Dee Dawning

Duped! Dee Dawning

Newlywed, Jamilla Randle's, idyllic life is blown to smithereens when she receives a call from her new husband's other wife. ASAP, she hires women's attorney, Letta Storm. Then Jamilla meets Tony at a barbeque and feels an instant, compelling bond with him. Yet, after her marriage fiasco, she's afraid to trust her judgment regarding men. Nevertheless, the attraction is too strong to be denied and with Tony's patient persistence, her heart begins to warm and the three of them begin to pick up the pieces of Jamilla's life. In the process they unravel some amazing secrets even she didn't know existed._______________________________________________________EXCERPT"You were about to tell me why you called her marriage bogus?" Letta glanced at me, and I nodded. "He had no right to propose or marry her because he's already married. Mind you, I don't think you are, but, I wanted to meet you to make sure you're not another Max Randle. Once in a lifetime is enough."Tony raised his hands in mock surrender. "Hey, I assure you my intentions are honorable and I've never been married." "Good." Tony's eyebrows dipped. "What other problems are there?" Again I nodded when Letta glanced my way. "I must extricate Jamilla from an obligation connected to the bogus marriage, which will not be easy. Since the two issues are interconnected, it would not be wise to expunge the marriage until the other issue can be resolved. Therefore, I hope you won't mind if your dinner date is put off until I have these problems resolved."Tony's bushy eyebrows dipped low, his eyes became slits. "How long might that be?" "Hopefully, a couple of weeks."Tony's brow furrowed as his head shook. "That'll never do." I didn't like it either, but Letta and I asked simultaneously, "Why?""Because my latest movie, Between the Sheets, is having its Studio Première this coming Saturday night, and I want Jamilla to be with me." Letta's nostrils flared. "Why?""I just do."She shifted in her seat. "Look mister, right now you're on our good side. If you want to stay on our good side, you had better start coming up with some answers. Jamilla has told me everything she knows about you, but it wasn't that much. Tell me about the sister you used to go with at UCLA."Tony glanced my way then back to Letta. "First, I want to ask Jamilla a question."I shrugged. "Go ahead." Tony's eyes bored into me. "All right. Jamilla, is your birthday December 3rd?"I exhaled every ounce of oxygen as if someone had kicked me in the chest, then a flash of heat surged through me. When I finally caught my breath, I had toknow. "How? How...did you know?"Letta gave me a serious look. "It is December 3rd?"Still shaken, I nodded. She turned back to Tony. "Yeah, fess up. How the eff did you know?""I had a feeling?"By now, Letta's large round eyes were slits. "Not good enough, Buster!""All right. They say a picture is worth a thousand words." Tony reached in his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. While he fished around in his wallet, Letta hitched her chin. "Now we're getting somewhere."Tony pulled out a beat up old photo and handed it to Letta. Her eyes bugged out and her mouth formed the perfect shape to blow smoke rings. As she gazed at Tony, she looked dazed. "This is..."He nodded. "Shana.""Her name was Shana?" I blurted."Ah-huh, and she used my middle name Nick, short for Nickolas."I couldn't get over it. They were the couple in the movie he wrote. His shrug and tight-lipped smile mimicked what he said, "What can I say?" Letta handed the ragged snapshot to me and asked, "Is it possible you have amnesia or maybe a twin?"I frowned. "No." Peeking at the picture, I gasped, then felt dizzy. I thought I might pass out when Letta revived me by dipping her hand in her ice water and running across my forehead. I looked younger and thinner, but there was no mistake, the