Boss Divas

Book 0: Diva

by De'nesha Diamond

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Synopsis

Sergeant Duncan O'Conner has seen it all before. Beautiful erotic dancer murdered at home, no suspect, no motive. But there's one clue: she's missing her heart. It's enough to make the hard-bitten Kansas City cop enlist the help of a necro - one of the dead-channeling freaks who live in the domed city of nearby Valhalla. It's a long shot, but desperate crimes call for desperate measures. Unlike the other "high-bloods" in Valhalla, Callie Brown considers her abilities a gift, not a curse. But when she reads the dancer's final thoughts, she senses a powerful presence blocking her vision. This is no ordinary homicide. This is the work of a legendary necromancer who controls souls. A ravenous force that will put Callie's skills to the test, O'Conner's career at risk, and both their hearts on the line...literally.

Release date: October 27, 2015

Publisher: Kensington Books

Print pages: 320

Sample

“STOP THE FUCKING CAR!”

Profit slams on the brakes while I bolt out of the passenger car door and race into the night toward my foster parents’ burning house.

“TRACEE! REGGIE!” They’re not in there. Please, God. Don’t let them be in there. “TRACEE! REGGIE!”

“Ta’Shara, wait up,” Profit yells. His long strides eat up the distance between us even as I shove my way through the city’s emergency responders. I’ve never seen flames stretch so high or felt such intense heat. Still, none of that shit stops me. In my delusional mind, there is still time to get them out of there.

“Hey, lady. You can’t go in there,” someone shouts and makes a grab for me.

As I draw closer to the front porch, Profit is able to wrap one of his powerful arms around my waist and lift me off my feet. “Baby, stop. You can’t go in there.”

“Let me go!” My legs pedal in the air as I stretch uselessly for the door. “TRACEE! REGGIE!” My screams rake my throat raw.

Profit drags me away from the growing flames.

Men in uniform rush over to us. I don’t know who they are and I don’t care. I just need to know one thing. “Where are my parents? Did they make it out?”

“Ma’am, calm down. Please tell me your name.”

“WHERE ARE THEY?”

“Ma’am—”

“ANSWER ME, DAMMIT!”

“C’mon, man,” Profit says. “Give my girl something.”

The fireman draws a deep breath and then drops a bomb that changes my life forever.

“The neighbors reported the fire. Right now, I’m not aware of anyone making it out of the house. I’m sorry.”

“NOOOOOOO!” I collapse in Profit’s arms. He hauls me up against his six-three frame and I lay my head on his broad chest. Before, I found comfort in his strong embrace, but not tonight. I sob uncontrollably as pain overwhelms me, but then I make out a familiar car down the street.

“Oh. My. God.”

Profit tenses. “What?”

My eyes aren’t deceiving me. Sitting behind the wheel of her burgundy Crown Victoria is LeShelle with a slow smile creeping across her face. She forms a gun with her hand and pretends to fire at us.

We’re next.

LeShelle tosses back her head and, despite the siren’s wail, the roaring fire, and the chaos around me, that bitch’s maniacal laugh rings in my ears.

How much more of this shit am I going to take? When will this fuckin’ bullshit end?

BOOM!

The crowd gasps when windows explode from the top floor of the house, but my gaze never waivers from LeShelle. My tears dry up as anger grips me.

She did this shit. I don’t need a jury to tell me that the bitch is guilty as hell. How long has she been threatening the Douglases’ lives? Why in the hell didn’t I believe that she would follow through?

LeShelle has proven her ruthlessness time after time. This fucking “Gangster Disciples versus the Vice Lords” shit ain’t a game to her. It’s a way of life. And she doesn’t give a fuck who she hurts.

My blood boils and all at once everything burst out of me. I wrench away from Profit’s protective arms and take off toward LeShelle in a rage.

“I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!”

“Ta’Shara, no!” Profit shouts.

I ignore him as I race toward LeShelle’s car. My hot tears burn tracks down my face.

LeShelle laughs in and then pulls off from the curb, but not before I’m able to pound my fist against the trunk.

Profit’s arms wrap back around my waist, but I kick out and connect with LeShelle’s taillight and shatter that muther-fucka. The small wave of satisfaction I get is quickly erased when her piece-of-shit car burps out a black cloud of exhaust.

“NO! Don’t let her get away. No!”

“Ta’Shara, please. Not now. Let it go!”

Let it go? I round on Profit. “How the fuck can you say that shit?”

BOOM!

More windows explode, drawing my attention back to the only place that I’ve ever called home. My heart claws its way out of my chest as orange flames and black smoke lick the sky.

My legs give out and my knees kiss the concrete, and all the while Profit’s arms remain locked around me. I can’t hear what he’s saying because my sobs drown him out.

“This is all my fault,” tumbles over my tongue. I conjure up an image of Tracee and Reggie—the last time I saw them. It’s a horrible memory. Everyone was angry and everyone said things that . . . can never be taken back.

Grief consumes me. I squeeze my eyes tight and cling to the ghosts inside of my head. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Profit’s arms tighten. I melt in his arms even though I want to lash out. Isn’t it his fault my foster parents roasted in that house, too? When the question crosses my mind, I crumble from the weight of my shame.

I’m to blame. No one else.

A heap in the center of the street, I lay my head against Profit’s chest again and take in the horrific sight through a steady sheen of tears. The Douglases were good people. All they wanted was the best for me and for me to believe in myself. They would’ve done the same for LeShelle if she gave them the chance.

LeShelle fell in love with the streets and the make-believe power of being the head bitch of the Queen Gs. I didn’t want anything to do with any of that bullshit, but it didn’t matter. I’m viewed as GD property by blood, and the shit hit the fan when I fell in love with Profit—a Vice Lord by blood. Back then Profit wasn’t a soldier yet. But our being together was taken as a sign of disrespect. LeShelle couldn’t let it slide.

However, the harder I fight the streets’ politics, the deeper I’m dragged into her bullshit world of gangs and violence.

“I should have killed her when I had the chance.” If I had, Tracee and Reggie would still be alive. “She won’t get away with this,” I vow. “I’m going to kill her if it’s the last thing I do.”

“Rot in hell, bitch.” I jam on the accelerator. My clit thumps at the sight of the bright, orange flames engulfing the Douglases’ house, which is still in my rearview. Watching Ta’Shara’s hysterics almost felt as good as when I ordered June Bug and Kane to strap Tracee and Reggie down to the bed so I could douse their asses with gasoline. The only thing that could’ve made the night more perfect would be to have my precious lil sister roasting right next to them.

The bitch doesn’t know how much I wish I could pump the brakes and finish what I drove out here to do. That’s all right. I’m going to get my chance. The GD initials are still carved on Ta’Shara’s ass, which means I still own it. I won’t stop coming for her until she’s being lowered into the ground. I know that shit is cold, but whatever love or loyalty I had for her is long gone.

While the tall flames stretch to the sky, laughter rumbles from my chest. The number of games I’m about to play with this dumb bitch multiplies in my head.

I corner onto Poplar Avenue, and June Bug and Kane’s Expedition falls in line behind me. The sight of them takes the edge off my revenge high and plunges me into a pool of irritation. I hate having babysitters.

My cell phone rings from the car’s charger.

Unknown caller.

Bullshit. It’s Python calling me from a burner. No doubt June Bug’s blabbing ass has already called in and tattled. Well, fuck him—and fuck Python, too. I’m so through with his ass I don’t know what to do.

Instead of sitting on our throne on Shotgun Row, our asses are hiding out from the police because his dumbass got too hot and snuffed one of his chicken-heads-slash-baby-mommas. Too bad her ass was also a fucking a cop. And not just any cop. She was the police captain’s daughter. I mean, you got to have a certain talent to fuck up that bad. Granted, some of the heat has cooled off because people believe that Python is dead—supposedly killed in a fiery car crash off the Old Memphis Bridge a few months back.

But Python has nine lives—that or the devil keeps spitting his ass back out.

The phone stops ringing and the call rolls to voice mail. I know I’m gonna hear about the shit. Python always has a shit fit when I don’t answer his calls, but I’ll deal with his ass later. Reaching for the blunt I left in the ashtray, I quickly put fire to the tip and fill my lungs to the max. I hold that shit in until my brain fogs and my eyelids droop.

Despite feeling copasetic, I review the other shit I gotta deal with—like that grimy flower Qiana. Bitch double-crossed me. The deal was that I murk a snitch within my own ranks and in exchange she dusts off Python’s latest pregnant side bitch, Yolanda. Simple. How in the fuck did this bitch fuck that shit up? I gotta see on the news that Qiana snatched the baby out of the corpse? Of course I wanted the little fucker dead, too. That shit should have been obvious. If Python even suspects that his baby is out there somewhere, he’ll comb every street looking for it.

Shit. He’s already chasing after one ghost—his long-lost brother, Mason. Somehow, someway, he’s convinced himself that Fat Ace, the ex-leader of the Vice Lords, is his brother. All because of some birthmark.

I’m not going to be sucked into the land of make-believe with Python’s ass. It don’t matter anyway. Fat Ace—Mason—whatever the fuck his name is—is dead. End of story.

Python needs to get his mind right—and that don’t mean putting his shady-ass cousin, Diesel, on the throne. I met him earlier tonight. He may be fine as fuck, a six-four, green-eyed brotha with his name tatted around his neck, but I don’t trust his ass worth a damn. He’ll rule these damn streets over my dead body. Bet that shit.

I puff out a thick cloud of smoke while my mind floats higher.

Riiiiinnnng! Riiiinnng!

Unknown caller.

I take another deep toke and let the call roll to voice mail again. The last few minutes, I coast the dark streets in silence. When I arrive at my and Python’s temporary crib, I kill the engine and think about rolling another blunt. I ain’t in the mood to deal with my husband’s shit right now.

Husband. I’m still not used to the word.

I stare at the rock on my finger. I can’t decide whether it’s been worth it. What’s the point of being a queen if you don’t have a throne?

June Bug and Kane pull up at the curb and shut off their engine.

Python peeks through the venetian blinds.

Shit.

Abandoning the idea of rolling another fat one, I climb out of the car and head into the house. The front door is snatched open before I lay a hand on the knob. One of Python’s thick, muscular arms jerks me into the house. I open my mouth, but my head rocks back before I actually hear the SLAP!

I crash into the wall behind me, and then slide down to the floor while blood fills my mouth.

“Where in the hell have you been? I’ve been calling you for hours.”

Python growls, towering over me. His bulky chest flexes while he pumps his fists at his sides. “I got June Bug and Kane blowing me up, but you can’t seem to answer my calls?”

I spit the blood from my mouth. “I must’ve had it on vibrate,” I lie, peeling myself off the floor.

“You’re a muthafuckin’ lie.” Python’s face twists up.

“Whatever. Believe what you want.” I press my fingers up to my lips to feel the damage. “What’s the big deal? When I left here, you had your head so far up Diesel’s ass, I didn’t think you needed me.”

His black gaze rakes me up and down. I stare back. Python has a face only a mother could love: a black gargoyle right down to the snake-forked tongue. Physically, his shit is on point; but the side bitches who drop their panties for this nigga are drawn to the power he represents—my ass included. I’m not cold and heartless. I do feel some kind of way about his ass. Shit. It might even be called love—but I love his power more.

“I ain’t no chump nigga,” Python says. “Unless you’re dead or bleeding in the streets, you pick up the phone when I call.”

“What’s the fuckin’ problem? Your lil babysitters reported my every damn move anyway.” I test my luck by bumping his shoulder and marching around him.

“You’re damn right they check-in—that’s what your ass needs to be doing. These fuckin’ streets are hot. I can’t be up in this bitch tryna make moves and be worrying about you at the same damn time.”

I smile in the middle of his barking. “You were worried?”

Python paces like he’s tryna wear a hole in the carpet. “Shelle, I ain’t got time for fuckin’ games. Brothas around me dropping and disappearing into thin air: Momma Peaches, Melanie, Mason, Yolanda—the baby.”

Aw shit. Here he comes whining about that damn jizz baby. When I get my hands on that damn Qiana . . .

“Melanie hardly counts since you offed the bitch yourself,” I remind him and head into the living room.

“Don’t start that shit.”

“Start what?” I ask, innocently. I plop down in front of the coffee table that’s stacked with bricks of cocaine, cash, guns, pill baggies, and vials of shit I ain’t never seen before. I ignore that hard shit and go straight for the blueberry Mary Jane.

“What happened after you left Passions?” he asks.

I grab the package of cigars. “You already know what happened. Your boys told you.”

“I want you to tell me.”

I ignore him and continue making my shit.

He continues to interrogate. “How in the hell you end up burning down your sister’s crib and leaving Kookie as part of the barbecue?”

“Why are you asking me about my business when you keep me out of yours?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Diesel! Are you seriously going to give him the keys to the throne? You’re just going to give up? I mean, I’m a boss bitch. I make sure all these punk-ass muthafuckas out here know it. Kookie and her nigga McGriff had been playin’ our asses, and making deals on the side—the situation needed to be addressed—and I handled that shit.”

A doorknob rattles. I cock my head to the side to see Diesel’s pretty ass exit the bathroom. I didn’t know that his ass was still here.

“Damn, nigga. You dropping logs or eavesdroppin’ back there?” I ask.

Diesel smirks, but his greenish-blue eyes signal that he’s far from being amused. “I see you found your way back home. Cuz was worried.”

“Speaking of home, why don’t you carry your shady ass back to Atlanta?” I challenge, matching his smirk. I want it crystal damn clear that I don’t like his honey-colored ass—I don’t give a damn what his reputation is down in the A. All I know is he ain’t taking what’s mine.

“Damn, Shelle. What the fuck is up with you?” Python scolds. “D is fam. You need to treat him as such.”

“Family, huh?” Diesel and I glare at each other. “Yeah. I can do that. I just love family.”

“Annnd on that note, I think it’s time that I head out.” Diesel winks.

I toss him the middle finger.

Python hands over the joint and climbs back onto his feet. “A’ight, cuz. Sorry about that. She must be PMSing.”

No, this nigga didn’t.

“We gonna hook up tomorrow, right?” The men slap palms, and bump shoulders.

“Two o’clock sharp,” Diesel confirms and then turns.

Python follows him, pounding Diesel’s broad back while he escorts him to the door.

I put fire to the tip of my blunt, though my lips are still throbbing like a muthafucka. My gaze tracks the cousins across the small house. All kinds of alarms sound off inside my head. This muthafucka is too pretty, too smooth, and too fuckin’ powerful to be trusted. What the hell is my man doing, handing over the keys to the throne without firing a single bullet?

This shit is fucked up.

At the door, Diesel turns one last time and smiles. “It was nice meeting you, LeShelle,” he says.

“Uh-huh.”

He laughs and then slips out.

Python closes and locks the door behind his cousin before strutting his ass back into the living room.

I shake my head. “Damn shame.”

He huffs out a long breath. “What?”

“You’re making a big mistake.”

“I got this.”

“Do you?” I challenge.

“Yeah.” He reaches over and takes the blunt right out of my mouth so he can toke on it for a few puffs. “Shit on our end is sloppy as fuck—has been for a little while. My soldiers are wide open and protection is close to nonexistent. That bitch Lucifer and the Vice Lords are feasting on my fuckin’ streets and tagging so many niggas hell can’t keep up.” He takes another hit, but it doesn’t settle his nerves. “Nah. If I’m going to settle this shit, I’m gonna need a solid nigga I can trust.”

I laugh. “And you think that you can trust a muthafucka from Atlanta? Since when? Those niggas ain’t got no fuckin’ home trainin’. We don’t need him.”

“I trust Diesel. That’s all that matters. We’re going to settle some scores and then he’s going to hold shit down while we go to Mexico and chill out for a while—there’s too much heat around here.”

“Mexico?” My eyes bug. “You don’t know a goddamn thing about Mexico—other than they chop off muthafuckas’ heads when they step out of line. What the fuck are we going to do in Mexico?”

“Diesel has a connect with the Sinaloa Cartel. We’ll work that shit and establish some new ties. Within two to three years we can have something jump off that’s bigger than what Memphis has ever seen.”

“The Sinaloa Cartel? Wait. There’s like a billion people in that country. They don’t need some confused, country nigga doin’ shit for them—other than slinging their shit up here. No. We keep our asses right here and fight for what’s ours.”

“Squash it,” Python warns, backing away. “Your mouth is reckless right now.”

“Me?” I explode out of my seat. “This whole situation is reckless? You want to know why? Because of you! You are the reason that we are in this piece-of-shit house in the middle of no-goddamn-where. You couldn’t keep your dick in your pants and so you let some fuckin’ pig bitch play you. Then you got hot and murked her ass—not thinking her damn daddy was gonna chase us off our throne. Now we’re stuck playing Where’s Waldo? with the muthafuckin’ police and FBI. And you wanna give me shit about my mouth being reckless. Get the fuck out of here with that.” I stomp away, my high blown. Fuck. At this point it would take a horse tranquilizer to chill me out.

“Where the fuck are you going?” Python marches behind me.

“I’m going to take a shower to wash off all this shit you’re shoveling around this bitch.”

He snatches my arm and spins me around. “Damn it, Shelle, I’m not done talking. Don’t fuckin’ turn your back on me.” His fist flies toward my head.

I brace myself.

He punches a hole into the wall inches from my face.

I stare dead in his eyes. “Are you done with your temper tantrum?”

“Goddamn it, Shelle. Is it too much for you to hold a nigga down? You wanna be queen and rule shit, but the crown has a price. We ain’t always gonna be on top. You gotta be willing to get into the gutter and ride shit out some times.”

“Don’t talk to me like I’m brand new,” I snap. “Just be fucking real with me. If you don’t know what to do next, then say that shit. If you feel the walls are closing in on you, admit it. If you’re feeling all kinds of ways because you lost so many people, then let’s sit down and deal with it. But whatever the fuck you do, don’t tell me you traded your dick in for a pussy and that you think the best thing for us to do is to run like slob bitches out of this muthafucka. Cuz I ain’t down with that shit.”

I chest-bump his ass, but it’s like bumping steel and it doesn’t give me any additional room. It doesn’t matter. I’m heated and determined to get his ass to see reason. “We stay. We fight, goddamn it. That shit is real, that shit is life. You don’t get your fuckin’ feelings tripped up over nobody in this game. Fuck them dead niggas—and fuck you if you’re afraid to ride this shit until the world blows.”

Python’s face purples. “I ain’t afraid of shit.”

“Ain’t nobody gonna believe that shit if we turn tail and run to Mexico. Trust and believe.”

“Why the fuck can’t you understand?” he huffs.

“Oh, I understand. You just need to understand that I ain’t going no-muthafuckin’-where. Adios.”

Python wraps his large hand around my throat. “You will do exactly what I tell you to do,” he growls.

“I’m not leaving Memphis,” I rasp with what little oxygen I have.

He squeezes tighter. “You always gotta try me. You know how easy it would be for me to snap your goddamn neck right now?”

“Do what you gotta do.”

BAM!

He slams my head against the wall—a signature move for him that makes stars dance around my head. “I tell you what’s real. As long as you got my last name, I fuckin’ own you. You got that shit?”

BAM!

More stars. But I’m still running on adrenaline. I hock up some spit and launch that shit in his face.

“Fuckin’ bitch!” A right hook sends me crashing to the floor. My jaw feels like it’s been unhinged and blood pools into my mouth. Before I can react, Python is back on me like white on rice. My fists are smaller, but they pack a powerful punch as I land one blow after another. But Python isn’t interested in fighting me anymore, he’s ducking and dodging as he yanks my clothes off.

“I fuckin’ own you, bitch. I fuckin’ own you,” he growls.

I’m as bad as he is because somewhere along the way my anger has turned into lust. I’m on fire for his ass and I start wrestling his shit off, too. When his monster cock slams inside my pussy, I damn near come on the spot. There ain’t no fuckin’ foreplay. He’s murdering my shit and rattling my teeth.

“Say it, bitch. Tell me who this shit belongs to.”

Our bodies pound so hard I revel in the pain and pleasure.

“Say it, goddamn it,” Python demands, jacking my legs up over my head. At no point does his hand ease its grip on my neck. The lack of oxygen intensifies the nut building in my clit.

“SAY IT!”

“I—I—” My brain goes dead. I forgot what jumpstarted this shit. All I know is that I don’t want it to end.

“Who’s your nigga, Shelle? Whose pussy is this?”

When I still can’t answer, he pulls his dick out until just the mushroomed head teases my pussy lips. “Whose is it, Shelle?”

“Yours.” I grab his ass. “Don’t stop.”

“Nah. You’re a bad bitch. Maybe I should leave you to finish off by your damn self.” He glides his cock over the top of my clit. “Would you like that?”

“Pythoooon,” I whine.

He dips his dick in for one thrust and then backs off again. “Let me hear you say it.”

Dip. Thrust. Stop.

Going out of my mind, I wrap my legs around his waist in an attempt to fuck him instead.

Python presses me back to the floor. “You don’t want your man, baby? Huh?”

Dip. Thrust. Stop.

“Y-yes.” I wiggle my ass and pound on his chest. “Give it to me.”

“Then tell me.”

Dip. Thrust. Stop.

If my mind was right and I wasn’t horny as hell, I’d hold out longer, but at this point I’m one hundred percent his bitch. I tell him what he wants to hear. “It’s yours. Yours,” I admit.

Dip. Thrust. Stop.

“Mine? You sure?”

Dip. Thrust. Stop.

“Yes! Yes! Stop playing and fuck me,” I shout.

“There you go again.” His dick dives back in and then drills me into the floor. “I’m gonna get that fuckin’ mouth under control,” he says, sweating and pumping.

“AHHH. FUCK!” My clit explodes, my pussy come hoses his dick down while my body convulses like I’m in the middle of a grand mal seizure. I’m soaring so high I can’t see Earth.

Two more strokes and Python loses his shit, roaring as he whips his dick out and hot, thick globs of come skeet all over my body. He collapses leaving a sweaty, funky mess on top of me. “I swear to God, Shelle, if you ever try to leave—or do me dirty . . . ,” he whispers while nibbling on my neck. “I’ll fuckin’ kill you.”

I wake up choking on rancid air and burning oil and then struggle to lift my head and open my. . .