Embracing Fate
A Captive Hearts Novel
Ellie Masters
JEM Publishing
elliemasters.com
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Copyright © 2019 Ellie Masters
EMBRACING FATE
All rights reserved.
This copy is intended for the original purchaser of this ebook ONLY. No part of this ebook may be reproduced, scanned, transmitted, or distributed in any printed, mechanical, or electronic form without prior written permission from Ellie Masters or JEM Publishing except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it to the seller and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.
Image/art disclaimer: Licensed material is being used for illustrative purposes only. Any person depicted in the licensed material is a model.
Editor: Erin Toland
Proofreader: Rox Leblanc
Published in the United States of America by
JEM Publishing
This is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, businesses, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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ISBN: B07XSLJN88
Created with Vellum
Warning
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This story contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language and might be considered offensive to some readers.
This book is for sale to adults ONLY, as defined by the laws of the country where you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely and where they cannot be accessed by underage readers.
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my one and only—my amazing and wonderful husband.
Without your care and support, my writing would not have made it this far. You make me whole every day. I love you “that much.” For the rest of you, that means from the beginning to the end and every point in between. Thank you, my dearest love, my heart and soul, for putting up with me, for believing in me, and for loving me.
My husband deserves a special gold star for listening to me obsess over this book and for never once complaining while I brought these characters from my mind to the page.
You pushed me when I needed to be pushed. You supported me when I felt discouraged. You believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. If it weren’t for you, this book never would have come to life.
To My Readers
This book is a work of fiction. It does not exist in the real world and should not be construed as reality. As in most romantic fiction, I’ve taken liberties. I’ve compressed the romance into a sliver of time. I’ve allowed these characters to develop strong bonds of trust over a matter of days. This does not happen in real life where you, my amazing readers, live. Take more time in your romance and learn who you’re giving a piece of your heart to. I urge you to move with caution. Always protect yourself.
When you find your partner, talk to him or her. Be open and honest about your needs, your expectations, and your limits, especially if you have any triggers. Never allow your partner to violate the tender trust you have put into their hands. Always remember, your lover can’t read your mind. It is your responsibility to talk to them, no matter how frightening that might be. In return, you must listen to what your partner has to say and understand their limits, as you do your own. Share your hopes, desires, and deepest, darkest secrets. Most of all, don’t be afraid to seek out who you are, become what you want, and share your journey with your partner.
Contents
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Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
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Final Thoughts
THE END
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Contemporary Romance
The One I Want Series
By Jet & Ellie Masters
each book in this series can be read as a standalone and is about a different couple with an HEA.
Aiden & Ariel
Brent & Brie
Caleb & Caitlyn
Dax & Dani
Rockstar Romance
The Angel Fire Rock Romance Series
each book in this series can be read as a standalone and is about a different couple with an HEA. It is recommended they are read in order.
Ashes to New (prequel)
Heart’s Insanity (book 1)
Heart’s Desire (book 2)
Heart’s Collide (book 3)
Hearts Divided (book 4)
Dark Romance
Captive Hearts Series
each book in this series can be read as a standalone and is about a different couple with an HEA. It is recommended they are read in order.
She’s MINE
Embracing FATE
Romantic Suspense
Changing Roles Series:
this series is about one couple and must be read in order.
Book 1: Command
Book 2: Control
Book 3: Collar
HOT READS
each book is a standalone novel.
Off Duty
Nondisclosure
Down the Rabbit Hole
Romantic Suspense (standalone)
each book is a standalone novel.
Twist
of Fate
The Starling
Redemption
HOT READS
Becoming His Series
this series is about one couple and must be read in order.
Book 1: The Ballet
Book 2: Learning to Breathe
Book 3: Becoming His
Sweet Contemporary Romance
Finding Peace
~AND~
Science Fiction
Ellie Masters writing as L.A. Warren
Vendel Rising: a Science Fiction Serialized Novel
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
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Also by Ellie Masters
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Connect with Ellie Masters
Final Thoughts
THE END
Chapter 1
My lungs filled with my first deep breath in nearly five years. I didn’t look over my shoulder or watch my back. I simply took one damn breath, and on that breath, I tasted freedom.
One step.
That’s all that separated me from my past. As to my future? I could forge a better future.
Closing my eyes, I savored my first few moments outside prison walls. I swear the air tasted sweeter out here.
I’d been sentenced to twelve years, and while I resigned myself to serve each and every day of my sentence, freedom found me years ahead of schedule.
Atonement would come later, if at all. There was a penance to pay. It had been a rough few years and I didn’t expect that to change now that I was free.
Nothing good could be said of prison, and I had plenty of experience behind bars. I endured two years in a Thai jail, surviving a living death.
The time I spent in an American prison had been a cakewalk compared to the daily threat of death, dismemberment, and worse during my stint in an overseas jail. Americans didn’t know how easy they had it. They were pussies when it came to surviving.
I scuffed my boots over the gravel which littered the empty parking lot, feeling a need to stamp out the past, but my past refused to be dismissed.
My frustration grew.
Most ex-cons had someone waiting to take them where they needed to go at the end of their time served.
I had no one.
The parking lot was empty because I’d violated my family in the worst way imaginable.
“Get along!” The gate guard behind me shifted foot to foot. “You got a ride coming?” The scowl on his face reflected zero compassion.
“No.” My reply came out harsher than I intended.
I allowed my gaze to wander over the heat-baked asphalt. In five years, with the exception of my lawyer, I had had zero visitors; not my brother, and most definitely not Kevin, my brother-by-another-mother.
Kevin, Jake, and I had once been inseparable growing up. As my only living family, they should’ve been here, except I’d done horrible things to them.
They hated me and rightfully so.
As much as I’d like to think they cared if I lived or died, I had to face a sobering truth.
Nobody was coming to take me from this hellhole.
“You need to make a call?” The guard snapped to attention and his scowl deepened.
I gave a shrug. There was no one to call.
“Well…get on.”
Instead of replying with a snarky comment, I debated my next move.
“There’s a bus stop down that-a-way.” He jerked a thumb down the road. “It’s a bit of a hike.”
“Yeah?” I could handle a bus.
If it weren’t for the small fact of needing to check in with my parole officer before the end of the night, I’d hop on that bus and keep on riding.
I’d head west, not stopping until I hit the coast. Maybe I would hook north and escape into the vast Alaskan wilderness where I could disappear and reinvent myself.
That would be a good place for a man looking to start a new life.
In another seven years, I might just do that. Parole meant freedom from prison, but not from the legal system. The state of Georgia owned me until the balance of my sentence was served.
I’d been paroled, not forgiven. I might be free, but my sins shackled me just as surely as those prison walls.
“How far is it?” I asked.
The muggy summer heat didn’t care about my newfound freedom. It attacked me with relentless determination and sapped my strength. The sweet, southern Georgia air smothered me with its oppressiveness. The surface of the asphalt shimmered as it baked beneath the sun and heat slammed into me making me wish for the stale air-conditioning of my cell.
Almost.
“About five miles, give or take.” The guard spat on the ground.
Five miles? In this heat?
“Shit!”
The guard pointed again. “You should get to walkin’.”
My only ride waited five miles down a road baking in the summer heat. What would he do if I asked for a ride?
He’d probably shoot me.
It wasn’t like I expected a congrats-a-fuck-ulations on your release, but he could’ve switched out his scowl for a frown. I was free, after all. My debt to society had been paid; at least as far as my parole papers said.
I could go wherever I wanted, as long as I stayed within the borders of the great state of Georgia.
I guess, that meant hiking five miles to the bus stop.
Good thing I had boots. I wore what I brought with me into this hellhole; sturdy boots, a faded pair of jeans, and a ripped T-shirt stained with blood.
The sum of my possessions held the sins of my past. I’d been arrested in these clothes, and they’d been returned in their original condition. There had to be some sort of karmic justice in that.
I wore her blood; Kate’s blood.
The fuckers hadn’t even washed my clothes.
A sniff brought the scent of her flooding my senses; her tears, her pain, and her ineffable defiance. My lids slammed shut as memories of that night flooded my mind. I wanted nothing to do with those memories, but there was no escape from my sins, or the pain in my brother’s eyes as I betrayed him.
Betrayal was a harsh mistress, and I’d fucked her with a grin on my face and evil in my heart, but she was a sneaky and resilient bitch.