“Your makeup is tasteful and lightly applied. I see no need to change it. And if I did, it would be to make sure you didn’t draw the attention of other men. As for your clothes and accessories, I chose them for you because you showed no interest in choosing for yourself.” His thick brows lowered in a frown. “Had you been willing to accept my generosity, I would have allowed you more choice.”

She glared back at him. “We have very different definitions of generosity. Kidnapping me and forcing me to accept your so-called generosity erases any kind motives you might’ve had in buying me a new wardrobe. You’re trying to control me in any way you can.”

“Be careful what you say to me, Yasmin,” he warned, his voice deepening.

“Or what?” she snapped. “You’ll threaten me again? You’ve taken everything else from me. For the sake of my family, I’ve agreed to go along with the charade, but I refuse to allow you to dictate my words.”

“Even if your words have consequences?”

Ignoring his implied threat, she switched back to the previous topic of conversation. “Why won’t you allow me to choose what I eat?”

“You don’t need to order your food. I already know what you like.”

“That’s not the point, Volkan,” she retorted. “Sure, I like tomato bisque, but what if I’d wanted the chowder?”

“They don’t serve chowder here.”

She glared at him, but stopped talking. She wasn’t going to win this argument. He was intelligent enough to know what she meant, but he refused to acknowledge her point.

The light from the candle flickered, causing the shadows to move across his face in a menacing dance. When he spoke, his voice was low and measured. “I won’t allow you to order because I don’t want you to speak to the staff. You belong to me and I want to keep you to myself.”

Like a toy he refused to let anyone else look at, let alone interact with.

“That’s ridiculous,” she said, shaken. “By that logic, you won’t ever let me talk to anyone.”

“You can talk to me.”

“Volkan,” she pleaded.

A shudder went through him when she said his name.

The server picked that moment to come up alongside Yasmin. Smiling, he nodded towards her untouched bowl. “Is the soup not to your taste?”

In a flash, Volkan was out of his chair, his fists wrapped in the server’s collared shirt. He dragged the man to the edge of the roof and leaned him across the brick barrier until his top half was dangling twelve stories above the ground. “You dare speak to my bride?”

Chapter Eighteen