yasmin could hear. “We’re trying to save your life. If you stay with Volkan, he’ll eventually kill you. We’ve seen it before.”

“Caria,” Yasmin said. “But that was an accident, wasn’t it? She fell off the dock.”