Devotion (Central Cities Book 1) by Claire Kent

Author:Claire Kent [Kent, Claire]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2025-01-30T00:00:00+00:00

14

That same evening, I’m returning from my weekly visit with my family, bubbling with joy.

So happy it’s a real possibility that I could jump right out of my skin.

I do my best to contain it as I grin at the palace guards when they let me inside. They all know and like me now. One of them asks if I got some good news. Since I can’t tell them the truth, I explain I had a good visit with my family.

Trying even harder to rein in my mood, I walk upstairs to our room and let myself in. Unsurprisingly, Gabriel is still up and still seated at his desk, his head tilted down toward the sheaf of papers he’s reading through and his right hand holding a pen poised over a page in his notebook.

He slants me a quick smile as I walk in. He’s jotting a note to himself as he asks, “How’s your family doing?”

“Great. They’re doing great.”

As far as I can hear, my voice is natural and composed, sounding no different than it does when I’ve returned from my visit any other Saturday evening.

But Gabriel lowers his pen, his eyes following me as I head for my window seat so I can sit down and untie my street shoes. “Is something going on?” he asks at last.

I blink at him innocently. “What do you mean?”

A frown deepens on his face. “What’s going on, Jess?”

Shit. The man is far too smart and observant. It’s highly inconvenient for keeping a secret. “Nothing is going on. Why are you asking me that?”

“I’m asking because you’re lying to me.”

“I’m not ly⁠—”

“You’re pretending nothing has happened when it’s blatantly obvious that something has.” He’s speaking softly—he almost never raises his voice and has never once done so in anger—but his tone is stern. Slightly disapproving. “You think I can’t read you? You think I don’t know you by now?”

Of course he does. He knows me as well as I know him—and I know him more intimately than anyone else in my life. Including my own family.

I’ve never been a very good actor, and I simply can’t hide my moods from Gabriel.

“I’m sorry.” I edge my feet into the soft slippers I wear in the room and then lean back against my cushions with a long exhale. “I didn’t want to hide anything from you. But I’m not supposed to talk about it.”

His expression changes. “Why can’t you talk about it to me?”

“I want to,” I admit. “As soon as I heard the news, I wanted to tell you. But my family said we need to keep quiet about it.”

He’s pushed his chair out from his desk and turned it toward me. He leans forward, bracing his forearms on his knees. “You know perfectly well I’ll keep your secrets like my own. If something is going on with you—good or bad—then I need to know.”

He means it. It’s so clear to me that he’s fully accepted responsibility for me, so much so that it offends him when I hold anything back.

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