Penny's grip on the sheet tightened. She was too frightened of the man in the room with her. She wanted to scream, but no words left her lips.
For some reason, this man standing before her looked different from the madman she had met earlier. There was no sign of madness in his eyes now, only silence, control, and something darker beneath the surface.
He stood barefoot, dressed in a loose black robe that draped over his tall frame like flowing shadows. His long hair fell carelessly over his brow and down his shoulders, casting soft shadows over a face too perfect, too sharp, too cold. Like a sculpture carved from ice.
Power clung to him like a second skin.
Osvaldo's gaze locked onto the trembling woman in his bed. His mind, was clear for the first time today.
This was no dream.
This was his only hour of sanity.
And someone had dared invade it.
What the hell is going on?
What trick is this?
What game was his family playing this time?
What are you?" That deep, quiet voice sent a chill down her spine.
"I... I... We..." Penny stuttered, unable to form a sentence.
She was too stunned to speak.
His expression didn't shift. Calm. Cold. As he stared at the intruder.
Then...
He moved.
With slow, soundless steps, he walked further in, the door shutting behind him with a soft click that felt louder than a gunshot in the silence.
Penny's entire body went stiff.
Osvaldo stopped at the edge of the bed, looming over her like a wolf circling its prey. His dark eyes traced her form, lingering on the way her fingers trembled against the sheets.
"You're in my bed," he said, voice deep, smooth, and unreadable as his eyes moved around her.
Of course, she knew she was in his bed, but she had no idea. Rosie said there was no other room available.
"Naked." He added, a smile tugging his lips like a predator ready to devour its prey. Of all the stupid things his family had done, this seems rather interesting.
They brought a naked woman to his room to seduce him. A man they know has been starved of a woman all his life.
And here he thought he would die a virgin...
Well... He could play the game they wanted.
"You shouldn't be here," he murmured, his voice calm like water, yet cold enough to freeze her blood. "But now that you are... I wonder…" Osvaldo drawled tilting his head to the side.
Penny had no idea what she had gotten into. What did he mean by that? She didn't mean to upset him, she was only here because George set her up.
"P... Please... don't kill me," she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut.
Her heart hammered wildly.
She didn't know what he would do next.
Would he yell? Drag her out? Hurt her?
But he was already on top of her.
The Osvaldo from earlier had been mad. Eyes wild, words broken. He had gripped her neck like he could crush her. And now, he was speaking normally.
She didn't dare move. Didn't dare breathe.
Yet, despite everything, his scent wrapped around her, dark, intoxicating, like smoke and winter.
"Kill you?" A low, humorless chuckle rumbled from his chest.
"Don't act innocent, sweetheart. Isn't this what my family hired you for? To warm my bed?" His fingers traced the edge of the sheet, his knuckles brushing her thigh and Penny shivered.
She has never been touched by a man like this in her life.
Penny bit her lip hard enough to taste copper.
This was all a misunderstanding!
She thought no one was attracted to fat women. This man could clearly see she was fat and ugly, why was he still touching her?
When Penny felt the sheets coming off her body, she panicked and held it tightly. She was ashamed of her body, she couldn't let anyone see her this way.
"I... I'm fat, nobody wants to be with fat a girl." She blurted out, hoping he would stop trying to rip off the sheets from her body if he was aware of it.
It's a norm for men to hate fat women. They get easily turned off when they see the larger boobs, flat wide ass, and pot belly. But the man before her didn't seem like he cared.
Osvaldo didn't even blink.
"I have eyes, woman," he said flatly. This man must truly be crazy. His hand slid higher, the sheet slipping between his fingers and she panicked even more.
"I'm uneducated. Unemployed and eat a drum of food every day." Penny continued. She would do anything, anything to make him see her as unattractive.
"I drive a Tata Nano car. The cheapest car in the world. I'm useless, a product of rape, and a shapeless cow. How can you still want me after all these?" Penny cried out. She had just told him everything she was, everything her mother used to scare everyone away from her.
Osvaldo paused to stare at the crying woman beneath him, a frown marred his beautiful face.
"Then why are you here?" Osvaldo asked impatiently.
"B... Because I... I was forced to marry you." She said hoping he would let her go, but it seemed her words only fueled him more.
"Is that so?" His breath warmed her skin as he leaned in, his lips a hairsbreadth from her ear. A dark chuckle escaped his lips as he watched her tremble.
Penny squeezed her eyes shut. This wasn't the plan. None of this was supposed to happen.
But Osvaldo wasn't stopping.
His fingers traced the curve of her hip, slowly dragging the sheets off her body before removing it entirely.
Penny gasped, eyes turning wide from his action.