She couldn’t see much beyond a few scattered palm trees as the Jeep passed them. She didn’t know what time it was but thought maybe around midnight.

Volkan had told her about the island, so she knew it was two kilometres long and half a kilometre wide at its widest point. It was in the Mediterranean, about five and a half hours flying distance from Istanbul, which meant she’d slept for nearly four hours.

As they drove, the house became visible. Lights surrounded the base, illuminating the massive structure. It was surrounded by palm trees and a stone fence. As expected, it was massive, with a long winding driveway. In fact, the sprawling two-story estate looked very much like the house in Istanbul, except this one had a more tropical feel. The house was painted white and had white pillars all around it with lush vegetation wrapping around the columns. A huge pool wrapped around three sides of the house.

Yasmin tried to imagine the massive effort that must have gone into building the property. Where had the workers come from and where had they stayed while it was being built? How did Volkan get services on the island, like electricity and sewage? She had many questions, but the forbidding look on his face told her to shelve the inquiries for now. He wasn’t in the mood.

He was calmer than he’d been when they got on the airplane, though, and she thought now would be a good time for another crack at an explanation. After she used the washroom.

He pulled the car up outside the house and got out. Yasmin hurried to unlatch her seatbelt and followed him. He gripped her arm again and forced her up the steps to the house.

She yanked on her arm and said, “I’m not going anywhere, Volkan. I don’t need to be dragged.”

He stared at her coldly and dropped her arm, then punched in a code on the front door and pushed it open. Yasmin had gotten used to being surrounded by staff in the Koba household, so it felt eerily lonely to enter a huge house to see no one inside.

The interior of the house was open, with vaulted ceiling and corridors leading to other areas of the house.

“Where’s the washroom?” she asked.

Volkan nodded toward a door and Yasmin rushed toward it.

As she was peeing, she realized Volkan hadn’t been holding any bags. What were they going to wear? The mansion was enormous, so maybe there was a closet full of clothing. That seemed the most likely explanation. Still, it would have been nice to grab her toiletry bag so she had her contact lens stuff, and her brands of hair products and makeup.