Coming for the Queen

by Zari

Genres: African American Urban

Synopsis

This standalone novel brings back the character of Tori Billups from Zari’s Carl Weber’s Kingpins: Penthouse View.

After she was set up by Jamarco and did two years in prison, Tori Billups (Carl Weber’s Kingpin, Penthouse View) returns to Atlanta with a score to settle. Once that is behind her, Tori travels to South America to solidify her connection to the product. Now, Tori just wants to sell her drugs and run her legitimate business. But when several attempts are made on her life, Tori decides to eliminate all of her competition and take over the city.

The only person standing in her way is Darran Horne, who took over the market after his mentor, Ralph Chapman, was killed. Tori devises to plan to take out all of Horne’s Lieutenants, as he steps up his attempts to kill her. When an opportunity presents itself to expand her business to the West Coast, Tori is all over it. In Coming For The Queen: The Return of Tori Billups, Zari returns with her special brand of action-packed urban crime thriller.

Release date: July 28, 2026

Publisher: Urban Books

Print pages: 288

Sample

Now that Jamarco was dead, I turned my attention to getting back in the game and rebuilding my organization. I had money, but what I needed was my connection back to the product. And that meant traveling to Colombia to see if I could still do business with whatever Alvarez I could find.

When I arrived in the country, I called the number that I had had for two years.

“Who is this?”

“It’s Tori Billups.”

“Tori!” Pablo Alvarez all but shouted. “It’s good to talk to you.” He was alive—another of Jarmarco’s lies.

“It’s great to talk to you.”

“I’ll be honest with you. I don’t like dealing with Jamarco. I know he’s your man, but—”

“I need to stop you right there. Jamarco isn’t my man.”

“He’s not?” Alvarez asked.

“No. He’s been lying to you. The truth is that Jamarco set me up to get locked up. I’ve been in jail serving out the two years of a parole violation.”

“You were in jail? Jamarco didn’t tell me. He said you were allowing him to run this side of the business while you focused on the cosmetics company.”

“Not true,” I said. “I’m in Bogotá, and I would rather talk to you in person.”

“It would be good to see you, Tori.”

“It will be good to see you too.”

“I have a commitment this evening, but we can do lunch tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow is fine.”

“Where are you staying?”

“I’m at the Grand Hyatt Bogotá.”

“I’ll send a car for you at eleven.”

“I’ll be in the lobby waiting for your driver.”

“See you tomorrow.”

“Looking forward to it,” I said and ended the call.

The next day, I dressed in a Chloé suit and waited in the lobby at eleven for Alvarez’s driver.

“Ms. Billups?”

“Yes.”

“I’m Agustín, Mr. Alvarez’s driver.” I stood up. “I’ve come to take you to meet Mr. Alvarez for lunch. If you would please follow me to the car.”

“Right behind you, Agustín,” I said, and we went to the limousine. He took me to Astoria Rooftop, where he escorted me to the restaurant and waited until I was seated before leaving. As is his custom, Alvarez wasn’t there, so I decided to order a drink.

“Good afternoon, Ms. Billups. My name is Alejandro. Can I start you out with a cocktail?”

“What do you recommend?”

“Pacific Mule. It’s made with vodka, peach schnapps, strawberry liqueur, and topped off with ginger ale, lime, and strawberries. It’s the most popular cocktail in Colombia. Mr. Alvarez said you might like to try it.”

“Pacific Mule it is.”

While I waited, I sipped my cocktail and looked over the menu. The picture of the quinotto de salmón looked tasty. The description was in Spanish, so I asked my waiter to translate it.

“It’s made with quinoa risotto, grilled salmon with pepper honey, and cilantro pesto.”

“Thank you,” I said, and continued looking over the menu. “What is the arroz andino?”

“It’s made with Andean vegetable rice with sausage, pork rinds, avocado, plantain, and poached egg. Topped with tender, slow-cooked beef brisket glazed in a wine and balsamic reduction.”

“I’ll have that,” I said as Alvarez arrived. I stood up to shake his hand, but he surprised me and hugged me.

“It is so good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you too.”

“Please have a seat,” he said, and pulled out my chair.

“Your usual, sir?” Alejandro asked.

“No, Alejandro,” Alvarez said as Alejandro pulled out his chair and Alvarez sat down. “I’m going to have the tomahawk de cerdo.”

“I’ll have that out shortly,” Alejandro said and walked away. He returned after a moment with a refajo cocktail. He told me that it is made with a Colombiana soda, aguardiente, a bottle of pale lager, preferably Aguila or Club Colombia, and orange and lime wedges for garnish.

“So, you were in jail for the last two years?”

“Yes. I believe that Jamarco put the gun in my car and called the police.”

“I despise dishonest people.”

“So do I. The lying muthafucka said you were dead. And he was doing business with your brother, Jorge Alvarez.”

“He’s dead. Murdered by cowards two years ago. I hope you’ve dealt with this dishonest man,” he said as our food arrived.

“I have, and he won’t be lying to anybody ever again.”

“Colombian necktie?”

“No. I shot him in the chest. At the same time, Dominique cut his throat. When his body fell to the floor, Kendra put one in his head.”

“Don’t you think that was, how you s—”

“Overkill? Yes. But each of us wanted to and had reason to kill him, so we all did.”

“I see,” Alvarez said and took a bite of his tomahawk de cerdo.

“Enough about Jamarco.”

“Agreed.”

“Where do you and I stand?”

“Do you think you have to ask?”

“Not really. I believe Agustín picking me up and this outstanding meal say that I don’t.”

“But you still feel like you need to ask.” I nodded. “As far as I’m concerned, we can continue business as usual.”

I raised my glass. “I’ll drink to that.”

When I got back to Atlanta, I not only wanted but also needed to let everybody know that Torri Billups was back, and the best place for me to do that was Club 371. We had all but taken over the club before I was locked up. I wore a red sleeveless Ferragamo leather minidress with an asymmetric neckline. We rented a limousine, and, along with Dominique and Morgan, we hit the club.

Dominique was crushing it in a black Brunello Cucinelli jumpsuit that hugged her curves. Morgan looked sharp in his checker blue Stefano Ricci two-button Fiesole suit. Since I had been locked up, and it had been thirty-two months since we had been in the club. We no longer had a reserved table.

“Who’s the manager here now?” Morgan asked the first server he saw.

“Maxwell Archer.”

Morgan chuckled and stepped closer to the server. “Millicent? Millicent Marsh?”

Morgan handed Millicent a fifty-dollar bill. “Do you think I could get you to tell Maxi that Tori Billups is in the house?”

“Tori Billups is here?”

“Right there.”

“Do you think I could speak to her?”

“I’m right here. Of course, you can speak to me, Millicent,” I said and shook hands with her.

She used both hands. “You can call me Millie.”

“While you go tell Maxi that Tori Billups is here, you think you can get somebody to find us a table, Millie?” Dominique asked

“Come this way,” Millicent said and started walking away. “You’re Dominique, aren’t you?” she asked as she walked alongside Dominique.

“I am.”

“Wow. Tori Billups and Dominique are back in the house,” Millicent said.

I had to laugh because she was treating us like celebrities, and there was a part of me that felt good because, after two years of lockdown, people still knew and respected the name Tori Billups.

Millicent took us to a reserved table down front. The show was on, and Salomé Warner had the crowd in the palm of her hand. It wasn’t long before Maxi Archer came rushing up to the table. I always thought Maxi was sexy as fuck, and that hadn’t changed. That night, he wore an Emporio Armani sharkskin suit. I know it had been almost nine months since I’d been out of prison, but in that time, I hadn’t seen any men I wanted to fuck, but I really wanted to fuck Maxi. We’ll see how that goes.

“I want to welcome you back to Club 371. If you had let me know you were coming tonight, I would have had a table reserved for you,” Maxi said, looking at me.

“This table is fine,” Morgan said.

“Enjoy Salomé Warner,” he said as a server came to the table with a champagne bucket and a bottle of Dom Pérignon, Champagne Vintage 2010. “She’s doing two more sets tonight. But I do need to speak to you and Dominique.”

I glanced at Dominique, and she nodded. “We can go now and talk,” I said, and we stood up.

“Let’s talk in my office.”

“Lead the way,” Dominique said.

Maxi chuckled. “I know you know the way. Shit. It used to be your office. I’ve just been keeping it occupied until you got back.” He opened the door and stepped inside. “It would be a chore to move all this to a smaller office.”

And it would have been a task as he had powerful images of Martin Luther King, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, also known as Malcolm X, and The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. There were pictures of entertainers, NBA and WNBA players, as well as other athletes. The office was elaborately decorated with plush chairs and couches. He even had installed what I call mood lighting.

“I like what you’ve done with the office.”

“Thank you,” Maxi said, and sat down behind what had once been the desk I shared with Dominique.

“I like what you’ve done with the place. But if I came back, it would all have to go,” Dominique said. “But right now, that’s not an issue or why we’re here.”

“One thing I have noticed is that there aren’t players in the game here like they used to be.”

“The reason for that is what or who I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Jamarco,” I said coldly.

“Yes.”

“What did he do?” I asked, and Dominique leaned forward.

“He’s the reason this isn’t considered neutral ground to the dealers,” Maxi said.

“Let’s hear some of the other lies Jamarco has spread while I was in jail.”

“People still talk about how you used sexy-ass Dominique to tempt Malik,” Maxi said, and Dominique smiled. Then he looked at me. “You are a sexy muthafucka too, Tori, in ways I can’t even explain.” He looked at me with lust in his eyes in a way that let me know that I was going to invite him to the penthouse tonight. “You sexy as fuck, and I’ve been digging you for a long time.” Maxi paused. “But I digress.” He looked at Dominque. “I saw how you played Malik to get niggas whispering.” He looked at me again. “You knew that eventually those whispers would get back to LL.” Maxi laughed. “The real LL. Nigga, your name is Latravis Lloyd. The real LL is LL Cool J.”

We all got in a good laugh behind that one.

“But once again, I digress,” Maxi said, still looking at me lustfully. It was making me squirm. “You wanted those whispers to get back to LL to bring him to the club. And sure enough, LL comes to Club 371 to find out what’s going on. Because the whispers are telling him that you’re grooming Malik to take his spot, which you were, but he doesn’t know that. So, he comes here thinking he was gonna straighten you out. Malik works for him, and you were not gonna push him out. Then you made him wait like he wasn’t the big man he thought he was.

“Everybody was watching and whispering. LL was getting madder and madder. Then you finally sent Morgan to invite him to the killing floor. But once again, he doesn’t know he’s about to die. LL goes to the VIP room to blast you, verbally, of course. He wants to blast you for making him wait and fuckin’ with Malik and not him. Then you make him wait again. He’s sitting there for half an hour. He’s in there thinking the whole club is laughing at him because you’re playing him like a fool who doesn’t deserve the respect he’s sure he’s entitled to,” Maxi laughed. “Then you walk in there and kill him.

“Everybody in the club who was watching saw those flashes and watched you walk out with Morgan, and LL never came out. Muthafuckas are watching and waiting, but LL never leaves. That’s why y’all are legends … celebrities up in this muthafucka. That’s why my entire staff and the guests who know what’s up are buzzing because they’re wondering, like I am, whether you’re going to take over the club. They’re looking for action. I’m just worried about having this job and staying alive.”

Maxi looked at Dominique. “That’s my point.”

Dominique and I looked at each other for a moment, and then we started laughing. I looked at Maxi while we were laughing, and he looked horrified.

“No, Maxi. I have no intention of killing you. As far as your job is concerned, you can keep it as long as you’re doing your job. But, yes, we are coming back.” I laughed. “To entertain your staff and the guests who know what’s up.”

Maxi actually breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Tori.”

“You’re welcome, Maxi.”

Dominique and I were about to leave until Maxi said, “Now, who you have to contend with is Darran Horne.”

“Darran Horne,” I said aloud, and shook my head. He was the only one of Ralph Chapman’s top guys that I didn’t kill.

“After you killed Ralph, Darran was just the last muthafucka standing that you didn’t take out. He slid into his position. He took over Ralph’s promotion company and expanded. In addition to local parties and events around town, now he’s promoting fights, concerts, and doing old-school cruises.”

“Old-school cruises?”

“He promotes cruises with old-school groups from the ’80s and ’90s. Anyway,” Maxi said to bring us back to the important business, “since Pablo Alvarez and his brother Jorge Alvarez weren’t available to him because of their past dealings with Ralph, Darran traveled to Venezuela and stayed down there until he solidified his connection to the product. Now, he’s stronger than Ralph ever was because he was much smarter than Ralph ever was.”

“Anything else we need to know?” I asked.

“That’s it.”

Both Dominique and I stood at the same time. As we left the office, I turned and looked at Maxi. “I know you have a club to run, but,” I said as Dominique went down the stairs that led to the club. I dropped my voice a couple of octaves to sound sexy, “come see me if you have time.”

“I’ll make time for you,” he said.

Maxi dropped by the table where we were holding court. I found that the old players in the game may have stopped coming to Club 371, but it’s the spot for the up-and-coming group of young dope boys. They considered Club 371 neutral ground, so they all hung out there. They had heard of me, and to them, as Maxi said, I was a legend, a celebrity that they all had to meet.

When Maxi sat to watch a little of Salomé Warner’s last set, I invited him to come by the penthouse for drinks. But we didn’t have drinks when he got there. It took everything I had not to fuck him as soon as he walked through the door. Truth was, I wanted to fuck him from the second I saw him at the club. I hadn’t had any dick in two years, and I wanted Maxi inside of me. I ran my hands down my body, dropped my dress, and slid off my panties. My bra hooked in the front. I unhooked it and uncovered my breasts. Now that I was standing before him naked, I ran my hands across my skin and squeezed my nipples.

I haven’t had a “relationship” with a man since high school. I thought I was in love with Milton Holmes … until he allowed his brother, Trenton, to try to rape me. Milton told him that I had that “drive-a-nigga-insane” pussy. Back then, I was horrified, scared, and filled with regret when I killed them. Now, I’m glad I murdered them. Bastards. What was the alternative? Let Trenton rape me? Murdering the Holmes brothers changed the trajectory of my life. Had I allowed Trenton to rape me, I’d just be one of their hoes, dancing in clubs or selling pussy. They probably would have had me strung out on drugs. No, I like this life I lead much better.

My experience with the Holmes brothers changed me in so many ways. My mistrust of men would be first and foremost. Second on the list would be my lack of interest in relationships. I have mastered the art of self-enjoyment, meaning I masturbate a lot. In recent years, I’ve fucked men who meant nothing to me. But my masturbation life spills over into sex with men. It’s had the effect of making me extremely aggressive in bed. Some call me a freak.

I took my right hand and eased three of my fingers into my mouth before sliding them across my clit. I moistened my fingers again and slowly moved them up and down my lips. Then I patted them a few times, and chills rolled over my body.

I could see Maxi lower his head and take my nipple into his mouth. I loved the way he trapped my nipple between his teeth and glided his tongue across it. I squeezed harder.

Slowly, my hands made their way back between my thighs. While one hand returned to my nipple, I ran my fingers up and down my lips slowly, and then in circles around my clit. I moistened my fingers once more and made circles around my swollen nipples. I had to have him inside me. I pulled. . .