Under Pressure(38)

“It was just roses.”

Sal’s eyes met hers, and they softened slightly. Bella rolled her eyes as Jason covered the phone to growl that the only man she should be getting roses from was him. She grumbled that he had never gotten her flowers as she made a move to get up, but Jason’s hand on her arm tightened. She looked at him, frowning to get her point across, and after a moment he released her. She got up and walked over to sit between Tony and Sal. Instantly they both hugged her close, smothering her. Unknowing what else to do, she laughed.

“I love you, guys, but I feel like the insides of meatball sandwich.”

Just like that Bella could feel some of the tension drain from their bodies. Sal took the smoke from her hand and took a deep drag. “Shit, these things are disgusting.” He inhaled before putting it out in an ashtray on the table. Tony picked up her right hand and stroked his thumb over the scar there, and Sal kissed her forehead. She watched as Jason hung up the phone. His jaw was clenched. His mercurial eyes were no longer warm, and they were icy with lethal intent.

“Finn said there was a card.”

Oh, this was going to be bad. Bella could tell that he didn’t want to tell her, but she pushed anyway. She couldn’t hide from this. It was happening to her, and she needed to know. “What did it say?”

Silence.

Bella asked again, her frustration showing.

“These should be on your grave.”

Sal and Tony both let out a vicious string of impressive curses.

“Oh.” The blood drained from her face. Bella’s eyes closed to try and think beyond the fear that was clawing its way to the surface. It was him. Victor. Oh God, Victor Dane had come after her.

“Bella.”

Jason crouched down in front of her, his hands gently framing her face. He waited in silence until she opened her eyes. Her brothers were comically looking away at the walls, trying to give them some semblance of privacy. Jason’s low voice was serious yet filled with tenderness as he spoke. “I will not let anything happen to you. You understand that right? You need to trust me. This is what I do, and now you need to let me take care of you. Nothing will happen to you.”

She slowly nodded and was afraid to blink and lose track of Jason for one second, as if by simply looking at him his words would come true.

Speaking precisely and in a low, clear voice, Jason held her gaze. “Baby, listen to me. Nothing, I mean nothing is going to happen to you. I’m going to keep you safe, I promise you.”

Bella nodded again, trying to keep the panic from settling in. She tried to speak, but nothing would come out. She cleared her throat then tried again. “So he found me. Won’t that make it easier to catch him?”

Jason’s eyes flashed with feral satisfaction as he told her yes.

“Oh yeah, hon, we will definitely find this fucker,” Tony swore. Sal grunted in agreement.

Jason continued speaking directly to Bella, his voice calm and gentle. “There was a newspaper clipping in the card. It was a picture of you and Liz at the benefit last week. That’s how he found you. But forget that because I won’t let him touch you. Now that we know he is here, I will find him.”

“We. We will find him,” Tony stressed, his voice tight with anger.

Jason continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “Until he’s caught, we treat everything as a potential threat. That means you have to listen to me. You have to trust me to make the necessary measures to ensure your safety. You understand that, don’t you, sweetheart?”

Bella swallowed then nodded her head again. Jason gently wiped the tear that Bella didn’t feel running down her cheek with his thumb. He leaned forward and brushed his lips softly across hers. She heard her brothers grumbling beside her and was surprised that she had the urge to laugh. How she could find anything funny when someone was out there trying to kill her was beyond her understanding. Nothing made sense anymore.

Jason pulled back. “Finn is going to watch Liz for the time being.” Looking over at Sal, he promised. “I sent Adrian and Rock over to your parents’ place. They’ll watch over them at the house. They’ll be safe. I’m calling in a team.”

Sal nodded in agreement. A thousand different thoughts bombarded her head while Bella fought to keep calm.

Wait, what did he say? “A team? A team for what?”

The men continued to plan as if they hadn’t heard her. Good God, did he mean more agents? How could Jason possibly call in a team to handle something like this when there were other more important matters for them to handle? She should say something…but nothing came to mind.

Her brothers and Jason were speaking in terms she couldn’t understand. The men were speaking rapidly about protocol and security measures so fast she couldn’t keep up. She gave up and focused her attention on the man squatting in front of her. Jason’s neck was corded as he clenched his jaw with anger. Every muscle in his body was tight, but his hand remained gentle on hers. This man would protect her. But who would protect her from falling completely in love with him?