He made a growling sound, his eyes feverish as he said, “It’s not good enough. You could have died today and… and it would have been my fault. I shouldn’t have left you here.” He paused. “No, what I did was worse than that. I introduced you into my family while there was a snake under my roof. I put you in danger the moment I decided to make you mine.”

“You couldn’t have known,” she insisted, but he wasn’t listening.

He pushed himself off the cot and paced the tiny space. “I should never have left you here. I let my anger blind me to everything except punishing the woman I love and murdering my own brother.”

She bit her lip, then asked quietly, “Did you?” When he looked at her, she added, “Kill him, I mean.”

He shook his head. “I would’ve, but Zeynep stopped me.”

Yasmin was relieved though she never wanted to see Demir again if she could help it.

“I’ve fucked up every step of the way and you’ve been the one to pay for it,” he said, his voice anguished.

She stood with him and took his hand. “Today, when those men were searching for me, threatening me, I knew you would come. I kept telling myself over and over that you were on your way here and you would arrive in time. I had complete faith in you.”

“You should’ve been cursing me,” he grunted.

She shook her head and smiled up at him. “I stopped cursing you weeks ago.”

“I don’t deserve you,” he said, cupping her head and tilting it up towards his. “I wanted you from the start and I’m so fucking used to getting what I want that I didn’t slow down enough to do it properly. I terrorized you, hurt you. You’re a fucking saint and I’m the monster who refused to let you go.”

“I don’t want to go,” she admitted.

“You don’t make any sense.”

“Don’t I?” she teased. “What would make sense?”

“If you demanded I set you free.”

“Would you if I asked?” She held her breath as she waited for his answer. Though she’d been through a nightmare and was tired enough to sleep for a year, she knew they had to have this conversation. It could be the most important one of her life.

He stared at her for a long time, his face twisted in anguish, then he shook his head. “God help me, no. I knew from our first moment in that alley that you were it for me. That we would spend our lives together.”

“But I refused to cooperate,” she said ruefully.

“And I’m a bastard for forcing you.”

“Yes, you are,” she agreed. “But I’m here now and I’m ready to have our future together.”

“You deserve better.”