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I clutch Catalina tight against me as we say our goodbyes while the boys load up the rental with our luggage.

We’ve barely had any time together, but it already feels like a whole chunk of my heart is being torn from my chest now that we have to leave.

“ Che, mil gracias por recibirme en tu casa, Catalina,” I tell Catalina, thanking her for welcoming me into her home.

She pulls back from me, sliding her hands up to grip the outside of my biceps as she looks up into my eyes with her dark-brown ones, the same colour as Rafael’s. “ Gracias por devolverme a mi hijo, más feliz que nunca ,” she says, her chin quivering.

If there’s one thing she can count on me for, it’s that I will always bring her son home to her.

This is where he belongs, surrounded by the people who love him most. And maybe we won’t be here all the time, but I'm making it my personal mission to ensure he sees them at least once every three months.

Tears prick my eyes as I tug her back into my chest; the sweet, cinnamony scent of her skin from the pastries she helped me make this morning envelops my senses, and I reluctantly leave her embrace to say goodbye to Diego and Carlos.

“Thank you for coming with me, mi vida ,” Rafael says, pressing his warm lips to the top of my head, my cheek resting on his shoulder as the pilot takes off down the runway.

“I love your family, Rafa. They’re incredible,” I tell him, my voice sounding thick with emotion.

“They love you too, you know. How could they not?”

An ache stirs in my gut, and I die a little waiting for him to speak the words I’ve been too afraid to say myself.

Peering up into his glittering eyes, I cup his cheek and suck in a steadying breath as I prepare to say the words I want to hear from him. How could I blame him for not saying them when I’m too chicken-shit to do it myself?

“I love you,” we say in unison.

Our mouths move at the same time, and my heart stops in my chest, my eyes widening as disbelief passes between us.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” he asks, his full lower lip hanging in bewilderment.

I shake my head, a closed-lip smile overtaking my face as I roll my eyes at him. “ I said ”—I enunciate each word—“I. Love. You, Rafael.”

His wide-eyed expression morphs into one of appreciation as a smile curls his lips. He cups my cheeks, and his hot mouth meets mine in a tender but short-lived kiss.

“I love you too, Elise. Hell, I probably love you more. No,” he says, running a hand through his cropped hair. “I definitely love you more.”

His words whisper through me, warming me all over and tugging at the heartstrings I’ve only recently allowed someone the capacity of breaking. Before Rafael, there was no one else I’d ever have let get this close to me, let alone to fall deeply, madly, terrifyingly , in love with.

But now that I have him, I’m never letting go.