Read Dead and Disorderly (Behind the Blue Line Series Book 2) for Free Online Page B

know? I hit the holy days, I keep track of the rituals and use a few of them,” she gestured with a piece of pizza toward the door and windows she’d worked on, “semi-frequently, but other than that, not so much. Does it bother you?”
    “Not at all.” Nico could understand her position. With a schedule like his, that was pretty much all he had time for in terms of Mass, too. And her religious preference wasn’t unexpected, given how they met. “I guess you do a good business.” He looked around at the numerous locked glass cases and their high end contents.
    Nahia nodded, and sipped her beer. “It’s not bad. I do special orders, too, for some customers, and I have an online presence. It keeps a roof over my head.”
    He toasted her before draining his beer. Her modesty was refreshing, since his last few experiences with women outside of work had consisted of a great deal more about themselves than any other topic. Though, he had to admit, he could sit and listen to Nahia read a phone book and be content, but that was not something he intended to share.
    When she saw his empty bottle, she took it from him and tossed it in the recycling bin on the floor behind her and knelt down to grab another from the fridge. “So, I didn’t find a whole lot today as far as the house goes.”
    “Ah! Then you will love what I came up with.” He thanked her for the bottle she handed up and grabbed another few squares of pizza.
     

     
    Nahia tried not to look overeager as she slid the pizza box off the folder he’d carried in with him. The food had been amazing, and she would definitely be eating more of their food, if their pizza was any indication, but it was the company that had her flustered. She wasn’t normally impressed by guys in suits. They weren’t her speed and usually were more than a little uncomfortable with her choice of occupation. However, when they filled out said slate suit as nicely as Nico did, she could be moved to change her mind.
    Her enjoyment of his company wasn’t merely predicated on the fact that he was really, really hot with his dark hair and eyes and those shoulders. She generally wasn’t that shallow. It was the conversation, she admitted with a sigh. He was great to talk to, and she didn’t feel uncomfortable talking to him about her work and hobbies, topics that had run off more than a couple people in her life. And while she attributed some of that comfort to the circumstances of their meeting, the subsequent interactions had been no less awesome.
    “So what am I looking at here?” Nahia absently pawed underneath the cash drawer before her fingertips found and dragged out her reading glasses. Though she was loath to wear them most of the time, it had been a long enough day, and she could use the help.
    Nico quickly boxed up the pizza and set it aside so she could spread the folder out between them, and dragged his stool over next to hers, sitting close enough to bump shoulders. Nahia closed her eyes and resolved to keep herself to no more than two beers, lest she start feeling a little freer to act on her impulses, whatever they may be.
    “This,” he said as he pointed to the middle of the first page, “is the tax history of the house. It’s goes back to just before WWI.”
    It was hard to pay attention when he smelled more enticing than even the pizza. “Okay. Should you even be showing me this?”
    He gave her a sidelong glance and a wry smile. “Eh, probably not, so you can’t keep this. But! This isn’t even the interesting stuff.”
    The next page was a handwritten genealogy chart on yellow legal-ruled paper in Nico’s blocky, confident scrawl. She picked it up for a closer look at the history of the single family going back to at least 1901, with notations like ‘stabbed in the house’, ‘drowned in the pool’, and ‘fell down the stairs’. She set the paper on the table between them and removed her glasses. “Is this right? Almost all of the McManus family that