“Mom, I’m okay. I swear.” He rubbed her back and looked at his father, standing a few feet away.
Standing there crying.
Rafa’s heart thumped. “Dad? I’m okay. See?”
His chin wobbling, Ramon closed the distance between them and yanked Rafa and Camila into his arms. “Dios mio. My boy.”
Aside from his family, the room was filled with at least twenty agents, who all stared into the distance as if they weren’t there hearing and seeing everything. Over his father’s shoulder, Rafa blinked at Chris, Hadley, Adriana, and Matthew, who all wiped their eyes. None of them looked as if they’d slept, and Rafa realized they were still wearing the same clothes as they’d been for the aborted photoshoot. When Rafa stepped back from his parents, he smoothed down the wrinkled skirt of his mother’s purple dress.
“You guys, I’m fine. See?”
Adriana and his brothers streamed forward and took turns hugging him. Hadley pressed a kiss to Rafa’s cheek and smiled tremulously as she rubbed Chris’s back.
Ramon was still crying, and he took Rafa’s face in his hands. “There are so many things we should have done differently.”
His mother nodded. “We’ll talk about it all once you’re rested. Oh, sweetheart.” Her eyes were dry, but they shone with concern. “We were so afraid we’d lost you. Our dear boy. Did they hurt you?” Her gaze roved over him. “Are you hurt?”
“Shane saved me. I’m okay.”
A woman in scrubs approached. “Rafael, I’m Doctor Kadikar. We should get you checked out, and then you can head on home.”
“Okay.” He followed her to an exam room, Brent and other agents in tow. At the door he turned back to his family. “I love you guys too. You know that, right?”
They nodded, and his father cleared his throat. “We know, Rafalito.”
He hadn’t heard that little nickname in so many years, and tears stung Rafa’s eyes. There was so much he wanted to say, but he supposed it would have to wait.
Rafa stared at the framed poster of Kelly Slater emerging from the curl of a wave, the sun glistening on the water. It had only been twenty-four hours since he’d last been in his room, but it felt like a hundred years. He wasn’t sure a hot shower had ever felt so good, or his terrycloth bathrobe so soft and soothing. His hair was getting the pillow wet, but he didn’t care. Moving would take too much energy.
His phone was long gone—probably tossed out the van window thanks to his kidnappers. But he checked iMessage again on his tablet. Still nothing from Ashleigh, which worried him. There was so much he needed to tell her, and he just wanted to hear her voice again. Closing his eyes, he let a wave of nausea and fear pass over him.
I’m safe now. I’m okay.
More than anything, he needed to see Shane again. Touch him and kiss him, and burrow into his arms. But Rafa knew he couldn’t, and the loss already made him ache.
There was a soft knock at his door. “Yeah?” he called.
Chris stuck his head in. His hair was damp, and he was freshly shaven. “Doing okay?”
“Yeah. I just need to chill. Mom and Dad practically followed me into the shower.”
Chris smiled as he closed the door behind him and came through the little entry hall to lean a shoulder against the wall. “You’re lucky we’re all not in here with you. Don’t want to let you out of our sight.”
Warmth flowed through him. “I’m fine. I really am.”
“I know, but I think you’ll have to put up with some extra hovering from all of us. Not to mention the agents. This rattled the hell out of them. Understandably.”
“Is there any word on Alan?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll find out. Oh, and Ashleigh should be here this afternoon. Agent Nguyen’s sending a team to pick her up at Dulles.”
“She’s coming back from Paris?” Rafa pushed himself up to sitting. “But I’m fine. What about her internship?”
“Are you kidding? Raf, you got kidnapped. Of course she’s coming back. She caught the first flight she could. I talked to her from the airport and she was a mess.”
Tender affection for her swelled in his chest. “She’s my best friend. Ugh, it shouldn’t make me feel good to have people worried about me, but it kind of does.”
“Course it does.” Chris stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Raf, we’ve all been caught up in our own lives. Our own shit. We have to be better at talking. At being brothers. You should come to New York and visit me and Hadley more often. Matty too, and Ade. We need to stick together. And you know Mom and Dad love you, right? They’re not perfect, but who is?”
Rafa nodded. “It’s my fault. I kept so much inside, and I should have been honest.”
“It’s all of our faults. We should all have been honest.”