Wife By Deception

Wife By Deception
Donna Sterling

TwinsNow you see me–now you don' tWhen her flashy, adventurous, identical twin is killed in a car crash, Tallahassee college professor Kate Jones is left with her twin' s infant daughter. Kate knows almost nothing about the little girl' s father–just that his name is Mitch and her sister left him because he was " mean." Kate loves her niece, and she' ll do whatever is necessary to make sure Arianne is raised happy and healthy. That includes pretending to be her own twin when Mitch suddenly appears, so she can find out what her brother-in-law plans for his child.Mitch Devereaux, a Cajun shrimp boat captain for whom family is all, regrets his unhappy marriage, but he adores his little girl. When his wife flees with their daughter, ignoring a joint-custody arrangement, he tracks her down and hauls her back to Louisiana, determined to have her face a judge.But the woman he abducts is so different from the woman he married. And Kate' s captor is so different from the man she' d heard about….

“What do you want?” Kate asked

“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

Wife by Deception

Donna Sterling

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://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’.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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.

CONTENTS

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