As if he were taking in every detail—my face, my eyes, the way I stood, the way I breathed.
And beneath that gaze, something inside me shifted, unsettled by the undeniable fact that this was the first time he was seeing me see him.
“Loretta.”
My name rolled off his tongue low and smooth, his voice exactly as I remembered—rich, controlled, threaded with something dark beneath the surface.
But now, paired with his face... it hit differently.
It sent a sharp, unwelcome shiver down my spine.
“Hi...” The word slipped out before I could form anything better.
My mind was still struggling to reconcile the voice I knew so intimately with the man standing in front of me.
His lips twitched slightly, as if amused.
“Congratulations,” he said, his tone calm, almost casual, though his eyes remained fixed on mine with unsettling intensity.
He stepped closer.
Too close.
The faint scent of him reached me—sandalwood and aged whiskey, warm and intoxicating, wrapping around me in a way that felt far too familiar.
“Thank you,” I managed, forcing my voice to steady. “You’ve been... absent.”
The faintest shift crossed his expression—not quite guilt, not quite acknowledgment.
“Yes.”
Just that. One word.
No explanation.
His gaze flicked briefly over my shoulder, toward Ramiro, and with nothing more than a subtle tilt of his head, he dismissed him.
Ramiro didn’t argue. Didn’t hesitate. He simply inclined his head and left, closing the door behind him with quiet precision.
The click of it echoed louder than it should have.
Now it was just us.
Rafael’s attention returned to me fully, and something about that felt... heavier.
“I’ve been with Zara,” he said.
The name hit like a small, sharp blade.
My chest tightened, the air in my lungs suddenly not enough. “You were with Zara for three whole days?”
“Yeah.” His answer came easily. Too easily. Like it required no further thought, no justification.
He glanced down at his watch, the movement casual, almost bored, before turning away from me as if the conversation had already run its course.
He began walking toward his private office, his tone shifting into something more businesslike.
“I believe work has not been too stressful?”
