Twisted

Yasmin wakes up with a hangover from drinking. Julian has left painkillers and water next to her bed. She checks her messages from Riya and reminds herself that she wants to break free of Julian and be with Aidan. But while she showers and tries to think of Aidan, she again masturbates to thoughts of Julian.

Julian feels that his laser focus on his goals is disrupted by thoughts of Yasmin. He asks Jeannie for an update on the Egypt dig and calls Ian, who reports that Aidan despises working for the Karams. When Ian calls Yasmin a bitch, Julian coldly reprimands him not to disrespect his wife. Yasmin asks permission to go to brunch with Riya. Julian visits Isabella and assures her that Yasmin is only temporary.

Yasmin, forbidden by Julian to leave, spends her days exploring the house. Yasmin realizes she’s never learned life skills and “the protective shield my father surrounded me with is more of a crutch than a blessing” (214). When Yasmin finds Isabella’s room, Julian introduces them, saying that Isabella eats the flesh of his enemies. Yasmin asks about his hobbies; the only one he can think of is martial arts. He is there to teach Yasmin how to drive.

Yasmin is frustrated by her driving lessons, but “I’ve never felt more independent and powerful in my life” (220). She continues to resist her feelings of attraction, determined not to like her husband. A police officer approaches and Yasmin realizes she feels safe around Julian. The officer is disrespectful to Yasmin, remarking on her sexual attractiveness and brushing his body against her when she walks past him. Yasmin is hurt that the cop sexually harassed her and it doesn’t appear Julian was bothered.

Yasmin meets Riya for lunch and complains that Julian is manipulating her emotions. Riya knows of Yasmin’s tendency to fall for the villain. Riya talked to Aidan, who hasn’t been in touch with Yasmin, but has been busy looking for the lamp. Riya gives Yasmin a phone with the number of Randy Gazim, a divorce lawyer who has agreed to take her case.

Julian has his bodyguard, Razul, watch Yasmin while Julian torments officer from the previous day. Officer Tate is bound and gagged in a chair in the hidden room in Julian’s house. Julian likes how his martial arts staff feels in his hand, similar to the staff from the hapkido dojo he attended as a child. He beats Tate and cuts his eyes, then gives the dead body to Isabella to swallow.

Aroused by thoughts of Yasmin, Julian thinks, “My body continues to play tricks on my mind, making me think Yasmin is here for my pleasure. That she’s bound to me for me” (237).

Yasmin fidgets as she prepares to meet Julian’s mother. She has been talking with Gazim, the lawyer, but she also doesn’t want her father to know that his right-hand man plans to betray him. Yasmin expects that Julian has a loving relationship with his mother—he bought her a house and supports her—so she is surprised when his mother is cold, disapproving, and complains about how Julian treats her. Julian holds Yasmin’s hand beneath the table, then puts food on her plate for her. The gesture makes Yasmin feel cared for: “Something foreign and warm fills up my chest, and I twist my fingers, sliding them between his and squeezing” (244). Yasmin believes Julian’s mother’s claims that she is dying and feels disturbed by “this sudden need […] to make him feel better” (247).

Julian is unable to emotionally detach from his mother: “there’s something tethering me to her even after all these years, an invisible rope that frays more with every example of disrespect, every time she brings up my childhood, acting like I don’t remember how all my scars are from her” (249). As they sit in the family room, Julian informs Yasmin that claiming to be sick is one way his mother attempts to manipulate him for attention.

Yasmin can relate: She has been pampered, but it hurts that her father meant to basically sell her to a strange man. But comparing their family lives makes Julian angry. As they argue, Yasmin pushes Julian, and he spanks her, calling her a brat and claiming he will teach her a lesson. Yasmin enjoys the spanking and continues to provoke him. Julian realizes that she takes pleasure in his physical aggression: “She can pretend she doesn’t like this all she wants. We both know the truth. This is what she needs. And I’m the man who can give it to her” (254). As he cuddles her after their anger fades, Julian tells Yasmin about the stuffed bear that he hid, how his father beat his mother, how his mother beat Julian, and that he wishes his mother would die. Then he kisses Yasmin.

Yasmin is thrilled by Julian’s kiss. Instead of butterflies, “he causes an inferno, raging through my system and disintegrating me” (258). She thinks Julian’s touch feels like ownership, and she imagines that sex with him would “[m]ake me loved and secure and whole, even if just for the moment” (260). As he touches her, Yasmin realizes that he gets aroused when she doesn’t obey him, so she riles him to purposefully turn their making out rough. She discovers that pain enhances her pleasure. As he brings her to orgasm, Julian asks Yasmin if she is his. When she doesn’t answer, he ends the contact.

Yasmin wakes up in Julian’s bed. She reflects on their encounter and thinks, “For the first time in my life, my mind was clear, my body was free, and all my problems disappeared” (270). She hadn’t known she would find such forceful handling a turn-on. In his shower, she masturbates, and then is startled when Julian interrupts. Tattoos cover his arms, shoulders, and chest.

Julian is going to Egypt and invites Yasmin to come along. She is confused to realize that Aidan, whom she thought of as the love of her life, is now a distant memory. She reflects on the text she received from an unknown number, offering her help if she comes to Egypt.

Yasmin visits her father and finally accepts that he is dying. He ruminates that he missed seeing that she was falling in love. As she wonders how much to tell him, Yasmin realizes, “this marriage doesn’t feel fake to me anymore” (277). Ali tells her to go to Egypt and promises he will still be around when she returns.