When We Met

CH 29 Rosaline

Yesterday's bizarre events left my mind spinning with unanswered questions that burrowed like insistent parasites. Why would Logan pretend to stumble and fall so clumsily in the dank corridor? And what possessed him to even be searching for Mateo in the first place? My gut twisted anxiously at the recollections, a cold knot of dread taking root.

Too many whys with no answers in sight. It had been nearly a month since we were imprisoned in this wretched hole, and the hopelessness was becoming a lead weight threatening to drag me into the abyss. I fought against the insidious voice whispering that I was useless - a weak, frail damsel unable to protect my own people from the brutalities unfolding.

Alejandro and I had been frantically awaiting any sign of Mateo's return, taking turns furiously pounding our fists against the unforgiving metal door. We shouted until our voices gave out, desperately trying to summon the guards for answers. But our pleas were met with deafening silence as if we ceased to exist as living beings in their eyes. A gnawing sense of dread took root - what if sweet Mateo was already dead? Coldly executed like so much discarded refuse. The thought alone made my throat constrict with nausea.

"Alejandro..." I rasped, hating how small and scared I sounded. He turned toward me, dark eyes haunted. "I can't keep wondering...fearing the worst. We have to find out what happened to him."

His jaw tightened, eyes sparking with protective anger. "And just how do you propose that, hermana? Should I start eating the door off its hinges?"

I flinched at his biting words but refused to be cowed. "This...this situation is breaking me down. Chipping away at my resolve. But that's not who I am!" I shook my head vehemently, tangled curls whipping around my face. "I'm not some helpless little girl content to sit and meekly accept this torment."

Alejandro's expression softened a fraction as he studied me. "You're the strongest mujer I know, Ro. If anyone can persevere through this nightmare, it's you."

His calloused knuckles brushed my cheek in the softest caress. "We'll find a way, I swear it to you. Even if I have to slaughter every one of these animals with my bare hands."

I managed the barest hint of a smile at his fierceness. An inner fire did indeed burn within me - a primal strength that refused to be extinguished so easily. But no matter how fiercely that flame raged, the oppressive reality of our iron cage seemed determined to smother it.

As another hour dragged by in tense silence, I found myself repeatedly glancing toward the immovable door, loathing the control it exerted over our fates. Alejandro resumed his restless pacing, fists clenched at his sides.

It had been nearly eight endless hours since they took Mateo. Eight agonising hours of sickening uncertainty and fear gnawing at our bellies. Our banging and shouting eventually devolved into dull, repetitive thuds against the metal - the muted sound of desperation slowly dying.

Until at last, with a harsh grind of the lock disengaging, the door swung outward in a groan of protesting hinges. Alejandro reacted instantly, instinctively shoving me behind his bulk as the hulking forms of guards flooded the cramped space.

"Stay behind me!" he snarled over his shoulder, lips curling back from his teeth.

I peered around his tautly muscled frame as the guards parted like a wave, finally revealing the towering, imposing silhouette of our mutual tormentor.

Logan Walsh.

My breath stalled in my lungs as he strode through the open door, boots ringing like death knells against the stone. Up close, I could make out every impervious line of those chiseled features, the cold indifference glinting in his obsidian eyes as they slid over me dismissively. My heart stuttered at the sight of him, a perverse mix of relief at finding him unharmed...and unbridled hatred for the source of our suffering.

"Get...back..." Alejandro ground out between gritted teeth, crouched in a defensive stance.

Logan's stare flickered to my hermano briefly before returning to me. "I've no interest in harming either of you." His rich voice carried the barest undercurrent of condescension. "But I am here to provide some...answers. If you'll come willingly."

I caught my breath sharply, the implication clear. The only way to uncover Mateo's fate was to leave our cage...and walk willingly into the viper's den.

Exchanging a wary look with Alejandro, I saw the guarded distrust simmering in his dark eyes as he straightened gradually.

"If there's any funny business," he growled in warning, "we're prepared to fight our way free and slaughter every one of your men."

Logan's chiselled lips curved faintly, but he offered a measured nod. "Understood I wouldn't expect any less from the heir of the Fernandez clan. Shall we, then?"

My throat was too constricted to speak I was shocked he would have finally figured out who I was, but of course, if he had my uncle by his side he should have known weeks ago, is he just playing a game now? That question will forever run through my mind but I need to take my place someday, so I simply bobbed my head in resigned acquiescence. Alejandro slanted me one final look rife with protective instinct and grim determination before turning an impassive mask toward our tormentor.

Silently, with trepidation singing in my veins, we trailed Logan out of the cell and into whatever fresh hell awaited us. For if there was even a sliver of a chance to locate Mateo, we had no choice but to follow.

Even if it meant descending straight into the deepest pits of our captors' domain to find him.