Lasting Fate (Fate, #3)
Charisse Spiers
STOP!
Have you read book one, Accepted Fate, or book two, Twisting Fate?
If so, please continue, but if not, please go back. This is the finale to Breyson and Kinzleigh’s story. They are not meant to be read as standalone. Thank you.
Copyright 2014 Charisse Spiers. All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means such as electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the author of this book. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Contributors:
Clarise Tan with CT Cover Creations, Illustrator.
Jessica Grover, Editor.
Hetty Whitmore Rasmussen, Promoter.
Elizabeth Thiele, Beta-Reader & PA.
Heidi Sturgess, Beta-Reader.
Bryttany Currey, Beta-Reader.
Victoria Ashley, Beta-Reader & Advisor.
Stephanie Phillips, Beta-Reader.
Antoinette Dooley, Beta-Reader.
Leslie Ishee, Beta-Reader.
Photos contributed for teasers purchased and licensed for use @123RF.com
Prologue
Breyson
What little bit of hope I had was squandered today, but no matter how much I want to give up, I can't. I won't. Watching that car pull away with my girl and my son, without me, is the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I thought being away from them was hard, not knowing about their existence or mine, but I was wrong. That was easy compared to this. At least then there was the possibility that it was all a dream, this I know is not.
I've spent the last twenty-four hours getting to know my son, holding him in my arms, and bonding with him. I got down on my knees and begged her not to make the decision she did today. There is some underlying reason that is scaring her. Ask me what the fuck it is and I couldn't tell you. We both know that two people couldn't be more meant for each other than us if it were drawn out across the sky with the stars. Kinzleigh is one of the most readable people I know, or at least when it comes to me, but she isn't giving in. The stubborn woman is convinced that I need to go live a life of solitude without her or with someone else.
The thought of another woman physically makes me ill. I even told her so, but she still looked in my eyes and told me her decision remained the same. She's leaving with Preston, and come December she's marrying him. She lied to me today. For the first time in her entire life she looked me dead in the eyes and lied to me. She's never lied to me. When I asked why she was choosing him, she told me that in the absence of me she's fallen for him, and to please let her go.
"Fuck," I yell, not caring who is around me. I begin pulling my hair, harder, with each increment of distance that grows between us. What the hell was I supposed to say to that? No longer seeing the car in my line of vision, I begin to panic. It's building and I need to free it, the anxiety and adrenaline that is spreading like fire throughout my body.
I find my victim in the light pole behind me as I take out my anger and frustration. With each swing I feel a little better. I don't care how bad it hurts, my heart is hurting worse than any physical pain I can bestow upon my skin and bones. You could skin the hide from my body, break every bone inside, or remove my limbs one by one, but the pain won't compare to the ache in my chest that remains from my heart disintegrating into ash and releasing into the wind.
When my arms won't physically move anymore, I drop to my knees as the tears stream down my face. My knuckles are bloody and look like they've been through a meat grinder. The pain jolts through my body with every beat of my heart pumping blood through my veins. I lean back on my heels and look up at the sky. I'm so mad and hurt. I only want to know one thing: why? "What more do I have to do to prove that I love her? Is this some kind of test? Tell me what I have to do to get her back and I'll do it. Please, God, just tell me what I have to do. Name the price and I'll pay it!"
Yelling at God isn't going to do anything, but I'm desperate. I probably look like a crazy person right now, or fuck, even a pussy, but I don't care. I just lost my heart, soul, and son, all within five minutes. I need the answer key to all these questions. There is bound to be something to make her break. I know she wants me, wants us, and wants our family. I need to figure out what is standing in the way so I can fucking grab it by the balls and destroy it.
A hand touches the top of my shoulder. "Come on, man. You don’t want to be this guy. You aren't going to win her back in the parking lot of the family birthplace. She's made her decision and right now you can't change it. We'll find another way. Maybe it's time you went back home for a while. Your family needs to know you're alive."
Ryland hasn't left the hospital since we got here. I guess I should be grateful, because he's my only way out of this place. He's barely raising his voice, as if he's scared I'm going to go crazy and end up AWOL again. "I'm not fucking leaving with my girl and my son here. I won't be across the country while another man takes my place as his father. Our family didn’t raise us that way. I'm staying here until I win her back; win them back. I will convince her."
"Brey."
"Drop it, Ryland. What the hell is wrong with you?" My tone is angry, but I can't help it.
"I know what she's scared of." I turn in the direction of the voice being yelled across the parking lot. It's a petit girl with long, brown hair, and gray eyes. She looks around my age or maybe even a few years older.
"Who are you," I bark out questioningly.
"Lauren, her best friend. I can help you break her walls, but you have to be willing to do what I say or it won't work." Something in her eyes looks familiar, but I can't place it. It's probably just one of those weird things where someone looks familiar even though you have no clue who they are. What have I got to lose at this point?
"Tell me what you know."
She takes the first step in my direction, her heels tapping against the pavement. She looks too young to be dressed in the expensive office attire she's dressed in. It finally rings a bell. She's the one Ryland was talking to on the phone; the girl that works for Preston. If she works for Preston, then why would she be willing to help me?
She stops before me, looking down at me. "For starters, you need to get up and be he man she fell in love with. Wallowing and sorrow never got the girl, actions and fighting did." Her accent matches mine. I don't know why, but I feel like I should know her.
"Lauren..." Ryland loops his arm around mine, helping me to my feet. My energy has been drained from taking out my wrath on the pole. The pole won based on the bloody pulp my knuckles have become. "How have you been?" I look over at Ryland wondering about the strange tone in his voice. My brows line for a moment and I wipe my face with the bottom fabric of my shirt.
He has his hands in his pockets. Is he nervous? What the fuck? "Hey, Rye. I've been good, just busy." Rye? When did he start getting people to call him by his childhood nickname again? We all do it, because we've been calling him that for years, but I don't know who the hell she is. I don't have time to analyze this shit right now. I'll have to figure out what is going on with him later.
He's usually a cocky, but lovable, ass when it comes to women. All women are to be enjoyed for their passionate nature in bed is how he look
s at it, but emotionally they are to be left alone. Right now, the look in his eyes and the tone in his voice are telling me something about her has him perturbed; a longing present to make her his, but I don't think he's figured that out yet.
Back to the topic at hand. I’m getting distracted. "Well, are you two going to stand here and act awkward after what I'm sure was a late night rendezvous in the sack, or are you going to tell me some useful information, so I can leave you two to deal with whatever the fuck is going on here?"
She looks back at me, her eyes now widened a little more than they were before. I can't explain the attitude I have when I'm at odds with Kinzleigh, but it's not controllable. Anyone that's ever loved someone fully would understand the need to get things moving at the pace of a hare and not a tortoise. "Well, for one, you can get your ass in gear and fulfill the promises you make to her instead of reciting them."
"Excuse me? What the hell is your problem?" I may be acting like an ass, but I have good reason. She, however, does not. Each day without Kinzleigh is a day I miss out on loving her and watching my son grow. I've missed out on enough already.
She exhales. "Look, Breyson, I've gotten close to Kinzleigh over the last month and she's talked to me. I know what can get her back, but you're going to have to trust me. That trust is going to require you being absent for a little while."
"Like hell I am. I'm not going to just give up on her. How in the fuck is that going to prove I'm fulfilling my promises to them?" She wants me to trust her? I don't even know her.
Ryland places the back side of his hand against my bicep, getting my attention. "Brey, maybe you should hear her out. Kinzleigh trusts her, and you really don't have any other options. Your way is obviously not working right now. Would you rather be absent temporarily or permanently? You don't want to drive her away for good."
I close my eyes, trying to calm my raging nerves. The throbbing pain in my hands tells me that I can't get mad again. Talking to her hasn't helped, pledging my love to her hasn't helped, and begging her has left me begging alone. Listening wouldn't be the worst thing I've tried so far. "You have five minutes to make your case, then I'm going after her."
"She thinks loving you is cursing you, marking your soul for death to collect. Words won't win her back. She is convinced that if she allows herself to love you, you'll soon be dead. It all has to do with the plane accident. When you disappeared, she bargained with God; her happiness for your life. When you showed back up, to her, that was the toll being collected, and she paid the price by leaving you for him." The look in her eyes turns to sadness.
"That's the stupidest shit I've ever heard. How is what happened her fault at all? I can't even see the reasoning behind that. Besides, that doesn't make sense, because she said she loves him, so how is that any different?" I cannot believe I'm hearing this crap. It's completely ridiculous.
She begins shaking her head. "She loves him, because he's been there for her, supported her, and loved her even when she didn't love him, but she's in love with you. The heart can love over and over again, and in many depths and forms, but the soul can only belong to one, and hers belongs to you. With everything that's happened, she believes in the supernatural and spiritual more so now than ever before. The price for your life spared is happiness, and someone has to pay it. Unless it's sacrificed by one's heart that truly loves her, the curse remains and she pays the price. It may sound like a bunch of stupid bullshit to you, and I admit it's far fetched, but she actually believes it."
None of this is making any damn sense. It sounds like something straight out of a paranormal folktale, or some kind of weird voodoo curse, or magical spell. I can't even believe I'm listening to this shit. "What exactly are you telling me to do?"
"As much as you don't like it, Preston loves her. I've witnessed it firsthand. She makes him happy, and he would do anything for her and Bryce. According to what she has led herself to believe, I figure it would mean if he willingly sacrifices his own happiness, hers is freed, and she can love the one whom she chooses. The debt has to be paid by someone. A girl will do anything for the one she loves, and that includes letting him go. She's made up her mind. Unless you can change it, the only thing that can push y'all back together is fate or God almighty himself."
I'm getting aggravated with all of the riddles. Maybe I've just gotten stupid with my head injury, but she is not telling me a damn thing that is logical or normal. "Okay, let's just say for sake of argument that I'm going along with all of this bullshit, which is what it is by the way. What makes you think Preston Rich-boy Dunagin is ever going to let her go? We all know that isn't going to happen. He's already said that he would never be the one to walk away from her, so we're still at a standstill. Besides, I find it hard to believe Kinzleigh told you all of this. I love her with everything that I am, but she's never been the deep thinker or a philosophical type person."
She finally starts to smirk a little as if I'm not getting the big hint to the joke lingering in the air. "She didn't. She told me the basics and I figured out the rest. She’s not that hard to read if you pay attention. She's pretty deep when you pull back her exterior layers and look beyond what she chooses to reveal. With her, it's all about reading between the lines. As I said before, your soul belongs to hers and vice versa. I can’t say that I believe it, but if you choose to believe in soul mates then there is only one way one soul will let the other move on without it: death. You're back; therefore, neither of you will be able to function happily without the connection to the other. Since you never died, your souls never split, making it impossible for hers to collide with another. Mated souls that part won't be apart for long. Misery they will bestow until they find where they belong. Soul mates are one of those things you either completely believe in or not at all. There is no in between."
Back to the fucking riddles again. I feel like driving my head through a brick wall. If I feel like I'm standing in a pile of bullshit then why am I still standing here listening? I should just walk away and do things my way. Why aren't my feet moving?
"So you just expect me to sit back and do nothing, hoping that she will magically appear at my door step? No one gets anywhere sitting on the sidelines. I'm sorry, but I've always been taught to get in the game and play. I can't do it. I can't live on wishing and hoping. It's not in me to stand behind the line and settle for second string while someone else plays the game, getting their hands dirty." She is back to shaking her head again.
"Have you listened to anything she said while you've been back? If she came back to you today, where would you live? How would you pay bills, buy food, and provide simple necessities? You haven't finished high school, you don't have a job, and you're not living the dream that you told Kinzleigh you had. A woman becomes a mother when she feels the baby move inside her womb, a man becomes a father when he meets his child for the first time. Right now Preston has a lead on you. He can provide for her and a baby, you can't. He sure as hell won't let her go if you can't support her, no matter how much she's hurting. Part of loving someone is to provide for them. What are you doing to prove that their needs are what you're after and not your wants? Patience is a virtue, and sometimes in life you have to look at the big picture and not the short distance in front of you."
I'm trying to process all of this information, and formulate some kind of comeback as to why all of this sounds like the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard, but I'm honestly coming up with nothing. "I don't want to be without her. I don't want to go a day without seeing her and our son. I want forever." I'm so lost in my thoughts that I didn't mean to verbalize the last one.
"Then I suggest you let it drive you to put a plan in motion. She won't come back to you if you give up your dream on account of Bryce. You're going to have to continue on as if you never got on that plane and you graduated high school. You're going to have to be a college student and a grown up at the same time to get her back. She needs to know you can support her and have your dream as well, even if in a les
ser form than the original plan, just as she has. Then, and only then, will you get her back." She looks at the silver watch on her wrist. "I have to go. Duty calls. Best of luck to you, Breyson. This time, I really hope you get the girl."
What does that even mean, this time? She turns and walks off as if this was all some big dream. Too bad it isn't. It's my life. My head is pounding from the build up of anxiety and stress getting to me. I want to kick and scream, throwing a tantrum in the middle of the floor like a toddler to get my way, but reality isn't that way at all. If I could demand for her to come back I would, but she will only hate me that way. I won't take away her free will, even if the result doesn't lean in my favor.
Leaning against the metal pole that is now stained with my blood, I dissect each piece of information she gave me versus the way I know Kinzleigh is. No matter how many different ways you dice it the ending result is the same. Everything she said is rightfully true. I have plenty of money invested, but Kinzleigh never has been and never will be one swayed by money as bribery. Everyone that knows her history with Preston knows she isn't that way. Forever is a process and it's going to take some work to get there.
If I was honest with myself I could've figured this out on my own. I'm reminded of something my dad used to tell me when I got frustrated over playing a bad game or losing. Those that set a goal and put in the time and effort it takes to get there will earn the victory in the end. The ones that work hard in life gets the payoff. Most of the time he was probably referring to medical school, but he used it in multiple scenarios and I always applied it to football. I suppose this is no different. I went in to this knowing I was going to have to fight. I might as well start to fucking do something about it. The father of time is pissing me off right now.
"Where do you want to go?" I refocus my eyes on Ryland as he closes in some of the distance between us.
Lasting Fate Page 1
