Under Pressure [IAD Agency] (Siren Publishing Classic) (9 page)

The hesitation in her eyes made his chest tighten with an unfamiliar feeling.

“I’m sorry, love,” he repeated so tenderly more tears formed in her eyes.

He couldn’t help himself as he felt her small body pressed against him again and brushed soft kisses over her face while whispering his apology over and over again. He kissed the side of her mouth then settled his lips over hers in a soft gentle kiss.

“I think we’re both in unfamiliar territory here,” Jason murmured against her lips, refusing to break contact.

Bella tried to agree, but all that came out was a moan as she reached up to kiss him again, unable to help herself. She wound her arms around his neck to pull him closer and sank into the heat of him. He felt so good against her body. She wanted him there, pressed against her, wanted him inside her again. Nothing mattered at this moment but being wrapped in Jason’s strong arms.

“What the fuck is going on here?” a low voice exclaimed from behind them. Breaking apart, Jason pushed Bella behind him to safety, acting on instinct, his lust-filled mind snapping to attention at the hint of an imposing threat.

“Toro,” Jason said, relaxing only a fraction since he could see the other man was still in attack mode.

“Get. Your. Hands. Off. My. Sister.”

Sister? What the fuck? Mentally shuffling through his files, Salvatore Moretti, aka Sal Moret, aka Toro, siblings, Daniel, Antonio, and Isabella. Shit, no wonder she looked familiar.

Bloody fucking hell
.

Bella whispered, “Oh lord…” and peeked out around Jason’s larger frame to see Sal standing in front of them.

“Sal!”

With a cry of delight, she tried to rush to him, only to be stopped by Jason’s large hand pushing her behind him again. Jason carefully studied Sal’s face, and the rage he saw did not sit well with him, familial connection or not.

Sal bristled visibly. “Dammit, Bella, what the hell do you think you’re doing with
him
?”

Bella paused in trying to swat Jason’s hand away as her eyes widened in surprise. “You know Jason?”

“Get away from him.” Sal barked out as his eyes seemed focused on where Jason’s hand wrapped around her waist. Sal spoke softly, but the menace in his voice was clear. “Let her go, Mac. Boss or not, I will kick your goddamn ass, you coldhearted son of a bitch.”

Jason remained unmoved by Sal’s insult and simply stood still with his body blocking Bella as he used his arm to hold her partially behind him.

“Goddammit, Bella, I said get your ass over here now!”

Bella’s eyes narrowed.
Oh, no, he didn’t.
“Listen up, asshole—”

“You better get away—”

“—don’t you order me around you oversized—”

“—from him right now. I mean it, Bella.”

“Ape!” Bella yelled out.

“Jesus, Bella, what the hell is with you? Do you make it a habit of fucking around with guys you barely know? Dammit, you never did have any sense when it came to men,” Sal barked out, making Bella flinch as if slapped.

“S
on of a bitch.
”

Sal was spun around to a fist flying at his face from behind. He hit the wall with a grunt and forced himself not to strike back as he looked at his youngest brother’s livid face.

“Tony, no!” Bella cried.

Tony, Danny, Finn, and Liz had followed them back, only to find Bella being protected by Jason with her enraged older brother facing the couple down.

Jason’s ready stance had not moved, first and foremost protecting Bella from any danger, even that coming from her own brothers.

Sal stroked his aching jaw in his hand slowly as he eyed Tony. “Well, that’s some welcome home, little brother. What the hell is wrong with you?” For a computer geek, Tony had fists of iron. Sal was bigger in size, but Tony’s vibrating fury made him the bigger threat at the moment.

“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.

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 feeling 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.”