Under Pressure [IAD Agency] (Siren Publishing Classic)

head. “See?” Finn straightened to his full height, and he cocked his head to the side as Adrian approached him. “You know, I’m gonna quit baiting you before your twin gets here and you both open a can of whup-ass on me and break me into a million pieces.”
    “You can’t help being an asshole, can you?” Adrian sighed as he grabbed Finn in a friendly headlock.
    “Well, when you’re good at something, why change?”
    Adrian laughed as he dragged Finn back toward the food.
    Rubbing a hand over Bella’s thick hair, Jason asked, “Speaking of, where is Tara?”
    “Rock and Steele are with her.” Sal turned to his sister with a glimmer of mischief in his eyes. “You remember Lucian Steele, right? You know the one you thought was really handsome?”
    Bella laughed as Jason grumbled under his breath and held Bella tighter to him.
    “Don’t you even start that, Sal.” Cocking her head, she smiled at Jason from her perch on his lap. “It seems to me that you have a very biased hiring system. I mean, all the men and women look like they could be on a cover of a magazine, you included, mister.” She poked Jason in the chest, but he quickly took her hand in his to kiss it.
    Sal rolled his eyes at them and made his way back to the food, pushing Brett, Finn, and Adrian out of his way. “Anyways, Rock got her a new gun for her birthday and she wanted to try it down at the range. Steele went with them.”
    “Oh, I guess all of you are trained with firearms,” Jenna stated, innocent interest showing in her eyes. “I’ve never shot a gun. I wonder if I could in the right situation.”
    “You’d be surprised what you could do if you had to,” Mikayla replied kindly.
    “I could take you shooting.”
    Adrian’s offer had Jenna’s back straightening. “Ah, no, that’s okay. I don’t think I really want to shoot anything.”
    The door opened, and Tara, Lucian, and Rock strode in to a cheer of birthday greetings. Dinner was a big robust affair. Laughter and conversation flowed as easily as the wine. Bella couldn’t help being amused by the baffled expression on Jason’s face. He was totally out of his comfort zone, and it was apparent to her that he had not spent much time hanging out with his people on a social level before now.
    Going to him, Bella wound her arms around his waist, and he pulled her close to kiss her forehead. It always made her feel good to see the quiet pleasure that lit up his eyes at the slightest affectionate gesture.
    Tara threw herself into a chair and tugged at Bella’s hand, so she sat down next to her leaving Jason and Rock talking near the fireplace. Tara’s small body was packed into black pants and a light off-the-shoulder black sweater. She always wore black. It was almost like her signature. Her short black hair was razor cut in a unique angle around her face. Red highlights shot through black, making a stylish but funky statement.
    Leaning back, she gave Bella a slightly crooked smile. “Thank you so much for the party! God, I’m so full I feel like I’m gonna burst!”
    “Good, then I did my job well. There’s always more cake.”
    “Bitch. I swear I just gained twenty pounds.”
    Bella laughed and hugged her. “I’m so glad you moved back here. It just wasn’t the same with you in LA.”
    Tara shrugged. “Yeah, well, all the tan skin, blonde hair, and the plastic body parts were starting to freak me out. I knew it was time to leave when I started having trouble controlling the urge to stab someone just to see if they would pop, if you know what I mean.”
    “God, Tara, I missed you.” Bella looked around to see who was near before she gave her a searching look. “Were you really in LA?”
    “For a time.” She shrugged. “I was stationed there with the CIA. before I was recruited by Mac.” Tara smiled at the shock on Bella’s face. “I know, somehow it’s easy to forget how unreal all this shit seemed to someone outside of the life. I did miss you guys though. Sorry I couldn’t tell you, but you know how it goes. Although I do feel better knowing that you know about all this…madness. Someday remind me to tell you about the day that Sal found out what I do. I thought his head was going to explode.”
    They both laughed.
    Tara’s smile disappeared, and she became serious. “Bella, if you ever want to…talk about things, you know you can talk to me. I’m sorry I didn’t know when it happened. I would have come to New York to see