Under Pressure [IAD Agency] (Siren Publishing Classic) Read online

  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.”

  She slowly nodded and was afraid to blink and lose track of Jason for one second, as if by simply looking at him his words would come true.

  Speaking precisely and in a low, clear voice, Jason held her gaze. “Baby, listen to me. Nothing, I mean nothing is going to happen to you. I’m going to keep you safe, I promise you.”

  Bella nodded again, trying to keep the panic from settling in. She tried to speak, but nothing would come out. She cleared her throat then tried again. “So he found me. Won’t that make it easier to catch him?”

  Jason’s eyes flashed with feral satisfaction as he told her yes.

  “Oh yeah, hon, we will definitely find this fucker,” Tony swore. Sal grunted in agreement.

  Jason continued speaking directly to Bella, his voice calm and gentle. “There was a newspaper clipping in the card. It was a picture of you and Liz at the benefit last week. That’s how he found you. But forget that because I won’t let him touch you. Now that we know he is here, I will find him.”

  “We. We will find him,” Tony stressed, his voice tight with anger.

  Jason continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “Until he’s caught, we treat everything as a potential threat. That means you have to listen to me. You have to trust me to make the necessary measures to ensure your safety. You understand that, don’t you, sweetheart?”

  Bella swallowed then nodded her head again. Jason gently wiped the tear that Bella didn’t feel running down her cheek with his thumb. He leaned forward and brushed his lips softly across hers. She heard her brothers grumbling beside her and was surprised that she had the urge to laugh. How she could find anything funny when someone was out there trying to kill her was beyond her understanding. Nothing made sense anymore.

  Jason pulled back. “Finn is going to watch Liz for the time being.” Looking over at Sal, he promised. “I sent Adrian and Rock over to your parents’ place. They’ll watch over them at the house. They’ll be safe. I’m calling in a team.”

  Sal nodded in agreement. A thousand different thoughts bombarded her head while Bella fought to keep calm.

  Wait, what did he say? “A team? A team for what?”

  The men continued to plan as if they hadn’t heard her. Good God, did he mean more agents? How could Jason possibly call in a team to handle something like this when there were other more important matters for them to handle? She should say something…but nothing came to mind.

  Her brothers and Jason were speaking in terms she couldn’t understand. The men were speaking rapidly about protocol and security measures so fast she couldn’t keep up. She gave up and focused her attention on the man squatting in front of her. Jason’s neck was corded as he clenched his jaw with anger. Every muscle in his body was tight, but his hand remained gentle on hers. This man would protect her. But who would protect her from falling completely in love with him?

  Jason broke off from the conversation he was having with her brothers, turning his full attention back to her. The impact of his gaze hit her full force, comforting her. His fingertips brushed down her cheek as soft as butterfly wings. “You are the most important thing in my life now, Bella. I will do whatever it takes to make you safe. No one will take you from me,” he said softly before he stood to pick his phone up from the table to make another call.

  Oh, wow, Bella could feel her insides melt. She wasn’t falling. No, she loved this man. How had this happened so fast? Oh, hell. Her mind raced with panic as all thoughts of the threat against her life were pushed aside by the tumultuous feelings reeling inside her. She could feel the color drain from her face, leaving her shaking.

  “Bells? Are you okay?” Tony gripped her shoulders.

  “Fine, I’m fine.” Oh God, oh God. She didn’t know how to handle all of the emotions she was feeling, but she’d be dammed if she would discuss it while her brothers were there. She slapped Tony’s hands away from her. “I said I’m fine.”

  Jason didn’t look convinced as he pulled her up from between her brothers and cradled her next to him back on the couch. “Baby, I know you’re scared, but I swear I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  No, he would do everything in his power to keep her safe. A primal urge to protect her nearly rocked him on his heels, and he knew without a doubt in that moment that he would kill anyone who tried to take her from him.

  She gifted him with a brilliant smile. “I know.”

  “Bells, I’ll run home and grab some of your stuff for you. You’re staying here, right?” Tony asked as he stood up.

  “Yes, she stays here,” Jason confirmed in a tone that dared them to argue with him.

  Tony sh
rugged. “I’ll call you on the cell and you can tell me what you need once I’m there. I’ll also tell Danny to come by tomorrow for the meeting.”

  Sal looked uneasy. “I think you should let us handle this. There are things—”

  “You think I don’t know what team he means? Christ, Sal, who do you think is called in when you need to hack into something no one else can?” Tony snickered.

  Shock filled Sal’s face before he laughed. “Shit, I should’ve known.”

  Suddenly both of their heads swiveled to look at Bella, faces going blank.

  Leaning back, Bella smiled smugly. “If you guys are talking about IAD, I’m already well aware that all my jerk-wad brothers are involved in international espionage, thank you very much.” Their jaws dropped, and they both went pale as they looked at Jason in disbelief. Having fun, Bella arched an eyebrow. “Thought you were the only ones who could keep a secret?”

  They were left sputtering.

  Jason took pity on them, a smile just for her softening his face. “Darling, you almost gave them both heart attacks. I told her about everything.”

  Sal scowled at her, rubbing a hand over his chest like his heart hurt. “Christ, Bella, I was imagining you jumping out of planes or something. Shit, don’t scare me like that.”

  Tony at least had the sense to find the amusement of the situation and winked.

  Sal started out of the room then paused. “Wait a sec, you said all of us.”

  Tony chuckled and threw his arm around Sal’s shoulder. “Danny helps out occasionally. No one’s better at getting info from people in this city than that sneaky son of a bitch. The bar is the perfect place to learn information. Plus that boy knows just about everyone in the city.”

  “Damn, it’s always the nice ones.” Sal scrubbed his hands over his face. “All this time I thought I was protecting you guys. Bastards.”

  After giving him a loud smacking kiss on the cheek, Tony walked away.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Bella was tired.

  It had been a long day. A long day full of new, insightful experiences. It wasn’t every day that she got an inside view of a clandestine agency, complete with a tour and briefing. Her hair piled high on the top of her head, she lay back. Now, soaking in the hot tub, her muscles relaxed for the first time in what seemed like days.

  Last night Jason had surprised her with moving her stuff into the apartment, filling his gray space with her colors. After her comment about his lack of courtship, Jason had painstakingly filled each room with a variety of flowers, hoping to erase the memory of Victor Dane’s macabre gift. The sweet scent of the blooms filled Bella with a quiet joy that Jason would go to such lengths to make her happy.

  Now it felt like home, their home.

  This morning Jason had taken them all down to the subterranean levels, and they had met with the team of IAD members that he had put together in one of the conference rooms. She knew that there were teams of IAD agents all over the world, but from what she heard Jason’s agents were known as being some of the best.

  Meeting the agents of IAD had been interesting to say the least.

  As they had walked through the command center where people were working, Bella had been awestruck. These dedicated individuals were working to protect the world, and no one even knew of their efforts. She had been absolutely amazed at the high-tech equipment she saw. It had felt like walking into another universe or like she had walked right into a movie. They told her there were numerous agents out on assignments, and Bella realized she had no clue how big this division of IAD really was. She couldn’t help being a little pissed that Tony and Danny had been there before, but she couldn’t blame them. If they hadn’t know about IAD, she wouldn’t have told them either.

  She understood. Secrecy was vital.

  The meeting had been fascinating. After a long and arduous fight over the phone, the brothers had convinced their parents to take an extended vacation to Jason’s villa on the Amalfi coast in Italy. Telling them that it would be easier to keep Bella safe if they were hidden away was true. It also put everyone’s minds at ease to know they were out of harm’s way, and knowing Jason, he had agents making sure they stayed that way. Bella was grateful at the generosity Jason had showed her parents, but when she said so he gave her an impatient look that made her wish she had kept her mouth shut.

  The team Jason had called in didn’t hesitate to take on this assignment. Jason sat next to Bella and held her small hand firmly in his, lending her his strength. Sal, Tony, and Danny all wore the same stoic expressions. They surrounded her like her own personal army.

  She had met Marco Sladerman, or Slade, a big, scary son of a bitch who moved like smoke with the devil’s own good looks. He had a scar slashed across the right side of his face, making him look dark and dangerous. Bella was intimidated by the sheer size of him at first, but he had gently taken her hand in his and had told her with certainty that they would keep her safe. Looking into his startling light blue eyes that looked almost unreal, she couldn’t help but believe him.

  The next man, Lucian Steele, was a tall handsome man with black hair and black-obsidian eyes who looked like he belonged on the cover of GQ. His dark eyes sparkled with mirth when he leaned down and kissed Bella’s hand, and Jason harshly ordered him away from her.

  Two men named Rock and Adrian were on guard duty with her parents until they were safely stashed away in Italy. They were escorting her parents across the ocean, so she would have to wait to meet them, but she could hear their deep voices over the conference link. Finn was also missing since he was busy protecting Liz, but he was also on the call from wherever he was. She had already met Finn, and she felt better knowing that he was guarding her friend. With his easygoing nature and the amusement flashing in his eyes, he was fun to be around, but she knew when the time was right, he could be deadly.

  The only woman on the team had come in last. When she sauntered in, Bella was surprised to see her. She found herself wrapped in a tight hug and felt so lucky to have her friend by her side. Bella’s half-Japanese, half-Italian friend Tara Toshi was an exotically beautiful woman. Tara’s dark brown eyes held secrets as old as time. She had naturally tanned skin, a body that made men beg, and a kick-ass attitude with the skills to back it up. Bella didn’t know Tara was part of IAD, but she wasn’t surprised. Somehow it fit her. She wore confidence and strength like second skin. They had been friends growing up, and Tara had only recently moved back into the city. Tara’s thoughtful brown eyes held concern for Bella while she had listened to the briefing.

  There had been no fingerprints on the card, but they knew it was Victor Dane. There was nothing to go on from the clipping, but the lack of evidence did not stop the group from making plans. Bella tried to insist that having a full team of anti-terrorist agents was overkill for one psycho stalker, but no one listened.

  A man matching Victor’s description had been seen on one of the security cameras they had placed at the entrance of the cooking school. He had cut his hair, but Bella would have known him anywhere. They didn’t have a clear view of the parking lot, but that had already been taken care of last night. If he was stupid enough to come there again, they would have him.

  When the discussion had ended, Bella barely had enough energy to thank everyone, and with bleak eyes she asked if she could go rest. The night before her palm print had been entered into the system to allow her access to the private elevators and his apartment, but Jason still escorted her upstairs.

  Her parents had been sent away, and Liz would have a guard with her at the gallery every day until this was over, with the understanding that they didn’t interfere with her work. Everyone close to Bella was to be protected until Victor was caught. The problem was that everyone there had a part to play, some important role except her.

  She was just the victim.

  Bella felt guilty. Guilty that the lives of the people she loved were disrupted. Guilty that these people had to risk their own lives to st
op someone from taking hers. Guilty that all these people were taking the time to protect her when they had other important matters that they should be handling. Bella closed her eyes and let out a sigh as she realized that she was letting self-pity take over. It was just so difficult to think of someone out there who hated her so much that he wanted her dead.

  Jason stood there looking down at Bella as she soaked in his bathtub. His gut twisted in knots at the sight of the dark circles under her eyes. Last night she didn’t sleep well. She hadn’t wanted to go to sleep, and she hadn’t wanted to eat. Jason had forced her, making some soup and spoon-feeding it to her. She hadn’t wanted to talk about it. Instead she had asked him questions about his childhood. Although some of the memories were still painful, he had told her about his family then expanded, telling her funny stories about his time in school and about his life as a soldier. He had talked more than he had in years, but he had been afraid to stop.

  Hell, he found himself stripping his memory for funny stories just to hear her laugh. Exhaustion had finally taken over as they had watched the dawn break. He had held her in his arms, secure while they sat watching the night fade as the morning light turned the sky a pale gray.

  He silently cursed, wishing he could spare her the pain and anguish she was feeling. He had felt the rage rush through him like a tidal wave when he had accessed the police file of the attack shortly after he had first found out. The team had only been told the basic details of what had happened, but he felt the slice of pain when Bella flinched through the telling. They had access to the police file as well, but he had asked them in private not to discuss what they had read in front of Bella. He knew she wanted to know everything that was going on, but if he could save her some pain, then he would do everything in his power to do whatever it took.

  He had done his research well. He had pried into her past, wanting to know everything he could about her life.