Dead and Disorderly (Behind the Blue Line Series Book 2) (18 page)

Nahia looked her friend over, amused to see him as smudged and rumpled as she was. At least she’d worn jeans; he’d still been in his suit. “Well, you cursed us.” She picked another cobweb out of her hair and stared at the rusted cigar box in her hands that she’d retrieved from the third drawer of the credenza. It was sealed, its contents shifting inside when she shook it, a soft sound, not rattling or clanging against the metal sides. She only hoped it was papers and not another rat carcass like she’d found in Drawer Number Two.

“It’s only a curse if it’s full of dead mice or something.” The fact that his thoughts so closely mirrored her own weren’t terribly comforting. They’d descended the stairs where they’d started, fearing going down the outside ones would draw unneeded attention to their furtive activities. Plus, she’d wanted to interrupt the salt barrier so Aurelio wasn’t trapped inside. It wasn’t often she could coax Nigel into a good bout of breaking and entering. Throw in stealing, or as she referred to it, ‘borrowing’, and it was a whole other game.

“I gotta run. You cool here?” She had to race home, shower, and head down to Ianucci’s to meet Nico for the wake. Any anxiety about the house was overcome by the butterflies in her stomach and their Rolls-Royce engines when she thought about meeting Nico’s family for the first time. This was big– huge, in fact– and all she could think of was she wasn’t ready. Hell, she’d thought about telling him that when he’d invited her in the first place, but he’d had so much on his mind, she didn’t want to add the strain.

“I’m good. Stay here, poke around with my badge and gun visible, and if anyone asks, I’m checking on an abandoned building.” He recited the plan she’d laid out for him by rote.

“Awesome, and—”

“Do
not
go into the house,” they said at the same time.

Nahia laughed and tossed her gear into her trunk and opened the car door. “Just checking. Text me when you’re out, okay? If I don’t hear from you, I’m coming back, and I’ll be loaded for bear.”

Nigel snorted and motioned for her to get going. “Don’t cut out early from the family event. I got this. I’m good.”

Nahia kissed his cheek and climbed into her little car, racing into downtown. It only took a moment to run up three flights of stairs and dart into her apartment. Doing the math as she tossed off her clothes, she’d have to go without makeup if she wanted clean hair, but some sacrifices had to be made. Fifteen minutes later, she was sprinting down the stairs, and opted to slide on the banister for the last flight, just to save time. She gave no thought to the box in her front seat until she jumped in the car.

She’d meant to take it inside with her, but it would have to wait. She was grateful when she got the text from Nico right before she left the parking lot asking where she was that she could honestly say she was on her way with an ETA of less than ten minutes.

Weaving adroitly through the afternoon throngs, she worked hard to mentally calm herself. It was just dinner. It wasn’t an inquisition, and she looked great. Nico would be there, and she wanted to support him. It was going to be okay. She repeated the litany over and over in varying permutations, the words soothing her only slightly.

At a stoplight, she reached up and touched her hair, thrown back into a bun that hid her turquoise streak, a simple silver chain taking the place of the medicine pouch she’d had on earlier. She’d changed from her tank top and jeans into an off the shoulder silky turquoise blouse, a black pencil skirt that fell to her knees, and finished off with some black patent kitten heels. She was going for sexy, yet civilized, with not even a hint of hoochie.

The parking lot was full to bursting when she arrived, bleeding over into the office lot next door. She’d ended up parking a block away and walking, regretting her choice in footwear about halfway there. She saw Nico on the patio talking to an older woman whose hand he held. He looked edible. In his white dress shirt with rolled up sleeves and jeans, he made the preppy look work in the best possible way. He stood when he saw her, whispered to the older woman who hooked an arm over the back of the chair to look at her, a cigarette smoldering away in her hand.

Speaking of smoldering, the kiss he laid on her as soon as she walked up definitely qualified. His arm around her waist, other hand cradling her head, palm splayed over her lower back sending tingles through her whole body while his lips demanded a response she was only too happy to give. He pulled back, breathing hard, and rested his forehead against hers.

“I missed you, too.” She giggled breathlessly. One look over his shoulder and she could see the woman at the table grinning approvingly and looking like she wanted to applaud. Nahia returned her attention to Nico, nuzzling her nose against his. “You doing okay?”

He nodded and took a step back, presumably so it didn’t look like he was accosting her in the parking lot. “Happy you’re here.” Keeping his arm around her, he led them back to the table. “I have someone I’d like you to meet. Nonna, this is Nahia.”

Nahia smiled brightly and took the little old woman’s hand in her own. She looked exactly like she’d anticipated, no bigger than a minute and sparkling dark eyes hinting she was up for any available mischief she could find. “Lovely to meet you, Mrs. Verrazzano.”

“His mother is Mrs. V, I’m just Nonna. My Dominic here is very fond of you.” She sipped her scotch, staring at him thoughtfully.

Nico stiffened next to Nahia as he held out her chair. Leave it to Nonna to be so damn direct. Nahia giggled, to her credit, completely unintimidated by his family’s matriarch.

“Well, it just so happens I’m pretty fond of him, so that works out well.”

He did his best not to gape at her, because he definitely hadn’t expected her to be so open with her feelings, especially right away, and with his Nonna of all people. “I…” he trailed off as his mind attempted to regroup. “May I get you a drink, Nahia?”

His grandmother snorted and looked them both over. “You don’t need to keep me company, Dominic. Take her inside, introduce her around. You’re mother’s going to be very excited to meet her.” She ended the statement with a giggle that became a cough, but she continued to wave them toward the front doors.

He rose, and Nahia followed his lead after a look of concern for his grandmother. Shaking his head, he put his hand on her back again, escorting her into the restaurant. “You ready?” he murmured into her hair just above her ear. She looked amazing, absolutely stunning, and he was so proud to show her off, but he didn’t want to overwhelm her with the tidal wave of people who’d be anxious to make her acquaintance.

She nodded, but looked over her shoulder once more at the patio. “Yeah, I’m sure. You sure we should leave your gramma out there?”

He nodded and held the door for her. “If you fuss over her, she’ll beat you with whatever’s available. There aren’t whole a lot of options out there before she’d be throwing furniture. Best to just go inside.”

Nahia giggled and kissed his cheek, the feeling of her soft lips on his skin almost enough to make him miss a step as they walked into the dining room. “It’s your show, Nico, I’m all yours.”

Before he could respond to her, a figure came into view from the corner of his eye. “Nico, have you seen your grandmother?”

His mother was on a mission, he could tell from the set of her shoulders and the look in her eye. Trying to buy his grandmother some time, he offered, “Ma, this is Nahia, the girl I was telling you about.”

Nico’s mother was stately. Taller than her, with a curvy figure, sharp features, and long black hair, Mrs. Verrazzano was definitely where he got his looks. The regal woman stopped in the middle of her hunt to look her over.

Taking the opportunity to make a good impression, Nahia stuck out her hand and flashed her most winning smile. “Mrs. Verrazzano. Lovely to meet you. Nico speaks of you often and fondly.”

His mother took her hand briefly before folding her hands in front of her. “He mentioned he’d met someone.” The front door to the restaurant opened, and Nonna strolled in, doing her best to look inconspicuous. Mrs. V. zeroed in on her immediately. “Excuse me, would you? We’ll talk more in a little bit.” She turned toward Nonna, who’d almost made it to the bar for a refill, “Ma! You know what the doctor says about your drinking.”

“See? Not so bad.” Nico brushed his lips briefly across her bare shoulder. “C’mon, there’s a few other people I want you to meet.”

‘A few people’ turned into the funerary equivalent of a receiving line, and it was endless. By the time they’d made it back to the front of the restaurant, she was tempted to dig into her purse and start making notes on a scorecard. It was a lot of damn people, everywhere a cousin, an aunt, an uncle. If she started factoring in divorces, remarriages, affairs, and random children they’d manage to populate a medium-sized country.

Their whirlwind tour ended thankfully at the bar, tended by another cousin, or second cousin or something. “You holding up?” He ordered her a dirty martini and got himself a couple fingers of bourbon.

Nahia had been cordial, friendly, and everything else he could expect for a woman at someone else’s wake cum impromptu family reunion. Grieving relatives didn’t make for the most upbeat affair under the best of circumstances, and these were pretty close. Still, she seemed vexed, for lack of a better word, and that had him a bit concerned.

“Please tell me that’s the whole play, because if it’s just the first act, then I’m gonna need more of these.” She shook the glass, swirling the olives around to illustrate her point. They took their drinks out to the terrace, and she grabbed a seat at one of the unoccupied tables. People were still showing up, waving as they went by as she watched the progression. “That’s a lot of people,” she whispered, though he didn’t know if it was to him or herself. She turned back to him with a speculative look. “You related to everyone here?”