Under Pressure [IAD Agency] (Siren Publishing Classic) (14 page)

Tony packed up his stuff and waited for them at the door as they prepared to leave. Jason helped Bella into her jacket and ran his hands down her arms. She tried to insist on carrying her bag, but Jason simply looked at her, not saying a word until she relinquished it to him. His grunt of approval as she handed it over had her rolling her eyes.

Men.

They surrounded her, walking on either side of her as they left the building, making her roll her eyes again. The chilly September air had Bella zipping her jacket to ward off the chill, but neither man seemed bothered. Jason’s eyes were constantly moving, observing everything and everyone around them as they moved. It seemed to be as natural to him as breathing. As Bella continued to talk about her day excitedly, she heard him suck in a breath as they neared her car.

Before she knew it, Jason had swept her up into his arms and was flat out sprinting toward his car parked a few yards away. He disengaged the lock on the run and was shoving her into the driver’s side front seat before she could catch her breath.

She heard Tony let out a string of curses as he jumped into the back seat of Jason’s SUV. Jason pushed her over, and in the blink of an eye he had the car started and was peeling out of the parking lot before she could sit up. Shoving her head down again, Jason ordered her to stay with a tone that brooked no argument. He whipped out his cell phone and started barking instructions to whoever was at the other end in a sort of code that was difficult for her to understand.

Scared and unsure what was going on, Bella risked looking up at him to see he was barely recognizable. The tender, caring Jason she knew was gone. He had shut down completely, and in his place was the warrior.

Cold.

Hard.

Untouchable.

Now she understood why people thought he was a machine.

He drove with the confidence of a skilled race car driver, maneuvering in and out of Chicago traffic at a frightening speed. Tony let out a stream of impressive curses as he held on. As Bella huddled on the floor of the car, she wondered what could have possibly happened to have caused this reaction from Jason. She rested her head against her arm and closed her eyes, knowing that everything was okay as long as she was with him.

He would keep her safe.

Jason pulled up to his rehabbed building once he made sure they hadn’t been followed and entered the key sequence into the car dash to pull into the first part of the garage. A red light flashed for a brief moment and they waited as he keyed in the second code. The second door opened and they pulled into the main garage. Bella obviously missed the red light last time she was here, probably because she had been so nervous. Or it could have been some new security measure she hadn’t seen before.

Tony didn’t even blink at the hardware in the garage as they made their way through. She was bustled into the elevator, and they made it up into Jason’s apartment in an eerie silence with Jason all but surrounding her in the small space. The quiet was grating on her nerves and had her temper flaring.

Once inside, Jason opened a hidden panel in the wall and pressed his palm on the screen. “MacBain, Supernova alpha zeta 6-6-1 lockdown.” He turned to Bella, eyes hard. “You aren’t going back there. You’re going to quit teaching.”

“What?”

He ignored her. Turning to Tony, he told him to call Sal to bring him in.

She held up a hand. “Okay, listen. Stop right there. I’m not going to quit.”

“Aye, you are.”

“What are you talking about? What happened?”

“Bloody hell, woman, you’re not safe there.”

“What the hell is going on? I understand something just happened. I just let you throw me into your car and drive away like the devil was after us, and I want to know
why
.”

“You let me?” Jason’s eyebrow rose. He turned away again, and she reached out to grab his arm. It pissed her off to deal with him while he was still in warrior mode, but it threw her fury into the stratosphere when he dismissed her.

“Oh, you condescending son of a bitch, don’t you
dare
mock me. Tell me what happened or I’m leaving!”

Jason spun around and held on to her shoulders tight. She struggled helplessly against his hold. Tony’s low voice was informing Sal about what had happened over the phone in the background.

“I am resenting the hell out of this, Jason. If you won’t tell me what’s going on, I’m leaving. I won’t be handled. Don’t try and control me. I can think for myself! It’s my life, mine! I’m not quitting my job just because you tell me to! My teaching has nothing to do with you. I am not quitting!
This is my life. Let me go
!” Panic had her freaking out.

“Nothing to do with me?” Jason whispered.

Then he roared.

Her words were like a dagger through his heart. He pulled her up right off her feet until she was face-to-face with him. “Bollocks! There was something on your car, waiting for you! What if it were a bomb? What if someone had been waiting to shoot you in the fucking head while you stood there? How do you think I would feel if you got shot right in front of me? I’m not about to let a bloody thing happen to you, you got me?”

Jerking her so their noses almost touched, his voice lowered in icy fury. “Nothing to do with me?
Everything
about you has to do with me. You are
mine
. Your life means more to me than your bloody job!”

The color had drained from her face. She had lost herself for a moment as pure terror spiked through her system, but then their eyes connected. This was Jason, the man she was falling in love with. She knew, knew that she could trust him. She felt safe, protected, as if nothing could touch her with Jason watching over her. What she saw in his beautiful stormy eyes was something that she never thought she would see.

Fear.

Her anger dissipated at once.

“What was it? Tell me, tell me the truth.” Her voice was shaky.

Damn
. He hesitated a moment. “Roses. White roses.”

Bella sucked in a breath, tried to speak, and couldn’t. She took a moment and then shook her head in disbelief.

“I’m sorry. I must have heard you wrong. Did you say roses? Someone left me roses, and
this
is the way you react?
What is wrong with you
?
Are you high
?”

Jason couldn’t help the narrowing of his eyes. “No one should be leaving you roses. No one should be leaving you anything.”

Bella wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Outrage made her want to shriek, but instead she sighed. She knew that there wasn’t going to be a winner in this argument.

“We’ve got to talk about this. I needed to know what’s going on. You should have told me before going all soldier on me. Don’t just dismiss me…I needed to know.”

Jason pulled her to him and let out a loud sigh of resignation, his body relaxing against her.

“No, Bella, I’m sorry. I wasn’t dismissing you, sweetheart. It could have been a threat. It could have been something that could have hurt you. I reacted. I couldn’t bear it if you were hurt. I didn’t mean to upset you.” Understanding without her saying a word, he explained softly, “I know he took something away from you, but I’m not him. I’m not trying to control you. I just want to keep you safe.”

He forced himself to explain. She deserved that much. “It felt like a threat, sweetheart. I haven’t…It’s been a long time since I’ve cared for anyone like this. Not since my family was killed when I was but a lad. I just don’t want anything to happen to you. ”

Tony was standing there watching them somberly when a loud pounding on the door caught their attention. Jason checked and opened the door, and Sal burst in. Barely restrained violence hummed within him. Going straight to Bella, he yanked her into his arms and held her tight to him.

When she started to choke for air, Jason growled at Sal to let her go. As Sal pulled back, Jason snatched her away from him into his own arms, making Bella feel like a rag doll.

“The entire building’s on lockdown. What’s the goddamn sitrep?” Sal demanded.

Oddly calm, Bella suggested they move into the living room before talking. When they all sat down, Jason retained his grip on Bella’s hand and pulled her down next to him on the couch. He cornered her with his large frame, making her acutely aware that she was sitting on the very couch that she had been bent over the last time she had been in his apartment. Thinking about how Jason had taken her made her body react with a pulsing desire that left her breathless. She stroked her hand over the armrest. Glancing up, she was captured by Jason’s piercing gaze, his nostrils flaring. She knew he was remembering their passionate encounter as well. She could feel the color creeping up her neck and knew without a doubt that her face was flush at the memory.

Jason felt like an animal.

How the hell could he be thinking about sex when Bella was in danger? Saying his suspicions out loud, he knew it sounded ludicrous. But he couldn’t explain his gut reaction. The roses had been a threat. He
knew
the feeling he got when something wasn’t right, and seeing the roses splayed out on her car had given him that tingle of intuition that had saved his life too many time for him to ignore.

Fear had torn through him, and his one and only thought had been to get Bella to safety. Looking at her now sitting on the same couch where he had taken her, he had to admit that he had also been overcome with both possessive and protective instincts that had forced him to handle the situation with less tact then he should have.

Damn it, she made him feel all of these unfamiliar emotions, and it was making him crazy. His cock had turned into a steel spike in his pants, but he forced the primal urges down, trying to stay detached as he always had during times of crisis. Bloody hell, it just wasn’t working.

His large hand covered hers and she looked down at the contrast they made. Surrounded in security, Bella felt a strength she hadn’t felt in a long time, like everything was going to be okay.

Sal demanded to know what was going on again, and Jason hesitantly turned from Bella to tell them what had happened.

“Is this lockdown really necessary? I mean, we don’t even know who they were from,” Bella tried to point out.

His phone rang, but he didn’t look away from Bella. Placing her hand gently on his wrist, Bella spoke softly. “I know you won’t let anything happen to me.” Approval flashed in his eyes before he brought the phone up to his ear.

“Go.” Jason listened to whatever was being said to him. Bella started to get up, but Jason wouldn’t let her move.

“I need a cigarette.”

Jason reached into his back pocket and pulled out his case, handing her one. He lit it for her, and she inhaled deep, trying to calm her nerves. Jason reached out and lifted her hand, holding it up to his mouth, and took a drag.

Bella looked over at Sal to see the lethal rage still simmering in his eyes. Tony had been way too quiet. She cleared her throat and tried to be reasonable.

“It was just roses.”

Sal’s eyes met hers, and they softened slightly. Bella rolled her eyes as Jason covered the phone to growl that the only man she should be getting roses from was him. She grumbled that he had never gotten her flowers as she made a move to get up, but Jason’s hand on her arm tightened. She looked at him, frowning to get her point across, and after a moment he released her. She got up and walked over to sit between Tony and Sal. Instantly they both hugged her close, smothering her. Unknowing what else to do, she laughed.

“I love you, guys, but I feel like the insides of meatball sandwich.”

Just like that Bella could feel some of the tension drain from their bodies. Sal took the smoke from her hand and took a deep drag. “Shit, these things are disgusting.” He inhaled before putting it out in an ashtray on the table. Tony picked up her right hand and stroked his thumb over the scar there, and Sal kissed her forehead. She watched as Jason hung up the phone. His jaw was clenched. His mercurial eyes were no longer warm, and they were icy with lethal intent.

“Finn said there was a card.”

Oh, this was going to be bad. Bella could tell that he didn’t want to tell her, but she pushed anyway. She couldn’t hide from this. It was happening to her, and she needed to know. “What did it say?”

Silence.

Bella asked again, her frustration showing.

“These should be on your grave.”

Sal and Tony both let out a vicious string of impressive curses.

“Oh.” The blood drained from her face. Bella’s eyes closed to try and think beyond the fear that was clawing its way to the surface. It was him. Victor. Oh God, Victor Dane had come after her.

“Bella.”

Jason crouched down in front of her, his hands gently framing her face. He waited in silence until she opened her eyes. Her brothers were comically looking away at the walls, trying to give them some semblance of privacy. Jason’s low voice was serious yet filled with tenderness as he spoke. “I will not let anything happen to you. You understand that right? You need to trust me. This is what I do, and now you need to let me take care of you. Nothing will happen to you.”