Page 40 of Devotion

His tone is dry, and I giggle in response. “No, it’s not.” I apply more oil to my hands before moving to his left shoulder blade. “You have too much work and too much pressure. That doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to relax. It’s not healthy to do nothing but work at your desk all day.”

“I know.” He sighs as I pull on his shoulder, trying to soften the muscles there. “But I think that’s just who I am.”

“Have you always done jobs like this?” I rarely ask him anything personal or about his past, so I’m not sure where the question comes from now.

I hold my breath to see if he’ll answer it.

“For a long time,” he replies, not sounding surprised or uncomfortable by the topic. “I think I told you my parentsfigured out pretty early I wasn’t cut out for physical jobs. I’ve got a problem-solving mind, and so they encouraged me to find ways to use it.”

“So what kind of jobs did you do?”

“When I was a teenager, I clerked for the mayor of our town. I learned a lot and found it interesting. I tried a couple of other jobs after that, but in that area, there weren’t a lot of opportunities for desk work.”

I frown, intrigued but still making sure to focus on the massage as I move down his back. “Why not?”

“Because it was… rural. Very rural.”

“How rural could it be that there weren’t a lot of desk jobs? Even the Outer Cities have plenty of that kind of work, don’t they?”

He moistens his lips and swallows before he says, “I’m not from the Outer Cities originally. I’m from farther east.”

“East? How far east?”

“Quite far.”

“You’re from the wilderness?” There’s an audible gasp in my question.

My knowledge of geography is somewhat limited since my life has been defined by the walls of the Capital. But I know enough. There are the Central Cities—the only fully developed region right in the middle of the continent. Surrounding that unified territory is a loose collection of autonomous city-states usually referred to as the Outer Cities. They span the perimeter of the Central Cities in all directions—Saint Louis, Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, Dallas. They’re organized, fortified, and populated, but not as developed as the Central Cities because they didn’t have access to the battery technology that runs life here.

Outside of them, however, is nothing but empty, uncivilized land.

“Yes. It’s not really the kind of wilderness you’re imagining. We have real towns. A lot of farms and small communities. It’s definitely a more rural way of life than here, but it’s not completely wild.”

“But you’re so educated!” I’m so astonished by this new piece of information that I don’t think through my words. I’m having to fight to focus on massaging his lower back. “Where did you go to school?”

“We have schools.”

“You do?” When his eyes open to slant me a look, I give him a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to sound insulting or condescending. I just always understood it was completely uncivilized out east. Like… like hordes of barbarians or something.”

Gabriel chuckles. “Yeah. That’s what a lot of people think. But it’s not like that. It’s… It’s not a bad place to live.”

“So why did you move here?”

“I didn’t move to the Capital until I got this position. Like I said, there weren’t many opportunities to advance in the kind of work I’m good at in my hometown, so I moved to Saint Louis when I was twenty. I got a job pretty quick and worked my way up. I ended up with an administrative government job with some significant responsibilities. That’s when Vincent noticed me. He was on a diplomatic visit there, and he… recruited me.”

“So he asked you special to move into this position in the palace?”

Gabriel gives another breathy laugh. “I wouldn’t say he entirely asked.”

I’ve reached his ass. He’s still wearing his swimsuit, so I work on the muscles through the thin fabric. “He didn’t ask?”

“No. He made it so I couldn’t keep the job I had without causing negative diplomatic consequences, so I didn’t have much choice but to accept this position.”

“Oh.” I’m kind of upset to hear that. I don’t like the idea that he was forced to come here, bullied into doing such a difficult job. “I didn’t realize President Vincent was like that.”

“He is like that.”

It’s quite clear to me from the simple words that Gabriel neither likes nor respects the president.

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