She turned away, staring out into the rapidly darkening sky, then dropped her eyes to the street below her, wondering for a brief second if she had what it took to jump.

Glancing at him, her thoughts shifted to the night she met him in that dark alley. The night she intrigued the beast. He would hurt her, as he’d promised, and she would sink further into his evil fantasy.

He was right, though. She was feisty, intelligent, and independent. She wouldn’t jump. She would fight Volkan and she would win.

Chapter Seventeen

“Let’s not be so serious. We have the whole evening to enjoy ourselves,” Volkan announced, pulling her away from the patio’s edge and toward their table for two where he pulled out a chair for her. As she sat, he pushed the chair in, then rounded the table.

As if materializing out of thin air, a waiter approached their table with an ice bucket and a bottle of Champagne. He popped the cork and filled two glasses, setting one in front of Volkan and one in front of Yasmin. Then he picked up Yasmin’s napkin and flicked it open.

Before he could set it across her lap, Volkan reached out and gripped the server’s wrist, holding him in place. “No touching.”

The server took note of Volkan’s deadly stern expression and backed off, dropping the napkin on the table next to Yasmin’s plate. “Of course, sir.” He left quickly, exiting through a nearly invisible door that Yasmin hadn’t noticed before.

“Was that necessary?” she asked, glaring at him. “The poor man was just doing his job.”

“Yes.” Volkan stood and rounded the table, picking up the napkin and smoothing it across her lap, his fingers wrapping briefly around her upper thigh and tightening. “It was very necessary. I will tolerate no other man touching you. I can barely stand having their eyes on you, but I recognize that unless I cover you from head to toe, men will stare.”

She wanted to tell him he was mistaking her for a supermodel, but she didn’t bother since they’d already established his tendency toward delusion. Instead, she lifted her Champagne flute to her lips and took a healthy swallow of the bubbly liquid. It tickled her tongue and throat, but she thoroughly enjoyed the tart taste as it slid into her belly and warmed her from the inside.