Delilah. Shelia M. Goss
Delilah
Shelia M. Goss
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I thank God for showing me grace and mercy every day of my life. The best gift my parents, Lloyd (1947-1996) and Exie Goss, gave me was teaching me and my brothers, Lloyd F. (Jerry) and John, about Christ. For that I’ll always be grateful.
I want to dedicate this book to Jasmine Hogan, my twelve-year-old cousin who has shown an unwavering faith at a young age, and my grandmother N.E. Hogan, who at eighty-eight is still on the battlefield.
Of course, my unofficial street team, Hattie Hogan Jones and Nicolette Hogan, get a special shout out, along with three cousins who buy all of my books: Demetrius Hogan, Mary Jean Foster and Dorothy Hodges. I want to thank my local book club, Cedar Hill Divine Women of Faith, for agreeing to choose Delilah as their first book of the month for 2011 (smile).
Although this is my tenth book, this is my first work of Christian fiction. Thank you, Joylynn Jossel, for making this book possible. I also want to thank my agent, Maxine Thompson, as well as Carl Weber and everyone else at Urban Christian.
I also want to thank the following for their prayers and encouragement: Kemmerly Beckham, Carla J. Curtis, Kandie Delley, Peggy Eldridge-Love, Linda Dominique Grosvenor, Deborah Hartman-Fox, Sheila L. Jackson, Shelia E. Lipsey, Michelle McGriff, Angelia Menchan, and Anthony Rivers.
I’ve had a great support system behind me on this literary journey, and I would like to thank the following people: Mrs. Til (Jokae’s Book Store in Dallas); Abiola Abrams; Vincent Alexandria; Gwyneth Bolton; Tina Brooks McKinney; Jennifer Coissiere; Yasmin Coleman (APOOO Book Club); Ella Curry (EDC Creations); Essentially Women; Eleuthera Book Club; Brenda Evans; Sharon “Shaye” Gray; Bettye Griffin; Cynthia Harrison (one of my test readers); LaShaunda Hoffman (Shades of Romance magazine); Yolanda Johnson-Bryant; Live, Love, Laugh and Books; Lutishia Lovely; Rhonda McKnight; Darlene Mitchell (another one of my test readers); Michelle Monkou; Celeste O’Norfleet; Debra Owsley (Simply Said Accessories); Onika Pascal; Tee C. Royal (RAWS.I.S.T.A.Z.); and the list goes on and on.
Thanks, Cedric Ceballos, my favorite former NBA player, for being a man of your word.
If your name wasn’t mentioned, it’s not that I forgot about you; I just ran out of room. Thank you ____________ (fill in your name). I appreciate you all.
Shelia M. Goss
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Delilah: Reading Group Guide
About the Author
Chapter 1
“Dee, either you do what I asked you to do or else I’ll let your church family know all about your prostitution days,” William Trusts said, from the other end of the phone.
Delilah opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out at first. She was caught off guard by this revelation. She assumed her past was like a bad dream, long forgotten. “How did you…How did you know about that?” she stuttered.
“Why do you think I chose you to handle this important task? Money seems to rule your world, baby. Now do me a favor; hurry up and get what I want. Your life just might depend on it.”
The phone remained up to Delilah’s ear until the automated recording came on. “If you’d like to make a call, please hang up or call your operator.” William Trusts had hung up on her.
Delilah refused to go back to the life she led before she got her latest job as a project coordinator at Trusts Enterprise. She would do whatever she had to do to remain on top, and if that included deceiving people who had come to trust her—then so be it. She had done it once. She could do it again. Only thing was, she wasn’t Dee anymore. She had chosen to go by her birth name, Delilah S. Baker, when she started attending Peaceful Rest Missionary Baptist Church a few months ago.
She turned and stared at the man who had finally succumbed to her advances after numerous one-on-one counseling sessions. He was the man she hoped to marry one day, the man the members of Peaceful Rest Missionary Baptist Church called Reverend Samson Judges. His snoring was a welcomed sound after their night of passionate lovemaking.
Delilah couldn’t believe her luck. She had seen him on television and when William Trusts, her boss, asked