Alicia stared at him with uncertainty.

“I mean, baby, look. This sort of thing happens all the time with men who hold the kind of leadership positions that I do, and it especially happens with pastors like me who have thousands of members in their congregation. People love trying to destroy any man who’s been called by God to teach His Word and one who is being completely faithful to his wife and his ministry.”

“I just don’t understand why anyone would say these kinds of things.”

“Because, baby, people are very cruel, and unfortunately as first lady of our church, you’re going to have to deal with these kinds of rumors all the time. I’m sorry that this woman approached you out of the blue the way she did, but sadly I doubt it will be the last time. Sweetheart, there are so many women out there who would do or say anything if they thought they had even the slightest chance at breaking up our marriage, just so they can have a chance at becoming my wife.”

Alicia wanted to believe him, but she couldn’t stop thinking about her father and all the women he’d slept with over the years. All the lies he’d told her mother whenever she had confronted him about them. All the plotting and scheming he’d done with not just one wife or two, but with three. Alicia thought about how long her father had gotten away with so much wrongdoing. Mostly, though, she thought about herself and how she’d plotted and schemed, too, and told effortless lies to Phillip the whole time she’d been having an affair with Levi. She thought about the fact that she’d always been able to keep a straight face, the same as JT was doing right now.

But maybe she was reading too much into this and JT really was being honest with her. Maybe he wasn’t like her father at all. Maybe he wasn’t anything like the way she’d once been either. She just didn’t know what to think, and she was very confused.

“Alicia. Baby,” he said, grabbing both her hands. “You have to believe me. I’m your husband, and you have to trust me. You have to trust that I love you with all my heart and that I would never hurt you.”

“I love you, too, JT, but I could never tolerate you messing around with other women. I could never do that, not under any circumstances.”

“And you won’t have to because I’ll always be faithful to you. Always,” he said, leaning her body backward and onto the bed. “You’re the only woman I want and the only woman I need, and I promise you that won’t ever change.”

Alicia gazed into his eyes, praying he was telling the truth, and JT kissed her. He kissed her the way he had the night of their first date, gently yet insatiably, and she couldn’t help loving him with everything in her. She loved him hard, and her feelings were so intense, she had no control over them. She was powerless, and that was the one thing that frightened her the most.

JT scrolled through the list of contacts in his BlackBerry, searching for his father-in-law’s phone number, and hated having to call him. His plan had been to at least wait until he’d been married to Alicia for three or four months before asking Curtis for any help, but now with this whole mysterious Donna woman entering the picture, something told him he needed to act without delay. He’d done everything he could, trying to convince Alicia that this woman was lying through her teeth and was only trying to cause problems in their marriage, but he could tell Alicia was still feeling uneasy. This woman, whoever she was, had caused Alicia to question his past as well as who he was currently, and he had to do whatever necessary to keep her happy. This, of course, included making a lot more money than he was, because Alicia loved living the high life. She wanted to be rich, and while she’d insisted she would never tolerate any extramarital affairs, he had a feeling that if he gave her more than she could ever dream of-more than what her father had given her-she would think long and hard before ever leaving him. JT wasn’t planning for Alicia to find out about Diana, Carmen, or any of the other women he’d been with since meeting her, but he knew it was better to be safe than sorry. It was better to start preparing for what could eventually happen, because he didn’t want to lose his wife.

He also didn’t want to lose his five thousand followers, which could easily come to pass since his congregation loved having Alicia as their first lady. They loved the idea that she was the daughter of a world-renowned minister, a man they all cherished, and without her, it might be twenty years before JT saw the kind of success he longed for-he might never become the leading televangelist in the United States and build the largest church in history. If Alicia left him, there was a chance his loyal congregants would leave, too, because he wasn’t sure they could deal with yet one more scandal. Two years ago, he and the other ministers and officers at NLCC had been able to stifle all that murder investigation gossip and keep it out of the media, but there had still been a few nosy members who’d found out about it, had spread the word, and had decided they wanted nothing else to do with JT. Thankfully, the majority hadn’t believed any of what they’d heard, not about his being a potential suspect or about all the women he’d consorted with, but still, he wasn’t sure they’d be as understanding this time around. Especially since he knew he was guilty of more allegations than he cared to think about.

When JT located his father-in-law’s number, he picked up his office phone and dialed it. Curtis answered after the second ring.

“Hello?”

“Curtis. Hey. This is JT. How are you?”

“I’m well. You?”

“Fine, fine. And how’re Charlotte and the children?”

“They’re good.”

“I’m glad. Look, the reason I’m calling you…well, actually I’m calling you for two reasons, and the first is that I wanted to ask when you might have time to come speak here at the church again. You could do any Sunday morning you want during the main service because we can certainly work around your schedule.”

“Actually, my schedule is pretty booked for the rest of the year, but maybe sometime next January or February.”

Curtis spoke with no enthusiasm, and JT just couldn’t understand why he always sounded so distant whenever he spoke to him or saw him. He’d seemed fine that day he served as NLCC’s guest speaker and even while they’d been at dinner that afternoon, but as soon as he’d learned that JT was dating Alicia, he’d begun acting as if he wanted nothing to do with him. Oh, he was cordial enough in front of other people, but JT had a feeling Curtis hadn’t wanted Alicia to marry him. JT had even asked Alicia exactly that, and while she’d denied it and insisted her father was fine with him, his gut told him otherwise.

“Well, whenever you can will be good,” JT finally said. He really needed Curtis to make an appearance much sooner than eight or nine months from now, but he didn’t want to push the issue. Especially when he had a much more important request.

“The other thing I wanted to talk to you about is my ministry and a huge favor I’d like to ask of you.”

“What kind of favor?”

Curtis’s tone was snappish, but JT continued. “I’m really trying to build up my ministry and wondered if you would write me a letter of recommendation so that I can approach some of the megasized ministries regarding speaking engagement opportunities.”

“Well, the thing is, I’ve only heard you speak one time. I’ve also only known you for seven months, so I really wouldn’t feel comfortable doing that.”

JT frowned and swiveled his chair around so that he was facing the window of his study. “But you know how successful I’ve been as founder and pastor of my church.”

“I know what you’ve told me. And yes, I saw how many members you had when I was there. But let’s be honest, JT, I really don’t know you well enough to vouch for your character, let alone your overall abilities as a minister.”