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

  “Fuck your welcome, you son of a bitch. You don’t ever talk to Bella that way. Not after all she’s been through. You don’t know anything. Don’t you dare speak to her like that! You weren’t here. You weren’t there when she needed you, you piece of shit. Two fucking years! She could have died, and the first thing you do is talk to her like that?” Tony’s hands were clenched as he tried to get in Sal’s face despite Finn’s and Danny’s desperate hands pulling him back.

  “That’s enough, Tony,” Bella said softly, shaking so badly her voice wavered. She had felt Jason’s big muscular frame grow even more rigid at Tony’s words. Sal’s eyes went wide in shock, staring at Tony and then Bella, swiveling back and forth between the two.

  Danny shook his head, saying to Sal in a sad voice, “You’ve missed a lot, Sal.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Sal whispered before asking the same question again in a roar.

  Bella flinched, trying to push forward again, but Jason turned to her, cradling her shaking body with his as he pushed her chin up to meet his penetrating gaze. “Sweetheart, are you all right?”

  “No, she’s not all right. Get your hands off her, Mac, or I’m gonna break them off.” Tony snapped, struggling against Danny’s bracing hands. “Bells, let’s go. I’m taking you home now.”

  Jason didn’t let go of her but met Tony’s menacing stare straight back with eyes cold as steel.

  “Someone better tell me what the hell is going on!” Sal barked again. Already ashamed at what he had said to his sister, he was even more so by what Tony had said to him, but not knowing why was catapulting him off a deadly edge of rage. Tony’s words had struck him in the heart at the thought of something happening to his baby sister.

  He needed to know what was going on.

  Now.

  As the voice of reason, Liz pushed forward. “This isn’t the place to discuss this.”

  Sal started to speak, but Liz held up her hand, silencing him. “I said. Not. Here.”

  Bella took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves but couldn’t stop shaking. She felt drained. “Sal, I need to…we have to talk.” She couldn’t look him in the eye. “I’m going to go back to my apartment. If you can come over, we can talk there.”

  “You’re damn right I’m coming over. Let’s go. Mac, get your fucking hands off her.” Sal growled.

  Jason just ignored him and kept his arm around Bella. “I’m going with you,” Jason said softly, which brought Bella’s frightened eyes flying up to his face.

  “The hell you are!” the brothers snarled in unison.

  Jason kept his voice calm, using a soothing tone, afraid that he would frighten further. “If you are in some sort of trouble, love, I need to know about it.”

  “You don’t need to know jack shit,” Tony spit out harshly.

  “Yes I do. Since I plan to be spending a lot of time with Bella, I should know.”

  Bella was speechless. She watched the four large men face off, not knowing what to think, not able to move.

  “Your sister is with me now. I should be there for this conversation if there are things I need to know.”

  “With you? If you fuck with her, let me tell you something, I will bury you. You want to toy with her, then the three of us will put you in the ground. You won’t be using Bella as your playmate of the week,” Sal raged.

  “Enough,” Jason roared. Impossible though it seemed, Sal’s scowl softened in surprise as Jason snarled back. “Don’t you ever talk about her like that!”

  This was the first time that any of them had actually seen Jason’s rage. It sparked off him like volts of electricity. “You may be her brother, but I will still beat you senseless if you ever talk about her like that again. I’m in her life whether you like it or not. She was already in my bed, and I plan to keep her there.”

  “The hell she was!” the three Moretti brothers shouted at once as Bella moaned in distress, burying her face in Jason’s chest. Jason’s muscles flexed under her hand as he readied himself for action.

  “Hey! Stop it,” Liz cried out, stepping in the line of fire. “All of this testosterone is just going to make things worse for Bella. Don’t you jerks even see that? You should be ashamed of yourselves.”

  She pushed to stand beside Bella, noting with a bit of satisfaction that Jason’s arm was still around her, holding her close as if trying to protect her. “Sweetie, let’s go back to your place, okay? We can all talk there.”

  Bella nodded weakly. Liz tried to pull Bella forward away from Jason, but Jason still wouldn’t release her. Liz glared back at him. “Listen, she doesn’t need this right now.” Her voice gentled as she noticed the way Jason embraced Bella in his protective hold, his body unconsciously curling down around her. “We need to get out of here.”

  Before anyone else could speak, she blasted the others with icy fury. Her voice low and seething in anger, “Don’t any of you dare say anything else. You can stay here and continue arguing, but I’m taking Bella home. Meet us there if you want. I don’t really care, but you will not upset her anymore.”

  Bella looked up at Jason, whispering with pleading eyes, “Please, I…I want to go home.”

  Jason looked down into Bella’s frighten eyes. He transferred his grip to clasp her fragile hand in his. “I’m coming with you,” he said once more, his voice soft but unyielding. After a moment Bella’s head jerked in a nod. He squeezed her hand, telling her without words that he was pleased before finally releasing her.

  Liz gripped Bella’s cold hand in hers and swept past, leaving the men to follow in their wake.

  Chapter Nine

  They had assembled in the great room on the first floor where two couches and a few lounge chairs sprawled lavishly in a U shape around a large fireplace. They used this room for entertaining, and Bella wished silently that they were all gathered for a different purpose. She had been quiet in the car on the way, retreating within herself, barely aware of the scenery passing outside the window as they made the drive back to her apartment.

  Jason had sent Finn back to the compound with his own car and he had folded his large form into the back of Liz’s SUV to stay close to Bella. From the moment she had stepped out of the bar, Jason’s penetrating eyes followed her every move while checking the streets for danger.

  Walking up to the townhouse, Jason’s thoughts drifted back to about a year ago when Tony’s order had come through for the Mac Securities system. He had wondered why Tony wanted such a high-grade system for his apartment building, but didn’t give it a second thought since they handled installations like that all the time.

  Now, dread filled Jason’s stomach as he realized that the need for the security had not been for Tony, but for Bella.

  The four men moved silently into the room, looking each other over with pensive glances, tension high.

  Bella walked right up to the bar at the far end of the room and picked up a bottle of scotch. She poured a large amount into a glass and tossed the entire shot down her throat, welcoming the burning sensation. She picked up the bottle again and had trouble refilling her glass since her hands were shaking so badly. Jason gently reached out to take her hand to stop her, only to have her pull away with the shake of her head.

  She refused to look at him. God, he was so gorgeous. She couldn’t bear to see his beautiful gray eyes now, knowing that they would change once he learned the truth. She knew that before long he would be hiding his disgust behind a veil of sympathy that she just couldn’t take.

  Not from him.

  Not from this man that had touched her so thoroughly, so deeply that he had touched her very soul.

  She was not what he thought she was, and it was only fair that he was told the whole story now while he could still walk away.

  She could already feel her heart breaking.

  Expression stoic, Jason watched her as she moved away from him and settled herself next to Tony on an oversized chair. Jason was uncomfortable with the possessive feelin
g that came over him as he watched her go sit next to another man, even if that man was her brother. His hands clenched into fists, fighting the urge to grab her and pull her to his side as he sat down in the chair across from her. He felt like a bloody barbarian wanting to snatch her away from the other occupants in the room and spirit her away back to his home. Willing his muscles to relax, he leaned back and waited.

  Lifting her glass in a mock salute, Bella looked over at Sal with a bleak expression, forcing a smile. “Welcome home, Sal. Not exactly the party you expected, huh?”

  Liz had gone to the bar to get everyone drinks, and Sal took a healthy gulp of what was in his hand, not even caring what it was, before bracing his elbows on his knees as he sat forward. He raised his glass again, draining the amber liquid completely. He then slammed his glass down on the coffee table in front of him. “Okay, someone better tell me what the hell is going on. Right now.”

  Tony, Danny, and Liz silently looked at Bella.

  Taking a deep, steadying breath Bella began. “You’ve been gone a long time, Sal. There are things that happened…things that changed. I live back in Chicago now, here on the third floor in the apartment above Tony.”

  Hesitating slightly, she took another deep breath. She made the mistake of looking over at her big brother and felt her throat close up. “I…something…” As hard as she tried, the tears she had held back welled up and threatened to spill. She stole a quick glance at Jason and felt another dream slipping from her fingers. She looked up at Tony and whispered, “I don’t know if I can do this.”

  “It’s all right, sweetheart. Take your time.” Tony put his arm around her. “Do you want me to tell it?”

  “What—” Sal started to ask but was cut off by Danny.

  “For once in your life just shut the fuck up and listen.”

  “No, I have to do this.” Taking a deep breath, she rubbed her cheeks with her hand and began. She steadied herself, looked at Jason. He sat there, patiently, watching her with eyes like dark silver pools she could drown in. The spark between them was electric, and she forced herself to stop being a coward. “I used to be a chef. I think I mentioned it…”

  “I remember,” Jason’s deep voice rumbled, encouraging.

  “Yeah, well, that was before…” Her eyes darted to take a quick look at Sal’s impatient face then back down to her hands. “I had a stalker. His name was…is Victor Dane.”

  Jason’s breath left in a rush like someone had sucker punched him. Just watching her sitting there, so little and pale, made every instinct inside Jason go on red alert. Fury filled him at the word stalker, and he knew, he knew whatever was coming next was going to be bad. The thought of a man scaring her, stalking her, made him want to roar with rage. His stomach clenched as she continued, and he forced himself to be patient during the telling.

  Bella’s voice got soft, almost a whisper as the images of that night came back. “I’m sorry. I wanted to be the one to tell you, Sal. He broke into my suite at the hotel and attacked me. He…I…I can’t. I thought I could, but…I’m sorry I can’t. Tony, you tell it. Please, I can’t.” Her voice hitched, lost in the memories. Unable to look at anyone, Bella ran from the room. Liz got up and went after her.

  Silence filled the room so thick it was as if the men were held captive by it.

  Tony downed his own drink before he continued the story.

  “He cut her up with her own knives. Told her she was his and that if he couldn’t have her, no one would. He stabbed her twice. We…we thought she had died. And he fucking escaped.” His eyes opened, blazing with unchecked fury. “He’s still out there, he hasn’t been caught yet.”

  “She’s not over it.” Danny’s ragged voice took over. “She survived, but that night…that night he took a part of her. He didn’t just…She was raped.” His eyes bore into Sal’s. “She hardly leaves here, afraid to go out. Thinks she can’t be a chef anymore because she can’t use her right hand fully. He destroyed her.”

  “Screw that, he didn’t destroy her. Bella has worked hard to get her life back. She’s come so far,” Tony declared harshly. “We’re helping her get her life back.” He took a shuddering breath. “But the nightmares…shit. They make me want to throw up after she has them. She can’t sleep without the nightmares. She screams…” His voice trailed off as he shook his head.

  “I…” Sal breathed out, unable to form a thought. Letting out a stream of curses, he flung himself up off the couch. Rage made it necessary to move. Before anyone could move, Sal put his fist through the wall. Breath heaving, he rested his head against the wall and closed his eyes.

  “Well, that was special,” Danny said, trying for levity.

  Tony shot him a look meant to shut him up before giving Sal his own glare. “You are so going to fix that later.”

  “I wasn’t here! I wasn’t fucking here. How could this happen?”

  Danny leaned back on the couch watching Sal pace the room like a tiger in a cage. “We think Dane tried to kill Bella’s assistant, too. He was hit by a car, a hit-and-run the night before the attack on Bella. The crazy fucker thought they were lovers. Tony and I tried to track this guy, but we haven’t been able to find him. Must have changed names and we can’t trace him. He had pictures of her. Millions of them. He must have been taking them for months. His apartment was a freaking shrine of Bella. The guy is seriously crazy.”

  “What he is, is a dead man. He can’t hide, I’ll find him, and I’m going to rip his fucking heart out. I’ll tear his goddamn head off. No, I’m gonna cut every one of the motherfucker’s body parts off and then grind them into pieces,” Sal vowed, shaken to the core.

  “Our brother, the poet,” Danny said dryly.

  “Shut up, Danny.”

  “There is nowhere, nowhere that we can’t find him. You or me, either way we end him.” Jason soft, menacing reply had Sal’s eyes locking onto Jason’s cold deadly stare. If his mind wasn’t clouded with anger and anguish at what he had just heard, even he would have been frightened. Staring at Jason was like looking at vengeance in the flesh, the cold, hard promise of death.

  Sal’s fists clenched and released over and over again until finally he nodded. Between the two of them and with IAD involved, Victor Dane was a dead man walking.

  Jason felt sick. The burning rage boiled in his veins like a sickness. The consuming need to kill this Victor Dane made it hard to breathe. Visions of murder danced evilly in his head. The desire to kill was so thick he could all but taste it. Never before had he actively wanted to kill another person so badly that his entire body shook with the need. He had killed a lot of people during his career. It was part of the job, but he knew, deep in his soul that he would never rest until he had taken this Victor Dane off the face of the earth.

  He rose soundlessly to follow after Bella.

  Tony half rose off his seat in protest, but even he was unsettled at the suppressed rage burning in Jason’s usually cold gray eyes. Those eyes that now swirled like liquid hellfire. Jason’s determined voice declared with absolute conviction that he was going to Bella.

  “She needs me.”

  “No, she doesn’t.”

  “She chose me. Respect that.”

  Tony’s jaw clenched, but he made no move to stop Jason. Sal stepped in his way, and the two men stared each other down. Sal’s red eyes burned like a demon’s and met Jason’s silver ones dead-on. “You’re thirty-seven, Mac. She’s not even thirty yet. You’re too old for her.”

  Jason’s expression didn’t change.

  Sal glared at him then in a low voice whispered, “By God, man, if you fuck with her—”

  “I won’t. She’s important to me. She’s safe, and she’ll stay that way. That’s a promise.” Sal took a minute, and then he sighed and stepped aside to let him pass.

  Going to the kitchen on silent feet, Jason saw she wasn’t there. Seeing an opened door, he looked out to see Bella sitting on an enclosed porch with Liz, silently weeping into her hands.


  The ice surrounding his heart shattered into a million pieces as he watched her. Jason quietly opened the door and went to her, barely making a sound. Before she could react, he had lifted her up and sat down, cradling her in his lap as he pulled her head to his chest.

  “Go on, lass. Cry, darlin’. I’ll hold you, just let go and hold on to me. I’ll keep you safe.” She didn’t want to, but she sobbed, burrowing into his chest and wept the pain away.

  Liz watched him silently and Jason met her stare unblinking. She watched as the large man holding her friend whispered words of love against her temple as he stroked his hand over her hair soothingly. Liz finally gave him a small sad smile and reached out to squeeze his shoulder as she got up and left.

  Long minutes passed before Bella took a deep shuddering breath and tried to regain control as her sobs receded. She inhaled Jason’s scent, breathing him in deeply, knowing that this was probably the last time. Trying to sit up, she pushed back, only to have his strong arms pull her closer to him, settling her once again against his warmth. “I’m sorry. Thank you. Jason…I’m sorry, for the other night, for everything. I panicked. I—”

  “You don’t have to explain. Sweet lass, I’m sorry I pushed you, too fast…too soon.” His voice was quiet as he kissed her forehead gently while his hands rubbed her back in soothing strokes. It was as if he held something precious, and it made the tears shimmer in her eyes once more.

  “I…appreciate what you said to my brothers earlier. But you must realize that can’t happen. I…I’m not the person you thought I was. I’m not…I can’t have a normal relationship with you.”

  Jason looked down at her, a fierce frown creasing his strong face, jaw clenched, making him look like a warrior of old. “Sweetheart, I see you. Do you think what you just told me changes how I feel? Yes, it does change something.” Bella tried to move off his lap again, but he held fast. “Quiet now. It did change us. Normal? Do you think I’m normal? People say I’m a cold, unfeeling bastard. A machine with no emotions. I usually am, but with you I’m different.” His voice was rough with emotion.