The Ultimate Betrayal (24 page)

Dillon smiled and was glad to know his testimony still worked. It made people take notice and feel sorry for him. He watched the reaction of his parishioners and daydreamed about the ten-thousand-member congregation he wanted. His goal and dream was to have the largest church in Mitchell, Illinois. More than anything, he wanted to have a church larger than his dad's, and he wanted this sooner rather than later. His dad's existing sanctuary seated two thousand people, so to accommodate five thousand members—four thousand of whom attended regularly—he had to hold two services. Every week, Deliverance Outreach operated at 100 percent capacity, and for this reason, Curtis was finally building a five-thousand-seat building adjacent to the current one. That way, all his members could worship together at one service, and there would also be room for new parishioners. New Faith could hold two thousand people as well, but since Dillon only had one thousand members, the church never filled more than half its space. This wasn't good enough for Dillon, and his plan was to have twenty-five hundred members by the end of this year, a total of five thousand twelve months from now, and another five thousand within two years.

He wasn't sure what he'd have to do to make this happen, but he'd decided a while ago that he was willing to do whatever it took. Nothing was off-limits…not even sleeping with the woman he now glanced at in the audience. Her name was Porsha Harrington. He'd tried his best to ignore her, and until three months ago, he'd been successful. But now he couldn't get her out of his mind or his system, and he saw her as much as possible…regardless of how much he loved his wife. He didn't fully understand why his genuine love for Raven wasn't enough or why he had this burning desire to sleep with someone else, but he couldn't help it. For now, though, he had to refocus on the matter at hand. He had his congregation right where he wanted them, and as soon as everyone settled down and took their seats, he smiled and said, “I know you've already given your tithes and offering this morning, but when God speaks to me I've learned not to disobey him. So let us turn our Bibles to Second Corinthians nine, verses six through seven.”

Dillon waited for everyone to open their printed editions or pull up their electronic versions.

“Are we all there?”

“Yes,” everyone replied.

“And it says, ‘The point is this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.'”

Dillon gazed at his members and never said another word. He didn't have to. Not when they were already pulling out additional cash and writing new checks.

He'd heard lots of stories from Alicia about how when she was a small girl, their dad had been loved by all. She'd told him that members of his church seemed to have no problem doing anything he asked, including giving whatever amount of money he requested. She'd insisted that it was simply a gift that their father had been blessed with. He was a handsome, charismatic, and very smart man, and people gravitated to him. Dillon hadn't been sure he'd believed her, but when many of his congregants had begun saying how much he looked and sounded like his dad, he'd known he could use his father's good genes to his advantage.

He'd decided that not only could he be his dad, he could be better. When it was all said and done, the good Reverend Curtis Black would be history and Pastor Dillon Whitfield Black would be all the city of Mitchell cared about.

The Prodigal Son

A House Divided

The Reverend's Wife

Love, Honor, and Betray

Be Careful What You Pray For

The Best of Everything

Sin No More

Love & Lies

The Best-Kept Secret

Too Much of a Good Thing

Casting the First Stone

Best Friends Forever

A Christmas Prayer

The Perfect Marriage

Secret Obsession

A Deep Dark Secret

One in a Million

Changing Faces

A Taste of Reality

It's a Thin Line

Here & Now

Behind Closed Doors

“Roby is a master of making a delicious mess of otherwise good, merciful, God-fearing people's lives…compellingly readable.”

—
Kirkus

“Roby's highly engaging prose offers edgy characters and intense drama.”

—
Booklist

“Roby hits the jackpot again in THE ULTIMATE BEYTRAYAL with Alicia Black…another extraordinary episode in The Reverend Curtis Black series.”

—
RT Book Reviews

“Roby's latest [is] an entertaining read for any lover of family drama.”

—
Upscale

“Definitely worth the wait…by far the juiciest and most compelling of the set.”

—
The Dallas Weekly

“Roby delivers a well-developed and entertaining plot and fascinating characters readers just love to hate.”

—
Library Journal

“Riveting…Roby will have you totally engrossed, eager to see what twist or turn is just around the corner.”

—
RT Book Reviews

“[Roby] is in top form…This one may well be her best.”

—
Essence

“Engrossing…The writing is cinematic and the juicy plot moves quickly…Roby has a talent for underscoring the universal challenges of people of faith.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“Roby writes with high-octane levels of emotion. She pushes her characters hard, spotlighting their flaws, showcasing their weaknesses, drawing in the readers to be more than bystanders.”

—
USA Today
's Happy Ever After blog

“[Roby] knows how to give readers what they want.”

—
Essence

“4 stars! There's nothing like a healthy dose of drama to keep readers on their toes. Underneath the deception, gossip, and bad decisions lies a storyline that any reader will be able to relate to. The author paints an interesting story with an accurate view of what goes on within the family behind the pulpit.”

—
RT Book Reviews

“Roby is the queen of redemption! She has a knack for taking characters that readers love to hate and turning them into ones everyone will cheer for. This one's definitely a page-turner!”

—
RT Book Reviews

“Filled with unexpected twists and turns…a dramatic, engaging, and entertaining piece of work.”

—
Prominence Magazine

“An exciting page-turner!”

—
Upscale

“[A] juicy read!”

—
Essence

“For those thousands of fans, who can't get enough of the ‘good' reverend and his wives, this is a book that should not be missed.”

—Philly.com

“Lively, action packed, and full of sassy sensuality, Roby once again has created a story that grabs the reader's attention and holds it until the very end.”

—
Las Vegas Review-Journal

“An entertaining read…remains true to Roby's style of creatively telling a story.”

—
New York Amsterdam News

“Like her previous fiction,
Love, Honor, and Betray
provides an unflinching examination of the human condition while keeping the reader engaged and entertained at the same time.”

—Examiner.com

“Much of Kimberla Lawson Roby's bestselling success is due to her irresistibly complex character Rev. Curtis Black. In
Love, Honor, and Betray
, her eighth [book] about the self-justifying, greedy, womanizing minister, she tackles one of the most challenging situations facing the explosion of blended families today.”

—
Heart & Soul

“Full of drama and splashed with plenty of suspense and love triangles.”

—
Upscale

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