Under Pressure [IAD Agency] (Siren Publishing Classic)

think for myself! It’s my life, mine! I’m not quitting my job just because you tell me to! My teaching has nothing to do with you. I am not quitting! This is my life. Let me go !” Panic had her freaking out.
    “Nothing to do with me?” Jason whispered.
    Then he roared.
    Her words were like a dagger through his heart. He pulled her up right off her feet until she was face-to-face with him. “Bollocks! There was something on your car, waiting for you! What if it were a bomb? What if someone had been waiting to shoot you in the fucking head while you stood there? How do you think I would feel if you got shot right in front of me? I’m not about to let a bloody thing happen to you, you got me?”
    Jerking her so their noses almost touched, his voice lowered in icy fury. “Nothing to do with me? Everything about you has to do with me. You are mine . Your life means more to me than your bloody job!”
    The color had drained from her face. She had lost herself for a moment as pure terror spiked through her system, but then their eyes connected. This was Jason, the man she was falling in love with. She knew, knew that she could trust him. She felt safe, protected, as if nothing could touch her with Jason watching over her. What she saw in his beautiful stormy eyes was something that she never thought she would see.
    Fear.
    Her anger dissipated at once.
    “What was it? Tell me, tell me the truth.” Her voice was shaky.
    Damn . He hesitated a moment. “Roses. White roses.”
    Bella sucked in a breath, tried to speak, and couldn’t. She took a moment and then shook her head in disbelief.
    “I’m sorry. I must have heard you wrong. Did you say roses? Someone left me roses, and this is the way you react? What is wrong with you ? Are you high ?”
    Jason couldn’t help the narrowing of his eyes. “No one should be leaving you roses. No one should be leaving you anything.”
    Bella wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Outrage made her want to shriek, but instead she sighed. She knew that there wasn’t going to be a winner in this argument.
    “We’ve got to talk about this. I needed to know what’s going on. You should have told me before going all soldier on me. Don’t just dismiss me…I needed to know.”
    Jason pulled her to him and let out a loud sigh of resignation, his body relaxing against her.
    “No, Bella, I’m sorry. I wasn’t dismissing you, sweetheart. It could have been a threat. It could have been something that could have hurt you. I reacted. I couldn’t bear it if you were hurt. I didn’t mean to upset you.” Understanding without her saying a word, he explained softly, “I know he took something away from you, but I’m not him. I’m not trying to control you. I just want to keep you safe.”
    He forced himself to explain. She deserved that much. “It felt like a threat, sweetheart. I haven’t…It’s been a long time since I’ve cared for anyone like this. Not since my family was killed when I was but a lad. I just don’t want anything to happen to you. ”
    Tony was standing there watching them somberly when a loud pounding on the door caught their attention. Jason checked and opened the door, and Sal burst in. Barely restrained violence hummed within him. Going straight to Bella, he yanked her into his arms and held her tight to him.
    When she started to choke for air, Jason growled at Sal to let her go. As Sal pulled back, Jason snatched her away from him into his own arms, making Bella feel like a rag doll.
    “The entire building’s on lockdown. What’s the goddamn sitrep?” Sal demanded.
    Oddly calm, Bella suggested they move into the living room before talking. When they all sat down, Jason retained his grip on Bella’s hand and pulled her down next to him on the couch. He cornered her with his large frame, making her acutely aware that she was sitting on the very couch that she had been bent over the last time she had been in his apartment. Thinking about how Jason had taken her made her body react with a pulsing desire that left her breathless. She stroked her hand over the armrest. Glancing up, she was captured by Jason’s piercing gaze, his nostrils flaring. She knew he was remembering their passionate encounter as well. She could feel the color creeping up her neck and knew without a doubt that her face was flush at the memory.
    Jason felt like an animal.
    How the hell could he be thinking about sex when Bella was in danger? Saying his suspicions out loud,