Under Pressure [IAD Agency] (Siren Publishing Classic) (8 page)

One of the IAD agents had vouched for him and brought him in. With his agreement, the agency had requested his assistance through proper channels and the army had officially transferred him over. He had ended up helping the IAD agent bust the arms-dealing ring after both of them had spent some time deep undercover in the organization. Being undercover took time. Time and energy that could change someone forever.

Once the bust was made, the agent working with him got the go-ahead to extend a permanent position with IAD. Toro had joined up as soon as the offer was made. He was as capable an agent as he was a solider, and he loved the idea of operating without the government bureaucracy telling him when he could wipe his ass.

Jason respected his abilities and was glad to have him with them in the Chicago branch of IAD. He wanted Toro’s transition into IAD and Mac Securities to go smooth and easy.

Finn recognized the manager near the door, and they were waved to a high tabletop with four barstools that was reserved for regular customers. A few people greeted them as they moved to the table, but before Jason could sit, something caught his eye.

No. Not something, someone.

There sat Elizabeth Trenton, Liz, Bella’s friend looking at him with wide, astonished eyes. The woman sitting with her back to him had a mass of long, mahogany curls that he would recognize anywhere.

Bella.

She sat at the bar with her friend right here, in front of him. With a look that could only be described as predatory, Jason left the table and stalked over to them.

* * * *

Bella heard Liz whisper to her and turned her head slowly to look behind her to see what Liz was staring at. As her eyes met Jason’s narrowed gray ones, her mouth dropped open in surprise to form a perfect
O
.

He grabbed her elbow in a deceptively polite gesture, though the steel grip was unbreakable and told of his anger beneath his calm facade.

“If you would excuse us.” His voice was frigidly polite. He nodded to Liz as he pulled Bella from her stool and dragged her next to him as he made his way to the back of the bar, giving her no choice.

Watching their receding forms, Finn pulled up short next to Liz and looked down at her matching wide eyes. Danny came back over to them to greet Finn.

“Hey, where did my sister go?” he said, which had Finn going pale.

“Aw shit, I knew it.”

Finn had guessed it was Bella leaving the apartment building last weekend as he had gotten out of a cab. He had wished with all his might that it wasn’t, but seeing Jason drag Bella away had just confirmed it. So, Bella was the reason Jason was like a powder keg ready to blow all week. Not that Jason had said a word.

Shit, shit.
Finn was friends with her brothers. Hell, he had even met Bella once but didn’t really get to speak to her. Danny and Tony were protective of her.

Very
protective.

Finn knew that something horrible had happened to her when the family had all taken off to go for New York. He had even helped install the state-of-the-art security system in the townhouse where Bella and Tony lived. This was going to cause problems. Major problems.

“She…ummm…in back,” Liz croaked out, wide nervous eyes meeting Finn’s in understanding.

Picking up the beer Danny placed in front of him, Finn drained half of it as his eyes strayed toward the back. A hand clasping his shoulder had Finn’s tense body going into a combat readiness as he turned, gripping the hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, Finn, how’s it going?”

The man standing before him looked like a giant savage, dark thick hair falling down to his shoulders. His body was pure solid muscle, tall at almost four inches over six feet, and he radiated power just by breathing.

“Toro, it’s good to see you.” Finn grasped his hand in a shake as they moved to grip one another in a half hug.

“Toro? What the…holy shit, Sal!” Danny all but bounded over the top of the bar, almost kicking a patron in the head to embrace the now-grinning giant man in a tight hug. The giant laughed in return as he picked the six-foot-one muscular man up in a bear hug with ease. “When the hell did you get back, bro?”

“Just today actually.” Sal straightened and pulled Danny close with an arm slung around his shoulder.

Finn looked at both of them through narrow eyes. “Brother? Sal? What the hell is going on?”

“Sal is my real name. Salvatore actually. Tore, Toro. The assholes in service started calling me Toro, like a bull ready to charge in and it stuck…You should have known that.”

“Brett took care of your paperwork.” Looking a little sick, Finn gestured toward them. “So, you’re actually Danny, Tony, and Bella’s brother?” he asked faintly.

“Got it in one.” Turning back to Danny, he said, “I just got back a few hours ago. I just dropped my stuff off at the new apartment and headed over here for a meet with Finn and Mac. Plus I wanted to stop by and see you and Tony. Since it’s late, I’ll stop in and see Mama and Pops tomorrow. Man, it’s good to see you. The bar is doing good, little bro. You’re looking great.”

“Thanks. You work with Finn, Sal?” Danny’s eyes darkened slightly, his face becoming serious. “It’s been two years, man, two fucking years.”

“Yeah, I work with him now. I’m done with the Rangers. I know, I know. I’ll explain everything later, I promise.” Sal put up his hands in a conciliatory gesture. “I couldn’t make contact, I swear. Even sending the letters I did was a risk.”

Danny didn’t respond.

Sal swung his gaze to Liz, and she was trapped by those intense amber eyes, eyes so much like Bella’s but with a hard edge that reminded her of a large jungle cat honing in on his prey. With his long dark hair and stubble on his face as if he hadn’t shaved for a few days, he looked dark, dangerous, and definitely yummy. It had been years since she had last seen Salvatore Moretti in the flesh, not that she hadn’t thought of him with frightening regularity.

“Lizzy?” Those amber beams moved down slowly, taking in every inch of her body then moving back up. A slow smile spread across his face. “Well, well, little Lizzy has grown up.”

“It has been about five years actually. It seemed I was never around when you came home to visit,” Liz replied coolly as she fought to hide her reaction to his blatantly sexual perusal. She rose from her stool to greet him, gasping as she was hauled up against is massive frame in a hug that brought her own body against his.

Pulling back swiftly, Liz pushed her hands onto his chest. When he didn’t release her, she pushed again until he let go. She took to her seat, struggling for composure, hoping that he would not see the signs of how affected she was by the contact with his hard body.

Sal frowned when she pulled away so quickly. Waving toward the back, Liz stammered without thinking. “Bella is going to be so happy to see you.”

“Bella? She’s here? She’s visiting from New York this weekend?” Sal glanced around the room, craving the sight of his little sister as Danny visibly started to fidget and Finn blanched.

“Oh…umm, yeah. She’s here. She’ll be back in a moment.” Liz’s eyes darted to Danny and Finn as she rushed on. “She’s just in the back. Um…bathroom. She’ll be back in a moment,” she repeated.

Danny stayed silent, Finn’s body tensed up, but Sal barely noticed. Unable to wait and before anyone could move, Sal started off heading down the hallway toward the back of the bar.

“Oh shit, this is not good. Fuck, this is so not good,” Finn kept repeating, with his eyes closed.

Jason pulled up short once he reached the end of the hallway, stopping next to the fire exit in the far back. His eyes had gone to liquid mercury, flashing silver in the dim lights as Bella just stood there, still staring at him in shocked surprise.

“I didn’t peg you for that kind of girl, Bella. Do you always fuck and run? Or did you have a husband or boyfriend to get back to?”

Bella gaped at him, astonished at what he had just said, before spiraling into utter black fury. “What? You…you bastard, how
dare
you?” Rage blinded her as she did something that she had never done before in her entire life that shocked her to her core. Her hand flew to his face and slapped him with a force surprisingly strong for her petite frame that had his head snapping to the side.

Jason had let his head move with the force of her slap since he regretted his words the moment they had left his mouth. He slowly turned his head back to her. Horrified at what had come out of his mouth, he still couldn’t stop himself as anger had him pressing on.

“What was I supposed to think with you leaving like that?” Ice all but dripped from his cold British tone. “If you just wanted a quick shag, you could have just said so. I would have been obliging.”

“Screw you, you asshole!”

“Oh, but you did, sweetheart. And I wasn’t done with you. I’m still not done. Are you going to deny that you wanted me? Are you going to deny that I made you come so hard you were screaming? Am I so wrong to be pissed at the way you ran out? Bugger it, you ran!”

To his horror, tears ran hot from her pain-filled eyes as she tried to frantically break herself away from his grasp, but he held tight in his unyielding yet gentle hold.

“Let me go…you, you…It wasn’t like that. Oh God…” she cried.

Her tears broke him. Christ, he was an asshole.

He didn’t deserve her.

He needed to touch her.

Jason was overcome with a sense of possession he had never felt before.
Mine
, was all he could think. He wanted this woman as his. Gone were the suave moves he was known for, gone was any sense of normalcy. He was in unknown territory. His chest hurt with the emotions crashing through him like a violent storm. Bloody hell, her tears were hurting
him
. No longer capable of holding back, he pushed her up against the wall and took her mouth with his, wanting to erase the pain he could see in her beautiful, expressive eyes.

Pain that he had caused.
Damn me to hell.

“Shh, lass. Don’t cry, darlin’. I’m sorry. I’m so fuckin’ sorry. I dinna mean it. I can’t seem to think around you. Don’t cry. Christ, yer tears are killing me,” he whispered as he kissed the tears from her eyes, licking them gently away from her cheeks before taking her mouth again.

Mine,
his mind cried, as his body pressed closer. He was out of his mind, and she made him that way. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you. I was just so pissed that you ran from me. Bella, I can’t think straight around you. Forgive me, forgive me.”

She pushed him back, and he let her.

She was beautiful, standing there with her eyes burning with anger and hurt. “I can’t believe you said that to me. I’m not like that. I don’t do that. I don’t!”

Jason believed her and solemnly nodded. “I know. I’m sorry, baby, I shouldn’t have said that.”

“You called me—”

“I didn’t.” Jason cut in before she could finish. He didn’t want to hear what she thought he had called her. He couldn’t let her voice that horrible thought. Hell, he would kill anyone else who ever said such a terrible thing about her.

She was shaking, and he wanted nothing else but to hold her, to comfort her. She shook her head at him as her anger faded, tears once again filling eyes wide with hurt. “I would never cheat. I’m not like that, and I don’t do…what we did. Not normally. I can’t believe you would say that.”

“I didn’t mean it. I was angry. Hell, I was pissed.” God, what could he say? How the hell could she want him after the way he had started this? Damn it, he had messed up and had to find a way to make it better. Jason wasn’t used to the feelings she brought out in him.

He gentled his voice. “Why did you leave like that, love?” Dismay flashed through him. “Bloody hell, did I hurt you?”

His gaze surveyed her body and every inch of her face as if he could somehow see signs of damage. When she didn’t speak, he stroked his strong hands over her face, soothing and caressing. “I’m sorry, love. God, I’m so sorry.”

Bella reached out hesitantly, and her hand was quickly grasped with his, pulling her close up against him as he lifted it to his chest. She knew instinctively that this man wasn’t one to say sorry easily. Because of that, she couldn’t let him think that he had hurt her.

“I’m fine. You didn’t hurt me. I…It was…I was overwhelmed.”

“But I didn’t hurt you.” Jason held back a sigh of relief when she shook her head. He lowered his voice. “I made you feel good, didn’t I, love?”

Bella’s felt her nipples harden at the heat in his eyes. She took a deep breath, trying to calm the riot of emotions swirling inside her. “Yes, you did. I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have left like that. But…”

“But?” he encouraged.

She took another deep breath, “But when you left, after. After you were so cold—”

He quickly cut her off. “You mattered. You mattered too much.” His heart clenched as the plea in her eyes told him she so desperately wanted to believe that.

Dammit.
His own pride, his stupidity had made her feel insecure. He had made her question what they had together. “Bella, you shook something in me that night. I was overwhelmed, too. I’m sorry that I made you doubt that even for one second. Trust me, love, I will never treat you like that ever again. I promise.”