Fated Love with You, page 1
FATED LOVE WITH YOU
WHITNEY G.
Contents
Author’s Note
More Strings Attached
Autumn
Layers of Protection
Ryder
Brace for Impact
Autumn
There Are Levels to This
Autumn
An Unexpected Variable
Ryder
Conundrum
Autumn
No Going Back
Ryder
Coldness Unraveling
Autumn
Don’t Get Comfortable
Autumn
Inevitable
Autumn
Close to the Vest
Ryder
The Train Never Leaves The Station
Autumn
Dangerous Delusions
Ryder
Behind the Mask
Autumn
Formata
Autumn
Da capo
Ryder
Not This Time
Ryder
A Recurring Role
Autumn
No Way Out
Autumn
Keep Your Wits
Autumn
Sweet Chaos
Ryder
Just a Little Bit
Autumn
Painful Lengths
Ryder
Can’t Stay Here
Autumn
How You Say It
Autumn
Things Left Unresolved
Ryder
Just to be Close to You
Ryder
Awaited Love with You
—
From me
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are 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.
Copyright © 2025 by Whitney G.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the author.
Cover design by Qamber Designs & Media
For 2025.
Book number five.
(& it’s part of my favorite story ever!)
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
Author’s Note
Dear Awesome Reader,
Thank you so much for picking up Fated Love, the second installment in the Wasted Love trilogy! I hope you enjoy the next part of this ride with Mister R. & Autumn!
If you want to be the first to learn of my upcoming releases, sales, and special things that I only offer to my readers, be sure to sign up for my Exclusive F.L.Y. List. (F.L.Y. = Effin Love You. Because whether you hate or love this story, I still love you for giving it a chance!)
Sincerely,
Whitney G.
Synopsis
Autumn should’ve walked away when she had the chance.
But instead, she let herself be pulled deeper into the world that surrounds Ryder—the luxury, the danger, the lies.
Every touch is addictive. Every secret drags her further from the woman she used to be.
And just when she thinks she’s found solid ground, the rules change.
The pieces are rigged.
And the one thing she wasn’t prepared to gamble…is already on the table.
Her fate isn’t just tangled with his anymore.
It belongs to him.
More Strings Attached
EPISODE 1
Autumn
The clamorous sounds in baggage claim have softened to a steady hum, overpowered by the train of thought that’s roaring through my mind.
Ryder has a daughter?
The beautiful girl in front of me has his eyes—that unmistakable shade of blue—and the longer I study her delicate features, the clearer it becomes: she’s his, through and through.
I blink a few more times, still in utter disbelief.
“The most important thing in my life…”
“There’s an extra loop in your ‘R’ here.” She rubs the whiteboard with her pinky finger. “If you make it too swirly, someone may think it’s an ‘S’ and you might pick up the wrong girl. Then I’ll be left here alone.”
“I’ll remember that,” I say. “You said your name was Adele, correct?”
She nods, capping the marker. “Adele Ivy Rochester. What’s your name?”
“Autumn Jane.”
“Your mom gave you two first names.” She smiles. “Should I call you Miss Autumn Jane or Miss Jane?”
“Either is fine.”
“Okay.” She pulls a cell phone from her jacket and steps back. Then she taps the screen a few times and holds it to her ear.
“Daddy, I’m in New York with Miss Jane,” she says. “Can you talk to me right now?”
“Of course,” he says, and I realize she’s hit the speaker button. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Everything.” She suddenly looks upset. “So much bad stuff happened to me today.”
“I’m listening.”
“It’s been a never-ending nightmare…”
I lean against the luggage cart as she launches into a rapid-fire monologue. She’s speaking so fast that I can only catch bits and pieces of her words.
“I made first chair again,” “She made fun of me,” and “This train in the rain.”
Squinting at the embroidered gold letters on her blazer, I try to decipher the words.
Thornfield Boarding School
London
There’s a line of tiny print under those, but Adele turns away before I can read it. She rushes toward a baggage carousel and jumps atop the ledge. Then she tiptoes around the edge, continuing to vent to Ryder.
I type her school’s name into my phone’s search bar, and a colossal iron gate appears. The words ‘Home of the Most Brilliant Minds and Artistic Talents’ glide above it.
As I click through the website, Kylie’s name flashes onto my screen.
Unsure of whether to talk to her now or wait until I’m on the jet, I walk toward Adele.
“I shouldn’t have to do it at all,” she whines to Ryder. “What do you think?”
“I need the rest of the story, Adeline.” His voice is firm. “You know better than that.”
“Well, it’s…” She looks up at me, finally realizing her dad has been on speaker all this time. Gasping, she turns it off and rushes away from me again.
Okay, then.
“Yeah, Kylie?” I answer the call.
“Why didn’t I research the distance between Seattle and Colorado before renting a car?”
“Because you’re you.” I smile. “Logistics have never been your strong suit.”
“Well, it’s twenty hours total, and I have eighteen left,” she says. “I’ll pull over in a few to nap and head toward you after.”
“Or,” I say, “you can save yourself the time and just—”
“He makes people disappear, Autumn.” She interrupts me. “Every person who has ever been involved with this guy in one way or another winds up missing, seriously injured, or dead. No exceptions.”
Silence.
“That’s not even the worst thing I discovered in the database about him.” She breathes slowly. “He’s—He’s not a good man, Autumn.”
“What about Nate?”
“Nate will probably star in an episode of True Crime soon.” She sounds as if she’s on the verge of hyperventilating. “I told you what my dad says about domestic phone calls being recorded, so me meeting you in person is better, and it’s more than worth this drive, okay?”
I say nothing.
I stare ahead at Adele as she laughs loudly. As she makes it more than clear that she has no idea what type of man her father is.
You and me both, Adele.
“Autumn?” Kylie asks. “Autumn, are you still with me?”
“Yes.”
“Please stay the hell away from this guy and don’t speak to him until I reach you, okay?”
“Kylie, I’m already…” My chest suddenly tenses, and I’m not sure why, but something warns me not to reveal that I’m working under Ryder.
It’s the same intuition that hit me years ago when I started hiding certain secrets from everyone in my life.
“You have as many layers as I do, Autumn; you just hide them differently.” I shake away Ryder’s recent words and let out a slow, unsteady breath.
“You’re already, what, Autumn?”
“I’m already on the same page with you.”
“Okay, good. I don’t want you to mysteriously disappear…” There’s a pause. “In case you’re off somewhere when I get in, do you have a key under the mat?”
“No, just call me.”
“Okay, talk soon.”
“Talk soon.” I end the call and stare at my screen.
A small part of me wishes I never asked her to look into Ryder, but an even bigger part of me is demanding the entire truth about him once and for all.
“My dad wants to talk to you.” Adele holds out her cell phone before I can consider my next move. “He says it’s important.”
Taking it from her, I clear my throat. “Yes?”
“There’s been a slight change of plans.” His deep voice comes over the line, turning me on with ease. “I need you to handle one more pickup before you head toward the jet.”
“I only have one child, Autumn.” There’s a smile in his voice. “And I don’t recall you ever asking if I had kids.”
“You never asked me either.”
“Because I already knew that you didn’t.”
Right. I roll my eyes. “What’s this other pickup?”
“It’s two things,” he says. “One is a set of custom pegs from the lost and found. It should be with an agent, under my last name.”
“And the second?”
“It’s throat-related.”
“I’m not swallowing anything for you.”
“Not until you’re in my bed, you mean,” he says. “Adeline would like a berry smoothie from Orange Julius. She’ll beg for a large one, but buy her a small one. Get yourself one, too. You sound like you’re on edge again.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.” He pauses, and Adele clasps my left hand. “She’ll show you how to get to the plane, and that’ll be it for your job today.”
“Wait a minute, Ryder.”
“Yes?”
“We need to talk in private once I get back.”
“I’m sure we do,” he says. “I’ll see you in five hours…”
End of Episode 1
Layers of Protection
EPISODE 2
Ryder
“Your daughter is the most disrespectful student who has ever attended our academy, Mr. Rochester.” Miss Temple, the headmistress of Adeline’s school, storms into the café where we always agree to meet.
For some strange reason, she finds it necessary to book a direct flight from London whenever Adeline heads home instead of picking up a phone.
She typically arrives an hour before my private jet lands, armed with a new set of infractions and insults. She’s a literal ‘layover’ conversation I have to endure, and each second tests my patience.
I can’t believe the school has the nerve to bill me for this shit…
“She has no regard for my authority.” She takes a seat. “If it weren’t for the fact that you’ve already paid her tuition for the next couple of years—”
“While generously donating two libraries and a brand-new auditorium,” I interrupt.
“Yes, that too.” She rolls her eyes. “If it weren’t for those things, I’d tell you that she’s better off attending another school.”
“Well, since you can’t tell me that, what would you like to say instead?”
“Um, can I get either of you some, uh…” A server suddenly steps in front of our table, her fingers trembling against the notepad. “Coffee? Tea?”
“I’ll have hot tea in a glass cup, with milk and two shots of vanilla,” Miss Temple says. “Mr. Rochester will take his usual blend of coffee that matches his soul, I’m sure.”
“You remembered,” I say, turning to the server. “I’ll take a small black coffee in a paper cup, to-go.”
“Yes, sir.” She rushes away without another word.
“Like I was saying—” Miss Temple clears her throat. “Adeline only follows the rules when she feels like it, and she hardly ever feels like it. What do you think that means?”
Like father, like daughter. “It means she’s a seven-year-old child.”
“She turns eight next month.”
“Don’t expect an invitation to her birthday party.”
“I’d rather receive a change in her behavior.” She leans closer, narrowing her eyes. “Issues aside, I think she’s one of the most talented violinists in the world, and if she were to become more disciplined over the years, I think she’d etch her way into the history books as the best of all time.”
I say nothing.
“But if she continues being defiant during the symphony rehearsals, skipping class with the maestros because she ‘knows this stuff already,’ and flying home on a whim, she’ll never live up to her full potential.”
“Anything else I need to know?”
“Just the usual.” Her expression softens. “She slipped out of her dormitory minutes after the nightly headcount. Security didn’t catch on to her absence until she made it to the airport.”
“What did her note say this time?”
“Read it yourself.” She pulls a sheet of paper from her purse, sliding it across the table as the server returns.
Dear Whoever Finds This,
I HATE this school, and I loathe everything about every single one of you.
Especially Miss Temple.
I’m not learning anything new & I can outperform you all in my sleep.
IN. MY. SLEEP.
Drop dead and cry in your graves.
I’m flying home to my dad.
Thanks for nothing.
Adeline
P.S. My dad hates all of you, too.
He told me so.
Jesus, Adeline…
These words aren’t as cruel as her last few letters, but her insistence on running away and frequently flying home is putting things in serious jeopardy.
Only a few people in my life are aware of her existence, and I’ve done my best to keep it that way since she can’t live with me in Seattle full-time.
At least, not yet.
“Well, Mr. Rochester?” Miss Temple sets down her tea. “What do you think?”
“I think you need to lower the price of tuition,” I say. “Her vocabulary should be far more advanced than this.”
“Okay. No offense, but can I please speak with Adeline’s mother instead of you?”
“Her mother isn’t available at this time.”
“Can I have her phone number for later, then?”
“No,” I say. “I’ll handle it.”
“By doing what?”
“That’s none of your concern.” I sip my coffee. “You won’t have any more problems with her when she returns to London.”
“Actually, I’m staying in the States for two weeks so I can make sure she continues to practice for her Carnegie debut.”
“Excuse me?”
“There’s no point in me flying back to London if she’s going to escape soon after.” She looks genuinely concerned. “Is she sitting outside in your car? Can I speak to her?”
I take another sip of coffee, trying to think of a way to tell her she’s reached her question limit for today.
“I looked up the home address that’s on file for her, but it didn’t pop up.” She taps her phone screen. “I’d appreciate it if you could give me the right one, along with a decent time when I can come over every day.”
“I’ll get back to you on that.” I stand to my feet. “I don’t allow strangers in my house.”
“I’m her teacher.”
“That doesn’t mean I know you.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” She scoffs. “You’re saying that like you have something to hide. You’re a dean at a university and you come from a legacy family, Mr. Rochester. Get a grip on yourself.”
“I’ll pay for your flight home, and I’ll make sure she practices via Zoom calls with you,” I say. “I’ll even reimburse you for whatever you were planning to spend on a hotel. You can’t stay in this city past tomorrow.”
“Because you think you own Seattle?”
“This is the end of our conversation, Miss Temple.” I set two twenties on the table and head toward the door. “I’ll be in touch soon.”
“Don’t bother. You’re a terrible father.”
I look over my shoulder. “Come again?”
“I said what I said.” She stands, walking over to me. “No wonder Adeline is so fucked up and doesn’t know what ‘consequences’ are. Her rich-ass dad lets her get away with whatever she wants and allows her to take a first-class flight home to cry, instead of teaching her to suck it up and get over it like everyone else.”
“I take back what I said, Miss Temple.” I look at my watch. “Tomorrow seems a little too late. You can’t stay in this city past today.”
“You need to let me have at least one practice session with Adeline.”
