ADRIANO 
 
When they had arrived at his mansion, they were both silent. The awkwardness filled the room. None of them knew what to say to each other.  
Carlos, his butler had already taken Ismeralda’s things to the master bedroom while he and Ismeralda sat in very awkward silence in the living room.  
She played with her fingers while he scrolled through his phone. He wasn’t doing anything important on his phone, he was simply trying to keep his mind busy. He was tired and he wanted to go up to his room and rest but he knew he had to sleep in the same bed as her and that was not something he looked forward to.  
He couldn’t tell her to sleep in the guest bedroom because that would be too brutal, even for him. She was now his wife and they were expected to share a room together.  
But sharing a bed, especially with a woman was not something that he was used to. He normally never shared a bed with the women he slept with, he felt like that was too intimate.  
“You have a nice house.” She said obviously trying to break the silence. She sounded like a visitor not like someone who now owned the house to. “Thank you. It’s yours too, you know.” He responded in a matter-of-fact tone.  
She let out a soft chuckle in response and for some reason, the sound made him twitch his lips a little but it wasn’t a full smile,  
Adriano couldn’t remember the first time he had smiled. It was probably when he was still a young teenager. That was before the brutal reality of his world had struck him violently at a very tender age.  
He turned his attention back to his phone, the awkward silence was back.  
He knew there was no way he could avoid sharing a bed with her and he would have to get used to it. 
For the moment though, he stalled because he was still trying to convince himself that he wasn’t all that bad.  
He looked up from his phone to find her now on her own phone. She looked bored and she wasn’t even paying attention to the fact that he was now staring at her.  
He couldn’t help but check his new bride out. She was extremely attractive. She had full, long, jet-black curly hair, she had nice, big, brown puppy eyes that screamed innocence and when his eyes landed on her small, pink lips he thought he would run mad.  
He let his eyes wonder down her body, she was tall, not as tall as him but she was still tall. She had long, shapely legs. She had a very attractive structure too; she had the nicest curves that he had ever seen on any woman.  
The more he looked at her, the more he started to want her. Why had he told her they could wait? It was his right as her husband to consummate the marriage. But it was too late to go back on his word, he’d already told her that they didn’t need to do anything tonight and he never went back on his word.  
~*~*~*~ 
Ismeralda 
When she looked up from her phone, she saw Adriano staring at her with a look on his face that she had never seen before. She watched as his eyes trailed down her body and heat crept up her face instantly. He was checking her out and it was obvious from the look in his eyes that he found her attractive.  
He was so mesmerized that he hadn’t even noticed that she had caught him staring.  
When his eyes finally met hers, the heat in them could literally burn her whole. She gulped slowly. She felt her stomach turn but not in a bad way exactly.  
“You really are breathtakingly beautiful.” He breathed the words out and that made her blush furiously.  
“I thought you didn’t give out compliments.” She said challengingly.  
“Well, don’t get too used to it. It would not be something that happens often.” He replied with a shrug and got up from the chair he had been occupying.  
“I am tired and I know you are too. So, let’s go and sleep. I have work to do early tomorrow.” 
“You’re going to work a day after we have gotten married? What time are we supposed to spend together then?”  
“Spend time together?” He said with a scoff, “You can’t really expect me to put my work on hold simply because I am married now, do you.”  
“Well, yeah. At least if only for a day.” She shot back.  
She saw his eyes flash at her tone. “Now, listen here Ismeralda, nobody talks to me in that tone, do you understand me?” He said scaringly.  
But she was relentless. “Well, I am not just anybody anymore. I am your wife.” 
“A wife in a marriage of convenience.” He muttered.  
That was when it hit her hard in the face. He didn’t see her as his wife. She was simply something thing that was being pushed down his throat.  
Tears pulled into her eyes and she stormed off. She had no idea where she was going to but she the first room she would find was where she would spend the night.  
When she got to the top of the stairs, she saw a door to her right and barged in. Immediately she was safely behind closed doors, the tears started to rush down her eyes fully.  
What had her parents gotten her into? They had pushed her into a marriage with a heartless idiot who didn’t care about anyone but himself.  
She knew she couldn’t leave the marriage and she had to make it work but she didn’t know how to get through to a man that was so guarded about everything.  
The only type of emotion she had ever gotten off of him was when he had stared at her in his living room.  
It was the first day of her marriage and she was already frustrated and crying heavily.  
She wondered what the rest of their lives would be like if the first day already made her feel like crap.  
But she knew she couldn’t continue to live like this, she would try no matter what, to get close to her husband. Whether he liked it not, he would not make her miserable.  
But for tonight, she just wanted to be alone.