Under Pressure [IAD Agency] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 10

  They had a developed a comfortable companionship between them even though they had just met. Jason spoke very little, but strangely she felt as if they were meant to be together. It seemed like she had known him forever, and it felt so right that she had a difficult time trusting it.

  Bella sighed as she cleaned. God, she missed Jason terribly. At night he would make love to her gently and hold her close to him until they fell asleep. He held her in his strong arms, making her feel safe, cherished. Even in sleep he tried to protect her, surrounding her like a blanket with a leg thrown over hers and his thick muscular arms trapping her body in his embrace. It was as if his very presence held the nightmares back. While he was gone, she had slept in a shirt that he had left in her apartment just to feel closer to him in his absence.

  He had wanted to cancel his meeting, but she hadn’t let him. It had been their first real fight, but she hadn’t backed down. She couldn’t. It was just a few days, and she was adamant that their relationship would not interfere with his business. He had been plenty pissed at her, but she stood her ground, determined to create some normalcy. To an outsider it would have seemed hilarious, with her petite frame standing there with her hand on her hips while his huge frame stomped around her apartment, kicking her sofa in frustration. Little Bella had weathered the storm of his anger with ease, trying to hold back her smile as he finally conceded.

  Bella had been absolutely shocked when Jason had told her the truth about Mac Securities, IAD, and the work he did. She was even more shocked to know that Sal had been working for IAD overseas and that Tony and Danny had been working for them off and on over the last few years as contractors. She was worried about them doing such dangerous work, but he stressed that they mostly did behind-the-scenes work.

  In a way it didn’t surprise her.

  These men were warriors. It somehow seemed fitting that these rough men protected people from the evil hiding in the shadows. If they could combat terrorists, then they were more than capable of keeping her safe from a stalker.

  Even though he only told her the very basics, Bella was touched that Jason had trusted her with the knowledge of such a large secret. Since his IAD partner was on assignment, he had to go to the meeting. He wasn’t one to share his emotions or thoughts easily, but she knew Jason didn’t want to leave her on Monday morning. His gray eyes had been hard and unreadable, his body tense. He had only left when Sal had showed up to take over watch duty.

  And he had looked back.

  It was as if she had waited her whole life for someone to look back at her the way he had. As if it was physically hurting him to walk away from her.

  And she was no better. She wasn’t used to missing someone so much. She ached to talk to him, to hear his voice, to touch him. The last thing she wanted to do was become some needy woman, but she couldn’t help waiting for his calls. Jason had called her three times on Monday to check up on her and this morning to wish her luck for her first class. The man hadn’t said much, but she was still overjoyed to hear his voice.

  Sal had taken her to her meeting with Jenna at the school on Monday, watching over her like a hawk. He stayed with her, checking out the room where she would be teaching. Bella could tell he wasn’t happy, but after making a few phone calls, several silent men had showed up, placing security equipment around her room and at the exits for her protection. She had told Jenna the basics of what had happened to her, telling her that Mac Securities was now watching over her. Jenna had insisted that she didn’t mind the extra security and was equally as worried for Bella as everyone else.

  As the team put the security system in place, Jenna had watched wide eyed, Bella annoyed. No amount of arguing could persuade Sal that he was being paranoid or that it was overkill. Jenna had actually agreed with Sal, wanting to do whatever was necessary to keep Bella safe.

  Bella knew they were overreacting. Nothing had happened since that night in New York. Nothing. The only thing that could be a concern was the few hang-ups she had gotten at home the last few days. Wrong numbers. Everyone got them. She was unlisted and didn’t want everyone to overreact, so she didn’t say anything. They were already treating her like she was made of glass, and she hated it. It made her want to scream.

  She was trying to be patient with this extreme protection mode that the guys had fallen into, but it was getting difficult. Over the past few days either Sal, Tony, or Danny was with her every moment. Sal had even slept on the couch in the great room downstairs last night, not listening to her when she told him to go home.

  On top of that, Tony and Bella had a very long fight last evening when he had told her that he had been planning on working in the front of her classroom in case she needed him. Like a freaking guard dog.

  She didn’t need a babysitter, but now she had a whole battalion of them.

  Looking up at the entrance of the room, Bella let out a sigh as she watched Tony typing away on his computer. She had obviously lost that fight. Tony had been with her the entire day, extremely happy at the chance to taste everything that was being made, but watchful all the same. He continued working as Bella packed up the rest of her stuff. A noise had her turning around when the door opened.

  And there he was.

  Jason stood in the doorway. His eyes quickly surveyed the room then settled back on her face. She knew without a doubt those eyes never missed a thing. For a moment it was as if only the two of them existed. Her breath caught at the intensity of his expression as he looked at her. With a cry of joy, she ran and threw herself at him and he quickly opened his arms in welcome to embrace her. His face had lost its hard edge as surprised pleasure swamped him at her uninhibited show of affection. His arms closed tightly around her as he picked her slight body up against him to bury his face into her hair.

  God, he had missed her.

  “I’m so glad you’re back! I’ve missed you so much. Welcome home,” Bella whispered against his neck, and his arms tightened on her, holding her closer to him.

  Jason couldn’t help himself as his hand tunneled into her hair, positioning her so he could smash his lips against hers in a searing kiss. His tongue pushed past her lips into her sweet heat. His normally rock-steady body shook slightly as waves of emotions crashed over him.

  When he had opened the door to her classroom and saw her standing there, he had been overwhelmed with his need for her. He had simply stood there, drinking in the sight of her like a man dying of thirst.

  Irritation ate at him during his short trip to Paris. He didn’t want to be there, not without Bella. A meeting had taken place to test potential candidates for directorship of another IAD division, and Jason had been on the board to oversee the results. Meetings were always in different locations, highly secretive and as secure as they could manage. Although successful, the meetings had taken too damn long, putting Jason on edge. He gave his report, concluded his business with a client of Mac Securities as cover, and was back on his plane as soon as he could manage it. He had been damn anxious to get back to Chicago.

  Back to Bella.

  He had felt unnerved at his need to be with her, but all of his tension had melted away as soon as she had flung herself into his arms. As soon as he touched her, everything seemed to click into place.

  “Hello, darling.” He smiled down at her, pulling back.

  “Get your hands off my sister,” Tony grumbled from the side of the room, without heat, as he continued to type with his head bowed over his computer.

  Jason winked at Bella as he reluctantly let her go, placing her feet back on the ground, but couldn’t force himself to move away from her. She animatedly told him about her first day of teaching as she packed up her things. Even though his face remained impassive, his eyes were tender as he listened to her and watched her flutter around the room. Every once in a while she would reach out to touch him, and Jason found that he wanted that connection.

  Damn it, who was he kidding. He needed her affectionate gestures like he needed air. It would have ta
ken a nuclear explosion to take his focus off of her.

  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.

  Chapter Thirteen

  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.