Under Pressure [IAD Agency] (Siren Publishing Classic) (21 page)

“Too true.” Finn leaned back with a heavy sigh. “Jesus, Mac, the two of you are perfect for each other.”

Jason’s pristine kitchen had been converted into what looked like a war zone. Hours ago Bella had banned everyone but Gio and Jenna from the room, slapping body parts with a large wooden spoon if anyone dared to cross her. She and Gio had been waging their own private battle all day, making enough food to feed an army, which could have been served at the most elegant of restaurants. The fragrances drifting from the kitchen were making his mouth water in anticipatory greed. Sitting in the living room watching the chaos unfold, Jason leaned back and lit one of his rare cigarettes as he watched his sweet little love threaten murder for the fifth time in an hour.

Michael Bublé’s mellow voice crooned over the speaker system creating a musical backdrop for the creative genius at work in the kitchen. Jason had learned quickly that he could tell Bella’s creative cooking moods by the music she chose. He silently thought that a requiem would be more apropos considering her current murderous disposition.

Jenna was watching the fight up close and personal with wide eyes. Bella and Gio argued, laughed, and cooked with the same passion.

They were exhausting.

They were inspiring.

They scared the living shit out of her.

Bella turned to Jenna and laughed at her terrified expression. Throwing a wink to Gio, Bella motioned Jenna to her side. Jenna rushed over immediately. “So, Jenna, are you ready to run yet?”

“What? Of course not! I’m honored to be in the kitchen with the two of you.”

“Of course you are honored.” Gio smiled easily.

Bella groaned. “Why did I ever miss you and your ego?”

Gio scoffed. “When one is great, others should be honored. You miss me because you know I am right. Besides, Jenna,
mi amore
, your cake is a thing of beauty that fits well with our greatness. And the icing?” He put his fingers to his lips. “To die for. You will make that in our restaurant,
si
? Do you think she will survive working with us every day,
tesoro
?”

Jenna’s confusion was easy to see.

Jason had kept Bella company the night before while she did her prep work, and they had discussed what Gio had proposed. With his unwavering support he told her to take the chance and to follow her dream. By the end of the night Bella had agreed to go into business with Gio.

“I haven’t asked her yet, idiot.” Bella smacked his arm lightly. “Jenna, after our class is over, Gio and I are opening our own restaurant and we would like for you to come work with us—”

Before she could say anything more Jenna flung herself at Bella and hugged her tight. “Yes! Yes! Oh my God, yes!”

“Can we join in here?”

Adrian and Sal stood off to the side, having just come in to the apartment. Jenna all but jumped behind Bella, using her as a shield the minute Adrian had spoken.

Sal took a step forward to greet Gio and had his sister staring back at him incredulously, her voice low and mean. “Do you want to die?”

Sal’s head snapped up, and he grabbed Adrian, pulling him back out of the kitchen so fast they almost fell. “Shit, shit. Sorry, hon. I forgot for a second. Don’t punish me. I swear, we’ll leave you guys alone now.”

“What the—”

Knowing better, Sal hastily ushered Adrian away to the living room where the others were gathered, explaining in a low tones about Bella’s position about people in her kitchen when cooking. Adrian’s indulgent laugh quickly sobered to a stoic nod of agreement when Sal hissed that they would be denied food if they pissed her off.

“You have them trained well.” Gio snickered before going back to work.

A short while later Bella, Gio, and Jenna went to change their clothes for the party. Quickly throwing on a dress Bella joined everyone in the living room for an aperitif. The food was completed. They had made enough for several armies, but Bella could bet there would be nothing left at the end of the evening. Bella and Jenna laid out large trays of canapés for everyone to snack on, and Gio poured glasses of champagne for them. Bella took her drink and sat on the arm of Jason’s chair, but he quickly pulled her onto his lap to nuzzle her neck.

Moments later Brett came in with a woman using a cane. She was strikingly beautiful, tall with short dark curly hair and a perfect olive complexion. Bella admired her lovely violet eyes as Mikayla Lincoln politely thanked her for the pastry from yesterday. Bella knew that Mikayla had been shot on the last mission she was on and was surprised that she was already up and about. Sal immediately got up from where he had been sitting and forced her to take his seat on the couch.

Another woman stood with them, and Bella was introduced to yet another Mac Security-IAD agent named Shannon Montgomery. Shannon was a stunning woman, tall with yards of wavy blonde hair and electric-blue eyes. She looked like an Amazon queen. Her voice dripped of molasses and clearly proved her to be a southern belle. Gio quickly came over for an introduction and kissed her hand as he let free his abundant charm. Surprised pleasure flicked in her eyes before they shut down and became unreadable once again.

“Hey there, Legs. Do I get to kiss you, too?” Finn joked from his seat.

“In your dreams, Irish,” Shannon replied nonchalantly as she accepted a glass of champagne and sat on one of the couches next to Slade. Directing her gaze at Bella, Shannon explained. “Finn here insists on using nicknames. Jason is Mac, Sal is Toro, and so on. It’s his annoying little habit, but he’s got all of us doing it now.”

Finn grinned. “It’s my natural charm.”

“Mika here got her name back when we were in the service together, so we can’t blame that one on Finn. Since her last name is Lincoln, Lynx just fit.” Brett handed Mikayla a plate of food and winked at Bella. “Lynx, our wild cat.”

Bella studied the striking woman for a moment and could immediately see how the play on her last name for a wild cat suited her perfectly. Mikayla Lincoln’s large violet eyes were slightly slanted and did indeed remind Bella of a wild, untamed jungle cat. Her gaze shifted back to Shannon and took in the miles of legs the blonde had stretched out in front of her as she gracefully crossed them and could also see why Finn had taken to calling the woman Legs.

Bella watched, amused, as Jenna strategically sat down next to Shannon, leaving no room for Adrian to follow. Both women ignored the frowning man standing behind them with his arms crossed over his chest.

“What do you guys call Tara?” Bella asked, intrigued.

“T-rex,” Finn answered with a fake shudder. “’Cuz she’s fierce and will eat you up and spit you out. Utterly ruthless.”

“Hey, watch it,” Adrian snapped sharply from where he hovered behind Jenna and Shannon.

“What? That’s why I love her.” Finn held a hand to his heart and sighed, making them laugh. Adrian slapped Finn on the head as he made his way back to the food.

Shannon smiled. “Don’t mind the animals. We haven’t quite gotten them housebroken yet.”

Finn leaned forward. “Adrian and Rock are just protective of T-rex. To them she is like a sweet little sister. Sweet my ass. That is one lady I never want to piss off, that’s for sure.”

Mikayla said nothing but raised an eyebrow in question as she popped an olive in her mouth.

Finn cleared his throat. “Actually, all the ladies we work with are pretty fierce.”

Shannon laughed and leaned over to tap glasses with Mikayla, winking at Bella.

Brett stood back up to once again make his way back over toward the food. “Truthfully I think you women are more dangerous than us men.”

“As it should be.” Mikayla grinned.

“So do you all work for Mac Securities?” Jenna asked.

“Yes, we do.”

Bella turned slightly to look back at Adrian who seemed to be hovering around the table of food picking and choosing items with great concentration. “What’s your nickname, Adrian?”

He flashed her a wicked grin. “I don’t want one, and Finn had enough sense to understand that I would hurt him badly if he gave me one.”

“He’s so sensitive,” Finn joked before jumping up from where he was seated just in time to avoid a blow to the 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 you.”

“Don’t worry about that, sweetie. I know.” Bella squeezed her hand. “I didn’t want to tell you on e-mail. I knew you were busy.”

“I would have made the time.”

“I know, and I love you for that. It was just easier to put it off, you know? I’m just glad to see you now.”

Tara had emotional scars on her soul that had been there for years. If anyone could understand what Bella had been through, it would be her.

Lightening the mood, Tara grinned. “Can’t believe you and the boss are getting married. Marriage…I mean wow. One penis for the rest of your life.” Tara looked so horrified Bella laughed hysterically.