Under Pressure [IAD Agency] (Siren Publishing Classic)

stood up.
    “Yes, she stays here,” Jason confirmed in a tone that dared them to argue with him.
    Tony shrugged. “I’ll call you on the cell and you can tell me what you need once I’m there. I’ll also tell Danny to come by tomorrow for the meeting.”
    Sal looked uneasy. “I think you should let us handle this. There are things—”
    “You think I don’t know what team he means? Christ, Sal, who do you think is called in when you need to hack into something no one else can?” Tony snickered.
    Shock filled Sal’s face before he laughed. “Shit, I should’ve known.”
    Suddenly both of their heads swiveled to look at Bella, faces going blank.
    Leaning back, Bella smiled smugly. “If you guys are talking about IAD, I’m already well aware that all my jerk-wad brothers are involved in international espionage, thank you very much.” Their jaws dropped, and they both went pale as they looked at Jason in disbelief. Having fun, Bella arched an eyebrow. “Thought you were the only ones who could keep a secret?”
    They were left sputtering.
    Jason took pity on them, a smile just for her softening his face. “Darling, you almost gave them both heart attacks. I told her about everything.”
    Sal scowled at her, rubbing a hand over his chest like his heart hurt. “Christ, Bella, I was imagining you jumping out of planes or something. Shit, don’t scare me like that.”
    Tony at least had the sense to find the amusement of the situation and winked.
    Sal started out of the room then paused. “Wait a sec, you said all of us.”
    Tony chuckled and threw his arm around Sal’s shoulder. “Danny helps out occasionally. No one’s better at getting info from people in this city than that sneaky son of a bitch. The bar is the perfect place to learn information. Plus that boy knows just about everyone in the city.”
    “Damn, it’s always the nice ones.” Sal scrubbed his hands over his face. “All this time I thought I was protecting you guys. Bastards.”
    After giving him a loud smacking kiss on the cheek, Tony walked away.

Chapter Fourteen
     
    Bella was tired.
    It had been a long day. A long day full of new, insightful experiences. It wasn’t every day that she got an inside view of a clandestine agency, complete with a tour and briefing. Her hair piled high on the top of her head, she lay back. Now, soaking in the hot tub, her muscles relaxed for the first time in what seemed like days.
    Last night Jason had surprised her with moving her stuff into the apartment, filling his gray space with her colors. After her comment about his lack of courtship, Jason had painstakingly filled each room with a variety of flowers, hoping to erase the memory of Victor Dane’s macabre gift. The sweet scent of the blooms filled Bella with a quiet joy that Jason would go to such lengths to make her happy.
    Now it felt like home, their home.
    This morning Jason had taken them all down to the subterranean levels, and they had met with the team of IAD members that he had put together in one of the conference rooms. She knew that there were teams of IAD agents all over the world, but from what she heard Jason’s agents were known as being some of the best.
    Meeting the agents of IAD had been interesting to say the least.
    As they had walked through the command center where people were working, Bella had been awestruck. These dedicated individuals were working to protect the world, and no one even knew of their efforts. She had been absolutely amazed at the high-tech equipment she saw. It had felt like walking into another universe or like she had walked right into a movie. They told her there were numerous agents out on assignments, and Bella realized she had no clue how big this division of IAD really was. She couldn’t help being a little pissed that Tony and Danny had been there before, but she couldn’t blame them. If they hadn’t know about IAD, she wouldn’t have told them either.
    She understood. Secrecy was vital.
    The meeting had been fascinating. After a long and arduous fight over the phone, the brothers had convinced their parents to take an extended vacation to Jason’s villa on the Amalfi coast in Italy. Telling them that it would be easier to keep Bella safe if they were hidden away was true. It also put everyone’s minds at ease to know they were out of harm’s way, and knowing Jason, he had agents making sure they stayed that way. Bella was grateful at the generosity Jason had showed her parents,