The black ram turned to her, his green gaze studying her carefully before he spoke again, as if he was doing one last assessment of her principles and intentions.
“You haven’t seen what I’ve seen,” he whispered sadly. “I can never be too careful. One single mistake, and Nina and Kosta would be the ones to suffer.”
She nodded and sat down. Quickly, Nina sat down beside her and grabbed her hand. Penny squeezed her fingers lightly and smiled at her. It hurt to know that, aside from her brother, the girl had no one to love her and take care of her. And, oh, how she needed to feel wanted, valued, and appreciated!
“See? Everything is working out,” she told her. “I’m sure Enzo has a plan.” She turned back to him, a perfectly shaped eyebrow cocked questioningly. “You do have a plan, right? And I’m part of it because you’ve been using me all this time…” It pained her to say the words out loud, but she had decided this was too crucial to keep on beating around the bush. The twins were more important than her hurt feelings or ego.
“No.”
He lowered his head and looked her straight in the eyes. He seemed ready to charge, but Penny knew it was just his way of showing he was being serious.
“I would never do that to you. Yes, I have a plan, and I need your help, but never think I used you for my own purposes.”
She swallowed heavily and did her best to keep a steady voice.
“It’s fine, Enzo. I get it. No more lies, okay? You did what you had to.”
He took an almost threatening step toward her.
“What we have is real.”
She huffed. “What we have? We don’t have anything.” She stole a glance at Nina, who looked rather confused. “We’ll talk about this later. Now, you were saying something about being… immortal?”
“Yes. It might be hard to believe, but it’s true.”
“Oh, it is hard to believe. Especially when you’re a talking ram. Could you please… shift back? It feels strange.”
In reality, she hated that she couldn’t read him when he was in his ram form. Things were already crazy. The least he could do was look like a normal human being and have normal human reactions she could interpret. Oh, wait. He wasn’t a human being.
“Give me a minute.”
Penelope and Nina watched the black ram disappear down the hall and into what they guessed could be a bedroom. He pushed the door closed with his horned head, then all they could hear was the telltale snap of bones, then him rummaging through drawers for new clothes. When he reemerged, he was barefoot, but he was wearing a black T-shirt that showed off all the perfect muscles of his chest and abs, and a tight pair of jeans. His dark hair was disheveled, and his eyes were sparkling with determination.
Penny gulped. It was impossible to take her eyes off him. He looked even hotter than in a suit, and it was obvious that he felt more comfortable this way. As he walked over to the armchair opposite the sofa, she allowed herself to admire his perfect body just for a second longer, then her eyes fixed his when he sat down and made himself comfortable. He grinned, and she hated herself for being so transparent.
“So, you really want to hear my story?” he asked lazily. “It’s an awful long one, I must warn you.”
“We’ve got time. After all, you’ve just bought mine and Nina’s full attention for the night.” She smiled warmly to let him know she was kidding.
He sighed. “I need a drink for this. Wine? Nina, would you like a glass of milk?”
Nina nodded timidly.
“Wine is good,” Penny said, then looked around the living room. “Where’s your staff?”
“I sent them home.” He walked over to the mini bar and prepared their drinks. “Actually, they come in twice a week. I don’t like having servants, but the nature of this mission made it necessary.” He excused himself as he quickly went to the kitchen to fetch Nina’s milk.
“What do you think?” Penny asked the girl in a low voice.
“I like him. He’s going to help us, I know it. He’s honest.”
“Okay. You’re the shifter, so your instinct is better than mine.”
“You know he can hear us, right?”
She stared at Nina. “Impossible.”
“If I can hear him going through the fridge as if he were in the room with us, then he can hear us whispering.”
