Donna Sterling - Wife By Deception

“I want what’s mine.”

“And what,” she asked haltingly, “do you consider yours?”

“Don’t worry, chèr’. Not you… I meant my daughter.”

The world tilted crazily around her. He had to be Mitch. Her sister’s husband.

She had to come up with a plan. She couldn’t let this stranger carry her niece off to an unknown future. Yet what could she do? She had no idea where he’d sent the little girl…had no idea where he lived.

If he disappeared now, she might never find Arianne again.

Should she tell him her twin had died? Perhaps he’d soften and handle the matter with compassion and reason. Then again, he might simply leave, glad to be rid of his ex-wife once and for all.

“Pack a suitcase for Arianne,” he ordered her, interrupting her thoughts, “and one for yourself. We have a date with a judge. You left before our divorce was final. And guess what? The attorney you hired hadn’t even passed the bar yet. He had no authority to act on your behalf. Nothing he handled was valid.”

Kate stared at him. That meant… Oh, God, this man was Camryn’s husband. And now he believed her to be his wife!

Dear Reader,

I wrote this book with deep affection for the offshore shrimpers in the Gulf of Mexico—men who face incredible dangers in their work, and do so with pride, a strict code of honor and an uncanny communion with nature. During my eighteen months of living and working on a commercial trawler named the Lady Leone, I came to admire Gulf shrimpers as true masters of the sea.

The hero of this book, Mitch Devereaux, is one of this breed, and of another proud race—the Cajuns of Louisiana. They’re known for their strong family ties; distinctive music, food and dance; making a living off the land, swamp and sea; and an abiding love of a good party. They value zest for life, or, as they call it, joie de vivre. Mitch, however, lost his joie de vivre when his estranged wife ran off with his daughter. Nothing will stop him from tracking them down, bringing them home and forcing his wife to honor their joint-custody agreement.

Little does Mitch know that the woman he finds with his daughter is not his wife, but her identical twin, intent on protecting the baby she loves. This is the story of how Mitch regains his joie de vivre, and how Kate Jones finds the precious spice that has been missing from her life.

As you curl up in a comfy chair to read their story, I hope you laissez les bons temps rouler. A Cajun motto, it means, “Let the good times roll!”

Sincerely,

Donna Sterling

www.millsandboon.co.uk

I dedicate this to the Kozma clan, especially Eddie,

for “reading every word”; Kenny, for getting me to

the express mail office in time; and Michelle,

for venturing with me into the swampland…

and the Cajun dance hall. We passed a good time, chèr’.

Many thanks to Ron “Black” Guidry, for his swamp tour;

Jesse Lecompte Jr., for answering questions; Doug Lambert,

who has a great little shop in the French Quarter;

and Joe Cruse of The Stormy Seas, who will always

have a place in my heart. And special thanks to

Jacquie D’Alessandro, Susan Goggins, Carina Rock

and Ann White, for their insightful critiques.

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Tallahassee, Florida

Early January

CAMRYN LISTENED for sounds in the early-morning stillness of her sister’s household. She heard only the patter of rain on the roof and the rustling of Florida wind through the palm tree near her window. No one seemed to be awake.

She climbed out of bed in stealthy silence.

Today was the day she’d hit the road for New York City. And Kate would discover she had a baby to watch for the next couple of weeks. Kate Jones, Ph.D., college professor, no less, should be able to figure out how to take care of a three-month-old.

Quietly Camryn dressed in the dark. The baby had bawled for hours after she’d brought her to Kate’s house last night. Stunned to learn of her niece’s existence, Kate had insisted they spend the night, then took charge of rocking, feeding and soothing the baby.

Camryn had expected she would. Despite the years they’d spent apart, she knew her sister. They were, after all, identical twins, and the only family each other had…other than the baby now. Kate would take good care of her until Camryn returned. She would have asked her to baby-sit if she hadn’t been afraid Kate would put a kink in her plans. Much safer to force her cooperation.

After gathering her purse, her suitcase and Kate’s car keys, Camryn tiptoed through the darkened house, tossed a letter onto the kitchen table, then hurried outside through the chill January rain to Kate’s rather stodgy BMW. Camryn’s Mustang convertible had given her problems. She didn’t trust it on another long road trip. The BMW would have to do.

Moments later, she turned out of the elegant Tallahassee subdivision and onto the open highway, headed for New York City…and television stardom. Prime-time soaps, here I come! Everyone who knew anything about show business had assured her that the soap opera producers would take one look at the pictures of her with the baby and write them both into the script—mother and daughter. Her exceptionally gorgeous baby girl was just the gimmick she’d always needed to break into show business big-time.

And once she did, she’d have the means to solve her other problems, too. The one that had been driving her nuts lately was the need for a baby-sitter. The crying, the smelly diapers, the continual demand for attention were more than she could take. She’d originally intended to bring Arianne with her to New York right away, but after a hellish time on the road, she’d decided to leave Arianne with Kate, then come back for her after she made the all-important contacts and found a place to live near the studios.

Being free for a while felt good. Who knew mothering would be so difficult? She’d thought it would be an adventure…a new, exciting phase in her life. Movies and television had made motherhood seem so desirable. So…easy. And while her ex and his family had been around to help, it hadn’t seemed too difficult.

But the weeks since she’d struck out on her own had been torture. She supposed it wouldn’t have been as bad if she hadn’t lost all her money at poker. She’d had to take a singing gig in Atlanta, which hadn’t paid enough for her to hire a baby-sitter and recoup her losses. She’d brought the baby to the club with her every evening until the manager put an end to it…and to Camryn’s job.

She wasn’t about to let Mitch know she needed help, though.

Give me full custody of her, Cam. Arianne would be better off.

Her hand clenched the steering wheel and she fumbled to light a cigarette. Flicking her gold lighter with a vengeance, she tossed her heavy blond hair over one shoulder and leaned toward the flame. Her professionally manicured nails shimmered crimson in the flickering light; her jeweled rings and bracelets flashed. She drew in a biting lungful of smoke.