Boss Queen 2: A Trap Love Story

By Porscha Sterling

The power of love is supposed to be stronger than the power of hate but in the streets of East Harlem, that's not always the case. 

After getting locked up with the help of Tiffany and Kelis, Queen and Dre are forced apart at the time when they need each other the most. When Dre is released from jail, he enlists the help of his attorney, Janine, to get her out. But Janine is also Dre's former flame and though he thought she could put the past behind her in order to focus on business, that just may not be the case. When Janine decides that she doesn't want to let the best man she's ever had get away from her a second time, she takes drastic measures to secure her future with Dre and get rid of the one person standing in her way: Queen. 

With Dre and J-Boy determined to find Tiffany and bring her to justice behind the barrel of a gun, Tiffany runs to the only person who can help her...her best friend, Meka. But although Meka is happy to help her only friend, she is not too keen about Tiffany being too close to her boyfriend, Man-Man. When Tiffany and Man-Man discover one of Meka's best kept secrets that completely altered each of their lives long ago, it becomes evident that Meka may have a very good reason for not wanting the two of them together. 

After clinging to Dre, the only family she's had, for so long, Queen gets a call from her brother, Jawell. Though she's happy to hear from him, he comes forward with information that totally transforms her life. When Jawell suggests that she goes to see someone from Dre's past, she reluctantly agrees and finds out more than she thought she'd ever know about her parents as well as herself. 

In this sizzling sequel to Boss Queen, the focus is love and relationships but the issue is betrayal. With the world against them, will the power of Queen and Dre's love be strong enough to last?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Royalty Publishing House
• Release date: Sep 15, 2015
• ISBN: 9781734399462

Porscha Sterling

PORSCHA STERLING is an influencer, publisher, and national bestselling author who is widely considered the exemplar of self-publishing success in the digital age. Winner of the SHEEN Magazine Literary Excellence Award, she’s best known for her book series Bad Boys Do It Better.   Sterling holds an MBA, which helped her in the development of her publishing company, Royalty Publishing House, a stronghold in the African-American literary community, publishing many top-selling novels in the urban, contemporary romance, interracial romance, and women’s fiction genres. Sterling has also partnered with fellow best-selling author and publisher, Leo Sullivan, on the launch of a mobile app, known as the LiT Reading App, which connects readers with exclusive material from independent authors. To find out more information about Porscha Sterling, visit all of the social media outlets at @Porscha_Sterling and her website, PorschaSterling.com.

Book preview

Previously From Part One

We Could Never Lose

Queen

---

Queen, what da fuck you doin’ here? I heard Andre’s voice booming through my ears, waking me straight up out of a good sleep. I squinted through my half-opened eyes and looked at him.

This is my home. Duh, I told him. I yawned and rolled over in the bed away from his angry face.

How da fuck did you get home is what I mean. I know you ain’t lead no fuckin’ pig right up to our damn doorsteps!

My eyes shot open suddenly. It was almost like I didn’t even think of how gravely stupid the decision was that I’d made until I made it. Even then, I still wanted to save face.

Whipping around to Andre, I said, "Well, if you hadn’t abandoned me in the middle of the fuckin’ hood then I wouldn’t have had to ask for assistance from another man!"

I saw Andre clench his jaw and narrow his eyes at me, so I knew that, once again, I was walking on a thin line.

I only went right down the damn street! Nobody abandoned your spoiled ass!

Well, how the hell was I supposed to know that? I yelled out. I jumped up so that I was sitting up in the bed.

Because you know me! Andre responded, jabbing his forefinger into his chest. You know what kinda nigga you got! You know I wouldn’t leave you in the middle of the fuckin’ street like that!

And that’s the exact moment that I felt like shit. Andre was right. I should’ve known he wouldn’t do anything like that. But I’d never seen him so angry either. Pushing the covers off me, I got out of the bed and stood up in front of him. He was still upset, but I saw him waver a bit as he looked at me. He wanted this to be over just as much as I wanted it to be. I could tell by looking at him.

You’re right, I said and grabbed him around his back, pulling him close to me.

As soon as I said it, he calmed down instantly and his anger subsided. He returned my embrace, first nestling his face into my neck while he ran his hands around my back, then he dropped them and squeezed my ass as he grinded into me. That was his signal that he wanted some. I wanted some, too.

I wrapped my legs around Andre and pulled my head back. He lifted me up off the floor, still cupping my ass, and then met my lips. He kissed me so deeply that it almost took my breath away, the same way it always did.

I love you, he told me as he laid me down on the bed.

I love you, too, I told him.

I closed my eyes as I saw him lowering his head to place light kisses on my belly. And that’s when the doorbell rang.

Shit! Andre whispered against my skin. He kissed me a couple times over my belly button, and then I felt him lifting up.

Let them go away! I whined as I grabbed him to stop him from leaving. I pouted my lips and batted my eyes at him. He gave me a sexy half-smile and shook his head.

Let me get this real quick and I’ll be back so we can finish up, he promised me.

It was a promise he couldn’t keep. The vision of him walking out of the room wearing nothing but camouflage shorts and a white wife-beater, will always be in my mind.

I lay back on the bed and started removing my clothes, eager for him to get back in the room so we could finish what I’d wanted so desperately to start. Just as I pulled my black lace thong panties off and tossed them to the side, I was laid out on the bed, butt and stark naked, when three people moved into the room wearing full-body armor and holding out pump shotguns in my face.

I screamed out and grabbed the sheets to pull them around my naked body.

FREEZE AND DON’T MOVE A FUCKIN’ MUSCLE! one of them shouted.

I felt weak as my eyes flashed around the room at the people in front of me. They were covered in all-black armor. The sight of them took me back to the day that my mama had been kidnapped and my daddy was murdered. My father’s murderers had worn the same attire. In a state of panic and suffering from a little PTSD, I reached over to the drawer on the nightstand by my side to get my banger. All I could think was that I didn’t want to go down like my parents had. These niggas wasn’t finna get me.

Pow!

ARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH! I yelled out. The excruciating pain that ripped through my body was unbearable. I grabbed at my leg, where the stinging was coming from. When I pulled my hand back up to my eyes, it was covered in blood.

Oh my God! I gasped in the middle of the jolts of pain that were surging through my body. This was it. They were going to gang-rape me and kill me like they’d done to my mother.

Queen Cavelli? someone asked. I said nothing, I continued grabbing at my leg and writhing on the bed from the pain.

Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed my arms and placed something cold, hard and metallic around them.

Wait…what? What’s going on? I thought to myself as I was lifted up and turned around to my side, my hands cuffed behind my back. I opened my eyes and looked at my attackers. That’s when I finally saw the labels on their attire: Thomas, Andrews, Meyers. Street goons didn’t wear name labels on their lapel.

Queen, you’re under arrest for murder, conspiracy to commit murder, drug trafficking…

As the person in front of me rambled off the charges, I finally realized what was going on. These weren’t the muthafuckas who had taken my mother. This was the fuckin’ SWAT team.

Somebody call a bus if you haven’t already. She’s got an injury.

It’s a surface wound. Went straight in and straight out. She’ll be fine. You two…put some clothes on her and let’s get her out of here, another voice, a female said. I looked up at her and I knew who she was instantly. Kelis. She was Tiffany’s sister.

That miserable bitch.

Now things were starting to make sense.

As they carried me out of my bedroom and out of my home, my eyes searched my front yard, which was completely covered with police officers and vehicles. Somehow they had my alarm system disabled and just drove right in onto the property.

I hope you enjoy where you’re going, someone said from beside me once I was placed in the backseat. You’ll be there for a very long time.

I looked up into Kelis’ face and glared at her, giving her the hardest look I possibly could. I wanted her to know that I would be getting out of this shit and when I did, I would be coming for her ass specifically. On some G shit, there was nothing on Earth that would stop me from getting at her and killing her ass with my own bare hands. Then after I was done with her, or maybe even before, I would send her sister to hell right with her.

She must have felt the hatred in my stare, because she didn’t say another word and the smug look disappeared from her face. In its place came a look of uncertainty and a little worry. I gave her a half smirk and nodded to let her know that what she felt was right. She had every reason to be worried. Without spending another minute in my sight, she closed the door and walked away.

I looked to the entrance of my home, where officers were running in and out. Some of the ones who ran out were holding my belongings, things that I’d thought of as mine. Precious items that Andre had bought me and some I’d bought him. They were going through everything trying to see what they could find. I looked away, unable to stand it. I couldn’t see our life together being reduced to shreds, as pigs ran their rough, cruel, and careless hands through it.

My eyes fell onto another police car diagonal from me, and I looked right into his eyes. Andre was staring at me with a look on his face that I had never seen before. For the first time in his life, he looked worried. I knew it was for my fate and not for his, and it broke my heart.

Biting my bottom lip, I fought away the tears that threatened to fall. I wanted to be strong. I wanted him to know that everything would be okay. I blew him a kiss and I saw him close his eyes and smile as if he could feel it.

I love you, I mouthed to him.

I love you, too, he mouthed back to me.

Right at that moment, I knew more than I’d ever known before, that everything was gonna be okay. It was us against the world, and we would never lose.

1

Checkmate

Queen

---

Who the fuck are you?

My name is Bryan Conroy and I’m your attorney, the sketchy looking man in front of me said. I eyed him with suspicion, although he looked trustworthy enough at first glance. But experience had taught me not to immediately trust a handsome face.

I didn’t ask for an attorney, I told him. I looked him over. He was an attractive black man with a low haircut and a very expensive designer suit; much more expensive than I’d even thought for a lawyer.

Your uh…boyfriend, Andre sent me, he said to me as he placed designer glasses on his face and winked at me cheerfully.

Andre, I repeated. It seemed mildly odd to me that Andre would introduce himself in that way to any attorney he’d employed because of how much he hated the name, but I was so excited to hear that he was saving me that I didn’t care to question it.

Yes, he wants me to advise you on how to get out of here, Bryan told me as he pulled out a notebook and a couple papers. You have so many charges against you…and you’re coming up to your eighteenth birthday…

What?

Time for me wasn’t as it was for most people. The last two years of my life, I’d been pushed into situations that people twice my age were dealing with. I should’ve been in school learning lessons, but instead, all of my lessons were learned in the street or from Andre. If he didn’t teach it, I didn’t know it. Funny thing was the last couple years had taught me more than I’d learned my whole life.

I did the calculations in my head. My eighteenth birthday was less than two weeks away. I’d been so wrapped up in what was going on with my empire that I hadn’t even thought about it. I was about to turn eighteen, but I felt so much older. It seemed surreal to me.

…a plea, Bryan continued.

Wait…what? I asked him, returning my focus back to what he was saying. The word ‘plea’ had sliced through my consciousness like a knife. I just knew he wasn’t telling me what I thought he was.

I’m advising you to take a plea

No the hell you aren’t! Why the fuck would I take a plea? I gritted.

I looked around the white room and started to get up so I could knock on the door to be let out. I’d rather go back into the holding cell of the jail and take my chances than to continue to speak to this fake ass attorney. There was no way that Andre would be cool with me taking a plea.

No! Listen, Andre told me

Andre ain’t tell you shit! There’s no fuckin’ way he would ever ask you to tell me to take a muthafuckin’ plea! He doesn’t want me to spend time in here. He would be trying to get me out! I fumed.

Yes, that’s it! That’s what I’m saying. Were you listening to me at all? Bryan asked me as I was mid-yell.

I clamped my mouth closed. No, I hadn’t been listening. I was too busy thinking about my birthday.

You have so many charges against you that it’s crazy. You could get a lot of time. In addition to that, you’ll be eighteen in a couple weeks so you know you can be sentenced as an adult, right? Especially considering the weight of your crimes. You could go to prison for a very long time. I mean, they have an ironclad case.

How? I asked him. I wasn’t caught doing anything! Everything I own I got in legitimate ways. How can you prove that I’ve done anything at all?

I was near tears and I hated myself for it. I spent the last couple years of my life pretending I had it all together and that I didn’t need Lamora or Julius…I wanted to believe that so I didn’t have to deal with the pain of them not being there. But, at that moment, there was no one else on Earth that I wanted more other than my mother and father.

They have an informant…someone close to you in your organization, and that’s who is setting you up. They have information that gives the state a very strong case.

My hope withered away. Someone had betrayed me and I didn’t have the faintest idea who would be stupid enough to do something like that.

But…I can get you out of here without serving any time. Your judge is Judge Trydell and he and I happen to be golf buddies. I also went to college with his son and I’m pretty much the reason why he graduated. Bryan laughed but I didn’t see anything funny. I waited while he continued. Anyways, I’ve arranged that all you have to do is plead guilty and he’ll sentence you to twenty years’ probation. Not ideal, but you’ll be out with Andre.

Out with Andre? I asked him with a frown. He’s out?

Almost. His lawyer is working on something and he should be out some time tonight. You didn’t know? he asked me.

I shook my head quietly. Why hadn’t he tried to contact me?

Well, he’s about to be out and you can be out too if you listen to what I’m asking you. Got it? he asked me, tilting his head to the side and giving me a small smile.

I took a deep breath and swallowed the lump in my throat. I didn’t know anything about the justice system at all but I did know that I trusted Andre. Any person he’d sent to help me had to have my best interest at heart…that I knew. So I did something that Julius had told me never to do; in my ignorance, I trusted someone I barely knew.

Okay, I got it. I’ll do it, I said nodding my head.

At the moment, the only thing I could think of was getting to Andre and plotting my revenge. Whoever was responsible for me getting put in here would pay, and I would make sure of it.

Bryan pushed a piece of paper in my face and explained it to me. It was pretty much saying that I wasn’t being forced to sign it to accept a plea, and that I would accept my sentence. I scribbled my signature on it and pushed it back at him. He grabbed it, folded it and placed it into his briefcase.

I’ll be seeing you in the morning, he told me. You’ll be back on the streets and snuggled up with your boo by tomorrow night. I guarantee it.

The next day, I was sitting in the courthouse squirming nervously as Bryan sat next to me quietly. I looked around the courtroom and saw that no one was there. Andre wasn’t there, no other inmates…no one. The bailiff walked in about an hour after I’d arrived and I felt my stomach start to stir. Something wasn’t right and I could feel it, but I tried to calm myself down. Why wasn’t Andre there?

ALL RISE FOR JUDGE TRYDELL!

With some difficulty because of the cuffs on my ankles, I stood up as the judge walked in. Judge Trydell had a con-artist vibe to him. He was a short, white, militant-looking man with thick, caterpillar shaped eyebrows and large glasses that he kept pushed so far up his nose, you would think there were eyes on his forehead that needed the aid of his wide spectacles. He walked over to his large, wide black leather chair and sat down then picked up some papers in front of him.

Okay, I see we have Queen Cavelli here on case number 0457…

As he rattled off all of this information about me in his deep commanding voice, all I could think of was the fact that I was being looked at and thought of as the most lowly person in the room. I was the one in shackles and I had to do what was told. I had no authority here.

Oh, how the Queen has fallen…

Suddenly, I was hit with the memory of when I’d been thrown out of Mrs. Sanchez’s home after she accused me of seducing her husband, and I instantly felt nauseated. But then butterflies fluttered in my stomach when I thought of how that night had ended. Andre had saved me and I knew he would save me again.

Your honor, if I may speak! Bryan yelled out.

Yes you may, Attorney Conroy, the judge replied pulling off his glasses.

I refocused my attention back on the happenings in the courtroom and waited for Bryan to say the words that would set me free.

Your honor, I have here a signed plea from my client. She has pled guilty and is at the mercy of the court.

Beads of sweat popped up at my hairline, although it wasn’t hot at all inside the courtroom. I looked at Bryan who was visibly different than he had been when I’d seen him the day before. The other day he’d been approachable, charming, carefree and friendly, but today his face was blank and he had a stern aura around him. He was dressed sharply in an all-black designer suit and hadn’t looked at me once since the judge walked in. I found it odd, but thought that maybe he was getting his game-face together.

Ms. Cavelli, is this true? the judge peered at me with a slight look of disgust on his face that threw me off a little. I glanced over at Bryan who was staring straight ahead.

Yes, uh…yes, your honor, I said weakly.

Okay, well given the egregiousness of your crimes, I have no other choice than to charge you as an adult at or above the mandatory minimum, he said with a nonchalant tone.

My heart dropped along with my bottom lip. This wasn’t what Bryan had told me. I turned back to him but he continued looking straight ahead with all his attention on the judge. My heart started beating through my chest as I struggled to understand what was happening.

Wait…

For the charge of murder, I hereby sentence you to life in prison with no parole at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. For the charge of conspiracy to commit murder, I hereby charge you to life in prison with no parole at Bedford…

As the judge continued rattling away my sentence, I felt my knees go weak. I was screaming to the top of my lungs but my mouth wasn’t moving. My excruciating pain-filled pleas only echoed in my brain. With tears of devastation clouding my vision, I turned to Bryan to tell him that something was wrong and he needed to fix it. Didn’t the judge owe him a favor or two? Didn’t he know him? Didn’t he know about our plan?

But when I looked at Bryan, I saw that