She smashed her finger into the “accept call” button so hard she might’ve sprained the digit. “What the actual heck, Volkan! You stranded me on a deserted island? That is a whole new level of messed up, even for you. If you don’t come get me immediately, I will be filing for divorce the second I get back to civilization.”

“Yasmin, listen to me – ”

She cut him off. “I really don’t get you, Volkan. You say you’re obsessed with me or whatever, but then you ditch me on an island? Hard to spend time with the object of your – ”

This time, he interrupted her. “Yasmin, stop talking and listen.”

“Oh, you do not get to act like the injured party,” she fumed, waving her sandwich at the screen. “Not after everything you’ve done to me.”

“Yasmin!” It wasn’t the volume of his voice, though he was certainly loud, that finally caught her attention, but the tone of fear. It wasn’t something she’d ever heard from him before. Volkan always knew what he was doing, he was so sure of himself. She didn’t think fear was part of his repertoire.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“There are people on their way to the island who are going to try to hurt you.”

“Oh god.” The sandwich slipped from her hand unnoticed, hitting the floor at her feet. “Are you sure?”

“Zeynep told me.” He was speaking in a rush, as though he couldn’t get the words out fast enough.

“You’re coming to get me, right?” she asked in a small voice, looking nervously over her shoulder. “You’ll get here in time?”

“I’m on my way, aşkım, but I won’t get there before they do. They have a head start on me.”

“There has to be something you can do!” she shouted. “The police! Where is the nearest inhabited island? They can take a boat or a plane over and pick me up. I’ll be safe.”

“No, Yaz, there’s no one close enough.” The break in his voice and the way he used the shortened version of her name convinced her she was in serious trouble.

“What do I do?” she asked frantically. “I don’t want to die.”

“You won’t.” He said the words with such rage that she knew he didn’t quite believe them. He was too far away and she was helpless. Stranded on an island with not enough hiding spots.

“You’ll need to hide,” he said grimly. “There’s a boat on the other side of the island, but it’s too far to go and they’ll look there first. Besides, if you try to reach it, they’ll be between you and the boat, so you’ll have to stay at the house. They won’t know that you’ve been warned, so you’ll have the upper hand.”