Under Pressure [IAD Agency] (Siren Publishing Classic)

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