When Mateo didn’t respond, Logan squeezed Mateo’s knees until his fingers dug into the bone and sweat beaded Mateo’s brow. The man gasped when Logan wrenched one of his knees to the side. Something popped, and the knee shifted far more freely after Logan disconnected something in it.
Elena almost cried out for Logan to stop, but she bit back the words. She hated seeing anyone tortured like this, but she had to know what happened to her mother.
“Stop it!” Mateo blurted.
“Oh, you can speak.” Logan kept his fingers digging into Mateo’s flesh as he smiled at the man. “Answer her questions.”
Elena didn’t move as she stared at them. She’d seen some pretty awful things in her lifetime, and this wasn’t the worst of them, but her stomach still churned. Mateo’s lips started to turn white as he kept them clamped firmly together.
“Answer her questions,” Logan commanded as sweat slid down Mateo’s temple.
The hunter stopped breathing before wheezing in air.
“Your mother is at the compound!” Mateo blurted. “She’s with the other women.”
Logan eased his grip on Mateo’s knees but not so much the hunter made the mistake of thinking the worst was over. Normally, he didn’t like doing anything like this and shied away from it even when it was necessary. Still, every time he pictured Mateo slapping Elena, he inwardly smiled over the pain he inflicted.
“What happened with my father?” Elena choked out.
“I have no idea.” Then he jerked his head toward Logan. “I assume this monster killed him.”
“Answer her questions truthfully,” Logan said as he wiggled Mateo’s good knee while giving his bad one a little extra squeeze.
Mateo glowered at him, but he couldn’t hide the alarm in his eyes.
“I didn’t kill Alejandro,” Mateo snarled.
Logan studied him as he tried to ascertain if the man was telling the truth or not.
“But you know who did,” Elena whispered, “don’t you?”
As Mateo held Logan’s gaze, the small flicker in his eyes was the only indication he did know.
“Who was it?” Logan asked.
“I’m not telling you anything,” Mateo spat.
Logan shoved a rag into Mateo’s mouth and turned back to Elena. “I think you should go into the other room with Asher.”
Elena blinked at Logan as his words sank in. He wanted her out of here so he could get Mateo to talk. She didn’t know what he was going to do to him, but she had her suspicions, and she had no desire to see any of it.
Still, she didn’t move. It was her father and her family they destroyed; walking away from here didn’t feel right.
She lifted her chin to portray a confidence she didn’t feel. “I’m staying.”
“You don’t want to see this,” Logan said, and Mateo squirmed in the chair.
“I’m staying.”
He’d prefer it if she left, but short of lifting her and carrying her from the room, there was little he could do. And if he picked her up and took her from here, she’d probably end up hating him more than she would after watching what he was about to do. She was a grown woman; she could make her own decision.
He could only hope she didn’t consider him a monster by the time he finished.
Logan held her gaze for a minute, giving her time to change her mind, but steely determination remained etched onto her face.
“Okay, stay, but if you need to leave, then do so,” he said.
“I will,” she replied without looking at him.
