“We’ve already established that,” she agreed. “We’re moving onto the next part where you tell me how much you love me and can’t live without me.”

“Love,” he laughed bitterly, “It’s such a weak word for what I feel for you.” He gripped her so hard she thought he would leave bruises. “You’ve dug a bloody gaping hole into my soul that nothing will patch except your presence in my life.”

She pushed herself up onto her toes, her hands splayed against his chest. “Remember in London when you told me one day I would thank you for kidnapping me?”

“I will never forget London,” he said with conviction. “The things that I did to you there. I was a beast.”

She pressed her finger to his lips and whispered, “You’re right, you were, which is why I’m not going to thank you for kidnapping me. Instead, I’ll thank you for loving me and never letting go.”

She lifted her face to his, but she couldn’t span the distance to get to his lips. Finally, after staring at her with near-frightening intensity, he lowered his head to hers, kissing her.

It wasn’t a passionate kiss, nor was it more than the meeting of their lips, but it spoke of everything that had brought them to that moment. His obsession, her fear, his diabolical plot to trap her, her anger, his anger, a wedding, a baby… everything.

She broke the kiss, but stayed in his embrace, pressing her ear to his chest over his heart and listening to the steady thump, thump, thump. “I love you, Volkan.”

He crushed her against his chest, flinging his head back to stare at the concrete ceiling. She felt the bob of his throat against her head and thought maybe he was holding back tears. She wanted to tell him it was okay, but she was crying enough for both of them.

As the moment passed, Yasmin convinced Volkan to lie down on the cot with her. She was so tired she thought she would drop if she didn’t close her eyes. The cot was much too small for the two of them, so Volkan lay down first on his back and she curled up on top of him, smiling contentedly.

She was about to fall asleep when he spoke.

“When I was a child, my parents knew there was something wrong with me.”

She propped her chin on top of her hands, which were folded on his chest. “What was wrong?”

“I had a terrible temper when I didn’t get the things I wanted.”

Despite his serious tone, she laughed. “Tell me something I don’t know.”