Black Dahlia Read Online Free Page A

unlock her car door.
    “What if I wanted to make it your business?” he asked, flirtatiously. Mercedes tried hard not to smile, but his was infectious. She smiled as the butterflies in her stomach rose.
    “I’m leaving now. Goodbye, Mr. Santiago,” she said, using his last name, attempting to assert some emotional distance. 
    “Raul,” he stated in a low, but firm voice.
    “What?” she asked, caught off guard.
    “My name is Raul. Say it,” he commanded.
    “Mr. Sa--”
    “Raul,” he commanded more sternly stepping closer to tower over her. Mercedes felt the butterflies in her stomach turn into a full on jackhammer as her insides hummed with desire under his watchful gaze. She wanted to be her usual defiant self and let him know she wasn’t the least bit turned on. But, they both knew that would be a lie.
    “Raul,” she said, just above a whisper.
    Those sexy lips of his, again, turned up into a devil’s grin. He’d won this round.
    “That’s more like it,” he said, placing a kiss right at the corner of her lips.
    “Drive safely,” he said, stepping back to allow her space to get into her car, and closing her car door.
    Driving off, Mercedes peeked at her rearview mirror to see Raul still standing in the center of the driveway watching her car. She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face.
     
     

Chapter 2
    Raul stood at the end of the driveway, and watched Mercedes’ car disappear around the corner. He didn’t know why he felt the sense of longing grow the further away the car drove. Since the night of Devyn and Nikola’s wedding, he’d wanted Mercedes. Bad. To say he was pissed when he opened the door to find Cindy naked in his suite, would be an understatement. He was truthful when he said he didn’t know Cindy. She was actually a former fling of Nikola’s. She had tried to sneak into Nikola’s wedding reception with a date, but Raul personally escorted her out of the hotel, or so he thought. Apparently, Cindy had other plans, and that night instead of leaving altogether, she decided to turn her attention on Raul. He later found out that she bribed one of the hotel workers to find out what hotel suite he was staying in and to let her in. But, Raul didn’t find that out until after Mercedes stormed off. After he had Cindy escorted out, he went and found out that the assistant manager on duty fell for her bullshit and let her in. He’d personally made sure the man was fired as a security specialist; Raul took that type of responsibility seriously. Any manager allowing random women into a guest's hotel suite didn’t deserve his job, as far as Raul was concerned.
    Raul was never one to get caught up in a woman no matter how beautiful she was, and Raul was from Brazil. He knew beautiful women of all races and ethnicities. But something about Mercedes drove him crazy. Not only was she beautiful, but she had a toughness that Raul could tell was used to cover her vulnerability. 
    Raul decided it was time for him to leave to take his date home. When he reentered the house, he nearly bumped into Devyn who was still standing at the door, as if she’d never left. Her arms were folded and the look on her face told him she wasn’t playing.
    “Hey, Killer. I was just about to grab Yvette and say my goodbyes,” he said.
    “Hmmmhm. What was that about?” she asked.
    Raul knew exactly what she was referring to, but decided to play dumb. “What was what about?”
    Devyn merely lifted her eyebrow, which made Raul smile. His best friend’s wife was no pushover, and she was protective over her friend as he was over her family.
    He blew out a breath. “I just wanted to make sure she got to her car safely. That’s all.” He tried to place an emphasis on “all” but he knew that was a lie. And Devyn’s face said that she knew it too.
    “Yeah, okay. Just know she’s not just my friend. She’s my sister, so if you hurt he--” Devyn raised her hand when Raul attempted to interrupt