Page 152 of Resisting Isaac

I take a seat in the cramped visitation room. Plexiglass separates me from Diego. I hardly breathe as he walks in looking thinner, paler, but no less smug. Orange jumpsuit,cuffs at his wrists, and yet he still smirks like he chose to be here.

“There you are, little mouse,” he drawls, sliding into the seat across from me. “What a surprise. Didn’t expect a conjugal visit so soon.”

I don't flinch. If he smells fear, he’ll just toy with me and this will never work.

“This isn’t a social call, Diego.”

“I see you lost the baby weight. Fuck, you look good. My dick is already hard, Elena.”

Bile rises in my throat, but I smile like he’s paid me a compliment. “Well, I’d hate for your new beau to get jealous so let’s just get right down to it, shall we?”

“My girl, always getting right to the point.” He leans forward, voice low and oozing contempt. “Still looking for ways to keep your little cowboy safe?”

“My husband,” I correct, even though we haven’t had our real wedding or finalized the paperwork yet. Issac is very much my husband as far as I’m concerned. “But I’m not actually here about him. I think you saw first-hand that he’s perfectly capable of keeping himself safe. If you need help remembering, you can look in a mirror.” His nose and jaw are still noticeably disfigured since Isaac broke them. I think the word the lawyer said the doctor used wasshattered.

His jaw flexes, the misplaced muscles jumping. I see it—that flicker of resentment he tries to hide. Doesn’t matter. I didn’t come here to spar. I came for answers.

“I know you were digging around the Logan family,” I say evenly. “I might’ve been half unconscious, but I remember most of what you said.”

“Do you remember the night we fucked, Elena?” A guard glances over at me, but I wave him off.

“Barely. I think I dozed off during that too.”

He jumps up out of his chair and spits on the plexiglass. A slimy wad of saliva rolls slowly downward. I nearly gag. “You fucking cunt. Oh, if you only knew the plans I have for you.”

“I’m sure that’s what your cellmate is currently thinking about you as well.”

I check my manicure. Feign a yawn.

The one thing I’ve learned about Diego is that he hates to be ignored. Or not taken seriously.

My heart is pumping double time because he startled the shit out of me when he jumped up, but I make no outward show of emotion. Thank goodness for acting classes.

The guard gives him a warning.

One more outburst and visitation time is over.

“Play nice, pumpkin. Isn’t that what your mommy always called you? Her little pumpkin? How is she taking the news of your incarceration and cartel involvement?”

“She liked the benefits. The new car. I was about to buy her a nice new house. She didn’t ask questions and didn’t complain.” He looks away briefly. Then leans back in his seat and like a mask he slips on and off, his face eases into a bored expression. “You just come here to tease me then? With those fake tits out like that? Husband not quite getting it done at home?”

His words crawl over my skin like cockroaches. I do have more cleavage on display than usual, in case I needed leverage to get him to tell me what I need to know.

“I came here to ask you what you were saying about Jack Logan’s murder. When I was regaining consciousness, I heard you.”

He doesn’t know it, but I have it recorded on my phone. I hit record before he abducted me. My phone caught everything he said. We gave the recording to the DA and that’s howthey made Diego’s case so easily. “You said, ‘too bad those boys that took the dad out didn’t get the sons, too.’”

“Okay. And?”

I take a deeper breath than I would like to in here. “And I want to know what boys. Who were they and why did they kill an innocent rancher and father who never hurt anyone in his life?”

Diego snorts. “You think that entire family’s mierda doesn’t stink. Well, guess what? They got secrets, too.”

“Like what?”

He makes a face. “Like you don’t obtain and hold onto that much land without taking out some of the competition. Or calling in some favors.”

“So, they what? Called in a favor and it got Jack murdered?”