Page 99 of Devotion

Gabriel opens his window and waves at the guards posted at the gate as he drives past without slowing. Then he gives me a quick, close look. “Do you think you could ever feel at home in an area like this? Is it too rural for you?”

“No! It’s not too rural. I mean, it’s really different, but in a good way. I like the looks of it so far.”

His face relaxes, and I realize he was genuinely worried I would hate it here. That I couldn’t be happy so far from the cities.

Touched that he’s so concerned, I reach over to squeeze his thigh. “I’m sure I’ll love it. I just hope they’ll love me.”

He shoots me a quick look. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know,” I mumble with a shrug. “Just maybe they’re not going to like me.”

I was trying to keep my nerves to myself, but I’ve never been able to do that around Gabriel.

His tone shifts as he asks, “What’s wrong?” When I don’t respond immediately, he adds, “Tell me right now.”

“I’m just nervous,” I admit. “I didn’t realize I’d feel this way, but all of a sudden I got anxious about it.”

“About what? My family?”

“Yes. What if… what if they don’t like me? What if they think I’m a bad… a bad choice for you?”

“Oh my God, baby,” he mutters. “Are you serious?”

“Yes, I’m serious.”

“They’re going to love you. Everyone loves you. You have a way about you that… that warms people. I’ve never met a single person who didn’t love you.”

I clear my throat and twist my hands together, feeling pleasure at the compliment but not enough to smother the fear.

“Why do you think I was constantly bombarded by administrators wanting to swap partners with me?”

I giggle at the dryness in his voice since that’s what he’s going for. But I sober as I say, “This is different though. These are your parents. They’re not looking at me like people at the palace did. They’re looking at me as a companion for their beloved son.”

“You’re amazing, Jess. I’m not merely saying that because I’m crazy about you. You’re smart and sweet and beautiful and generous and genuinely, astonishingly warmhearted. There’s noway they’re not going to love you. The possibility has never even crossed my mind, that’s how impossible it is.”

I melt at his words, but there’s still a flicker of lingering fear. “But are they going to know… Are you going to tell them about how we started? I’m not ashamed of anything, but if they’re rural people, they might not understand. Palace culture, I mean. You didn’t understand what it was all about at first, so they might… I don’t want them to think I’m…” My voice stops working.

He doesn’t reply immediately. He takes a long breath and releases it. “They’re not like that. They’re not what you’re worried about. They’re not going to think any less of you for making a better life for yourself and your family or for doing your job to the best of your ability and with all your heart. A job you believed contributed to the good of the world. And if they do, they’re not the people I’ve always believed them to be, and I’ll react accordingly.”

My inhale is noticeably shaky. “So you’ll be on my side?”

He makes a throaty sound at my breathless question and reaches over to cover both my twisting hands with one of his big ones. “Yes, baby. I’ll always, forever be on your side.”

An hour later,we turn down a well-maintained gravel road that leads to a cabin built on a wooded lot beside a sunny lake.

It’s beautiful. Peaceful. Dappled by sunlight and filled with natural beauty and wildlife.

I had no idea a place like this could exist in this world. Not any longer.

The closest to nature I’ve ever gotten before was on the paved paths through the manicured gardens in the palace complex.

“This is it,” Gabriel says, putting the vehicle in park and squaring his shoulders. “What do you think?”

“It’s the most gorgeous place I’ve ever seen!” I reply with round eyes and a slightly dropped jaw.

“Okay. Good.”

He’s about to get out when a man appears on the front porch of the cabin with a large gun at the ready. He’s got steel-gray hair and has a similar height and frame as Gabriel.

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