Under Pressure(28)

“He-Man? Did she just call me He-Man?”

“Kind of fits,” Tony agreed.

“Bro, are you trying to piss her off or what? Or has your memory just tanked? You can’t just order sweet little Lizzie around without getting her back up.” Danny shook his head as he surveyed his brother sadly. “Looks like I need to give you some pointers on how to handle the ladies again. Obviously you’ve gone without for too long. We’ll get you right in no time.”

“I don’t need shit. And not everyone wants to be a man-whore like you.” Sal growled.

Danny smiled. “I love the ladies, and the ladies love me. What’s a guy to do?”

“Umm, get tested regularly?” Tony quipped, moving safely out of striking range.

Liz scoffed from where she stood by the door. “You guys never change. You’re lucky I love you, Danny. ’Cuz even though you’re like a brother to me, I wouldn’t wish you on any woman.”

“Aww, sweetheart, you wound me.”

Liz rolled her eyes. “All right, Don Juan, I’m ready to go. Let’s get a move on or this lady will be leaving your ass here.”

Danny winked at them. “See, she can’t help but mention my ass.”

“More like you are the ass,” Liz fired back, smiling.

Bella’s lips quirked up as she tried to muffle her laughter.

Danny kissed Bella on the cheek and hugged her. He turned a telling glance to both his brothers then glared at Jason before he quickly followed Liz out to the car before she left him.

Sal continued to stare at their retreating forms until the door closed before swinging his frown back at Bella and Jason. His hard eyes bored into Jason as he tried to size up the other man. “You can catch a ride back to the compound with me, Mac.”

“I’m staying here with Bella.”

“The hell you are!” Tony bit out. Sal’s fists clenched, but he forced himself to release them.

Bella held up her hands to both of her brothers. “I want him to stay. Please, just give us some time to talk. Don’t make this harder for me.”

“He doesn’t want to just talk,” Tony spit out. Finally, he sighed, a weary acceptance taking over. “Hell, you were with him last week, weren’t you?”

Damn, her brother had been more observant than she thought. Owning up to it, she stuck out her chin in defiance as she answered, “Yes.”

Sal stood with his massive arms crossed over his chest. “How the hell long has this been going on?”

To her surprise, Tony answered, “I saw them together at the benefit we went to last weekend.”

Swinging around, Sal frowned at his brother. “Why the hell didn’t you do something?”

“Do what?” Tony snorted in reply. “She looked happy with the asshole.”

Jason opened his mouth to answer but never got the chance. Bella took a step forward. It was almost comical how she had placed her petite frame in front of him as if to protect him. “Don’t call him that. Besides, it’s none of your business, Sal. And it’s not Tony’s job to try and keep men from talking to me. I’m with Jason now, so get used to it.”

Both brothers answered in unison.

“Like hell it’s none of my business.”

“Of course it’s our job to keep men away from you.”

Their grumbles were so familiar that she softened her voice. “He makes me happy. Don’t you want me to be happy?”

“Hell.”

“Shit.”

Jason wanted to laugh at the resigned look that both men now wore. Damn, Bella had her brothers twisted around her little finger. He could sympathize.

Sal continued to stare at Jason with a dark look on his face. Jason was one of the best men he had ever worked with, maybe one of the best he had ever known. He trusted him completely or he would never have agreed to work for him, but trusting him with his sister was a whole different matter. He knew Jason was a cold, unyielding man, but Jason would never break his word once given. Plus, the more protection for Bella the better.

Better the devil you know…

“If you hurt her, we’re going to have a serious problem,” Sal warned.

“I won’t hurt her,” Jason said with conviction, but for the first time in life he felt unsure. What the hell did he know about relationships? But he was damned if he was going to let her go. Hesitantly, Sal nodded and reached out to Bella to embrace her again.

Stroking her hair, he looked down into his sister’s eyes with love. “I’ll see you tomorrow, sweetheart.” After hugging Tony good-bye, he shot one more fierce look of warning toward Jason and left.



* * * *



Bella opened the door to her apartment and pressed in the code for the alarm as Jason silently followed her through the door. Getting around Tony had been awkward since he made no effort to hide the fact that he did not want Jason staying the night. The fatigue showing on Bella’s face was what had swayed him. Bella and Jason had left Tony standing at the bottom of the stairs with his hands on his hips, legs braced apart, like he was ready for battle watching them head up toward her apartment.