Twins.

Lucas still couldn’t believe that he was having twins even though he’d been pregnant for four months and had a small baby bump. It had taken Tucker nearly an hour to wake up after he’d fainted when he heard they were having twins and Lucas hadn’t let him live it down.

Promising threats of telling the entire family that he fainted, Tucker catered to his every need. Their living situation still hadn’t changed; they were still living between houses and spending as much time with each other when possible. This weekend they were at his place because he needed to get some work done. They didn’t consider it a strain; however, they knew things needed to change, and neither was willing to broach the subject.

Tucker had told him about the phone call he’d received from Diane, his former sister-in-law. Lucas shook his head at their ignorance and thought process. He wouldn’t ask Tucker to give up his home. He never felt as if he was replacing Rochelle whenever he stayed over. He also never asked Tucker to take her pictures down.

In some ways, she was part of their family and wasn’t jealous of the love Tucker had for her. Their first Sunday family dinner was a bit strained, he was still a bit angry with his parents for lying to him, and their family was hurt they were not a part of the wedding. He still babysat Raynebow for Ethan and Tyler on Fridays, but now they took Zoi for him on Saturdays so that he and Tucker could have time together.

“Papa, no!”

“Come here, you little cookie monster.”

Zoi squealed with laughter, and it felt good to hear excitement coming from his daughter. Zoi loved Tucker and hardly left his side whenever she saw him. He could tell Tucker cared for her and that made him more than happy. He leaned back in his office chair and closed his eyes. He was always tired lately. He rested a hand on his baby bump feeling totally content with his new life. They hadn’t told their family that they were having twins, they wanted to wait until they knew their sexes.

Cold delicate hands touched his cheeks, and he smiled, knowing exactly who it was simply from her touch and scent. “I’m glad to see that you’re happy, Luc.”

“You’re not jealous?” This was the first time since he and Tucker got together she’d visited his dreams.

Rebecca giggled. “No, I couldn’t have picked a perfect partner for you. You both need each other. He supports you in ways I couldn’t. And besides, Zoi likes him, that’s all I can want for the both of you.”

“Will you move on now that you see that I’m happy, that I've kept my promise?” He opened his eyes and looked up at her. “Never be afraid to tell him how you feel.” Her fingers caressed his cheeks, she bent down and kissed him on his forehead then disappeared.

Lucas settled in his chair falling into a deeper sleep. He moaned when he felt firm but soft lips pressed against his. He wrapped his arms around Tucker’s neck deepening their kiss. They separated only for the need to breathe. Lucas slowly opened his eyes, blinking a couple of times clearing the cloudiness from them.

“Hey, how long have I been sleeping?” he asked standing to his feet stretching.

Tucker was sitting on the edge of his desk and pulled him between his open legs. “An hour or two.” He kissed Lucas on his neck slowly moving up to his ear. “Are you hungry?”

He was but not for food. Turning his head, he captured Tucker’s lips, wanting more of his kisses than food. Tucker wrapped his arms fully around Lucas’ hips and then down to his butt cheeks squeezing and kneading it.

“Tell me Zoi is asleep,” he said against his lover’s lips.

Tucker pulled him back into a kiss and taking that his answer was yes. He stepped back and pulled off the T-shirt he was wearing, throwing it back to the floor and stepped back into Tucker’s arms. He didn’t need to say the words that he wanted to his husband, his actions spoke for him. He pulled at Tucker’s shirt needing to feel his hot skin against his own. They separated for a second just to pull Tucker’s shirt over his head, throwing it to the floor joining his. He wanted Tucker so badly he needed to cum just to take off the edge. As if reading his mind, Tucker reached down and undid the button on his jeans then pulled down the zipper. He pushed both his pants and underwear below his butt cheeks.

His cock sprang forward causing him to moan against Tucker’s lips. Hurriedly, he pulled on the drawstring of his lover’s sweats and was rewarded with a loud moan when his fingers wrapped Tucker’s erection. Wrapping his free hand around Tucker’s neck, he jerked off his lover. Their lips never leaving each other as they gave each other pleasure. Lucas moaned when Tucker applied pressure to his cock as he stood to his feet. Pulling him close, his hand was removed and he was about to protest when Tucker wrapped his fingers around both their cocks.

“Oh gods,” he whimpered as their cocks rubbed against each other. He shivered when the sensitive head of his cock rubbed against his, Tucker’s sending a pleasurable heat up his spine. He kissed his way down his lover’s chin and then his neck sinking his teeth into his flesh as cum spurted from his cock. Tucker groaned loudly on his shoulder, as fresh cum joined his. He raised his head and kissed Lucas, pulling him closer with his free hand. They shivered the second their chests touched, his sensitive nipples rubbing against Tucker’s. He wanted more, so much more.

They separated from their kiss; he took in Tucker’s sex-relaxed expression and smiled proudly. “You sure know how to wake me up properly.”

“I do try,” Tucker said as he leaned in and brushed their lips together.

The sound of a phone ringing had Lucas moaning in regret that he and Tucker were not going to be able to finish what they had just started. Tucker seemed to work every day, all day. “Ignore it,” he told his husband. “Just this once, let someone else put out the fire there so we can keep it burning here.” He moaned, licking the corners of Tucker’s lips.

“I would, but it’s not my phone that’s ringing.”

Lucas creased his brows and looked at Tucker as if he was crazy and then he recognized the ringtone, it had been a while since he heard that specific ringtone. Stepping away from Tucker, he pulled up his pants as he reached for the drawer where he kept his Seeker phone charged. Picking it up, he looked at the screen before answering it. There was a short beep then Lucas entered his agent code. He waited a heartbeat before saying his code name, knowing someone else would be on the other end of the line. “Shadow.”

“Please hold, Agent Shadow.”

He turned to look at Tucker who had cleaned up and handed him some tissues. Tucking the phone between his shoulder and ear, he cleaned himself up, throwing the tissues in the trash and waited for whoever was going to be on the other line.

“What’s going on?” Tucker asked.

“I’m not sure,” he answered just as a throat cleared.

“Agent Shadow, it's January, we need you to come in. It’s just come to our attention that Alphonso Gianni has escaped . . .”

“What? How?” Lucas asked, cutting off his old friend and onetime partner whose name wasn’t January but William Dawson. Many Seeker agents, like Asher, were CEOs or once worked in law enforcement and some were recruited because of their military experience. A few were recruited right out of college—Dawson for instance. And, like Dawson, were simply in the right place at the right time and gained all their experience as a Seeker agent. “How the fuck did he escape maximum security? I want to know who the hell fucked up right now.”

 “That is the reason why we need you to come in, Agent Shadow, all will be explained."

“Fine, I’ll be there in thirty minutes, I want all the information on what happened waiting for me.”

He hung up the phone, throwing it on his desk. “Dammit!” he yelled.

Tucker walked over to him and grabbed him by his shoulders. “Go deal with what you need to take care of, I’ll be here waiting for you.”

He nodded and leaned in kissing his husband. “I need to shower first. Do you want to join me?”

Tucker smirked. “I would love to, but if I did, you wouldn’t make it to where you need to go.”

Lucas wrapped his arms around Tucker’s neck. “You’re probably right. You do have a way of making me forget everything around me.”

“Go take your shower before I change my mind.”

He kissed Tucker quickly then stepped around him and walked out of his office. He was going to kick someone’s ass for letting Gianni escape. He was sure that the man had an ax to grind and would surely come after Lucas and the ones he loved.

Over my dead body.

* * *

Lucas walked into the building he used to frequent when he thought he was a badass secret agent. Yeah, I definitely watched too many James Bond movies growing up. He greeted Easton and Trapper who were on duty every time he visited. Taking a quick turn to the left, he entered the second part of the hall and looked at the walls filled with names in silver and gold. Nameplates of agents who’d come and gone. Agents who did their jobs, without the citizens knowing they existed.

A phoenix with fiery wings was in the center symbolizing the death of an agent and the rise from the ashes of a new one. Lucas used to tease Tyler that the reason he got a phoenix tattoo on his back was because of his dedication being a Seeker agent. But he knew the true reason behind his little brother's tattoo, Tyler always saw himself as ever-changing, stepping outside the Hamilton box and doing his own thing.

Admittedly, Lucas missed being a Seeker agent sometimes, but he wasn’t going to put himself in danger again, he had too much to lose. He patted his stomach, smiling. He’d worn one of Tucker’s shirts that was large enough to hide and cover his growing bump. He turned away from the wall and walked over to the receptionist who was another agent. The outside of the building looked like a hotel to those passing by. If someone accidentally walked in, they would be turned around by one of the doormen sitting next to the door.

“Hello, Agent Bella,” Lucas said to her as he placed his hand on top of the counter and waited for it to read his fingerprints as he looked directly at the camera that was reading his retina. Once she got the confirmation he was Lucas Hamilton, code name Shadow, she spoke to him.

“It's great to see you again, Agent Shadow, they are waiting for you in control command room A.”

“Thank you.”

He walked through the security doors and prepared himself for what was to come. He’d long since told himself he was done with this part of his life, and even though he knew he couldn’t get involved with Seekers again, it didn’t discount the excitement he was feeling. Opening the door to the control room, he stepped inside and closed it, leaning his back against it. He was greeted with a flurry of activity, and it brought back the nostalgia of his days as an agent giving orders, directing attacks and missions. But it also reminded him of the real reason why he was there.

“I want someone to tell me who the hell fucked up,” he yelled, stopping everyone in the room making them look at him.

“You never fucking change, you always walk into a room demanding answers.” January walked over to him with his hand extended.

He took the offered hand, shaking it and smirked. “Yeah, well, I was at home enjoying being away from all this shit. You called me, remember. What the fuck happened?” he asked releasing January’s hand.

“Well, you're not officially retired, so suck it up, buttercup, and that’s what we are trying to find out.”

“All right, what can you tell me?”

January nodded and handed him the file he had in his other hand. “From what we can ascertain, Gianni was being transferred from Germany back to Italy where he needed to stand trial. During the flight, the plane experienced engine trouble, and the pilot had to make an emergency landing in Austria. Once they were on the ground, the pilot and co-pilot were killed along with the agents that were flying with them.”

“How many?” Lucas asked looking at Alphonso Gianni’s face on the cover of the file in his hand.

“Five,” January answered.

“Any way to track Gianni?”

“No, he deactivated the GPS tracker on his ankle bracelet.”

“He thought of everything didn’t he?” Lucas asked.

“Seems so, we are trying to get the plane's black box,” January said running a hand through his already short brown hair.

“Who knew he was being transferred?”

“Everyone in this room besides you.”

“All right, what do you want from me? Everything I knew about Gianni was in my report.”

“It’s not what we need from you, it’s what we want you to do,” said another agent Lucas had never seen before but thought he resembled someone he knew but couldn’t place. He looked to be around his age with short curly blond hair and green-blue eyes.

“Who the fuck are you?” Lucas demanded.

“Seth Harrison, code name Ghost,” he introduced with a perfect British accent extending his hand. Lucas shook it and was about to introduce himself. “No need, I know who you are, in fact, everyone around here sings the Hamilton duo team's praises.”

“Thanks, but you guys still haven’t answered my question. Why am I here?”

“We need you to find him,” Ghost said.

“The fuck you do,” Lucas yelled. “I gave this up for a reason, or did it slip your mind?” He directed his question to January who knew he was asking Lucas to do the impossible. He would be able to find Gianni, that wasn’t the problem, but when he walked away from Seekers, it was because he’d lost Rebecca and had to be the father that Zoi needed.

“Who cares why you left, don’t you care?” Seth asked him. “Don’t you care that he’s out there and could come after you and your family. We need you to find him since you’re the only one who spent a lot of time with him and knows how he thinks.”

“Listen, asshole, I can protect my family just fine,” Lucas seethed. Why don’t I like this guy and I just met him? Maybe it’s his British accent. No, that’s not it.

“What . . .”

“Stand down, Shadow,” Agent January snapped. “Look, Lucas, we need you on this, you’re the only agent I know that got close to Gianni. We’ve checked every safe house we got from your reports . . .”

“Let me guess, they were all empty or destroyed,” Lucas said.

“Yeah,” Seth answered.

“How long ago did all this happen?”

“We are going on forty-eight hours,” January said.

“Then you won’t find him in Europe. He’s already stateside.” Lucas walked over to one of the IT analysts. “Search for the name Antonio Barzetti and what time he arrived in the United States.” He leaned close to the analyst and waited for the information he needed to come up on the screen. The search wouldn’t take very long, the Seeker organization had the best of the best in everything. It also begged the question as to why they could not find Gianni. He nodded and was happy when he saw a picture of a man with a bearded face, long salt-and-pepper hair and a killer smile who was looking directly at the camera. Lucas knew it was Alphonso Gianni. “Do a facial recognition with the photo we have on file for Gianni, also tell me where and when did he arrive.”

“Yes, sir.”

Lucas turned to Seth and January. “Once you get your information, go after him. He will be using that name. I don’t think he’ll remember that he told me that name one night when he was too drunk to remember his own name.” And the night Gianni tried to make a pass at him and got completely heated when I turned him down flat.

“Why the name?” Seth asked.

“It was the name of his mentor and former boss.”

“Wait, but didn’t he kill him?” January asked.

“Yes, so if I were you, I would find him quickly. I wasn’t the only one who betrayed him.”

“What do you mean by that?” Seth asked him.

The guy was really getting on his nerves. Didn’t he do his research? “It means the wife and daughter are in trouble as well. They betrayed him and are the ones who are living their lives somewhere in the United States and have no fucking idea that their tormentor is out of jail. And, make no mistake, Gianni is a man hell-bent on revenge and has no problem killing his own flesh and blood.”

“Fuck, we forgot about that.” Seth walked away from them and over to the same analyst.

How the fuck did they forget about that?

“Where did you guys find him?”

“He came highly recommended. He’s also a good agent,” January said to him.

“Yeah, okay, well, I’m going to get out of here.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to come back and help us out? We need you, man.”

“I can’t. Zoi needs me, and I’m pregnant,” he whispered to his friend.

“W . . . What?” January said in shock. He along with all the other agents knew that Lucas was always a ladies' man, so it would definitely be a surprise to his friend. His eyes scanned down to his midsection then back up again to see if Lucas was lying to him. With Tucker’s shirt on it would be a bit hard for anyone to see his stomach.

“I married him too, if that was your next question.”

“Um . . . congratulations,” he said a bit apprehensively.

“Thanks, anyway, I’m out of here. You know the saying, don’t call me, I’ll call you.” He was about to turn around when two things happened at the same time. Seth Harrison cursed loudly, and Lucas’ cell phone rang. “Hello?” he answered looking as January and Seth arguing about something.

“Hey, what time will you be home, I need to go into the office. We have a situation . . .”

“Let me guess, a situation by the name of Alphonso Gianni?” Lucas asked still watching Seth and January. Something isn’t right . . . why am I getting the crazy vibes right now.

“Yeah, how do you know?” Tucker asked him.

“Because it’s the same reason why I was called in,” he told his husband.

“Can you share anything with me?” Tucker asked.

He turned his back once he realized that Seth and January finished with their conversation. “Yeah, let me finish up here, and I’ll be home in a bit.”

“Be careful,” Tucker said to him.

“Yeah, you too,” he said distractedly then hung up, putting his phone back into his pocket then walked over to where January and Seth were. “What the hell are you two arguing about?”

“They’re dead,” Seth told him. “We were too late. He got to them.”

“How?” Lucas asked. Only agents from the Seeker organization knew who and where they were, not even the CIA or FBI had that kind of knowledge. How did they get to Anna and Carlota that quickly? Something was so off he could feel it, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

“We don’t know,” January said.

“How the fuck don’t you know? This is your operation, January, you were in charge,” Lucas exploded not caring who heard that they were arguing.

“I know I fucked up, all right,” January said.

“Yeah, well, tell that to the two women who trusted us to protect them,” Lucas snapped.

“Now will you help us?” Seth asked. “You were the only one that figured out what name he would be using and where he would go first.”

“Any rookie agent would have put two and two together if they read my report.”

“I—”

“I need to go,” he said cutting off whatever Seth was going to say. “I have a family that needs me more than you guys do.” He wanted to stay as far away from this as much as he could. He knew Tucker would be looking into it but that was his job, it was no longer his. He turned and walked out of the conference room and out of the building. He drew in a deep breath when the cool air hit him and smirked. He wasn’t afraid of Alphonso Gianni, but the man was no longer his responsibility. 

* * *

“What do you have for me?” Tucker asked Erich during their video conference.

They’d spoken by phone for a few minutes before he’d called Lucas letting him know that he needed to go to the office for a bit. He hoped that Lucas didn't agree to go back on active duty. Some pregnant men and women worked for him, but ever since Stephen got shot on duty, Tucker made sure to put them on limited duty the further along they got in their pregnancy. He was sure that some appreciated it and others didn’t, but still stood by his decision.

“Not much, and what I have doesn’t even make sense to me,” Erich said scrubbing his face. He gave Tucker a rundown about the plane the guy was being transported on, how they had to make an emergency landing, and that everyone, including the pilots, was killed so Alphonso Gianni was able to make his escape. Obviously the guy had help, but no one knew who they were. “He popped up on our radar just before I called you,” Erich finished.

“Anyone knows what or who he’s after? What was he arrested for?”

“From our records, he was arrested for a whole host of shit. You name it, he was involved in it. Black-market trade, child slavery. Gods, whoever put this fucker behind bars did us all a favor.”

“Who was it?” he asked just as Lucas walked in and hovered at the door looking at him. Tucker got a sick feeling in his stomach when he looked at his husband. “Erich, let me call you back. Or I’ll see you in a few.”

“You got it.”

They hung up, and he kept looking at Lucas. “It was your case wasn’t it?” He knew the answer before his husband answered.

“Yeah.” He walked further into his office and sat on the couch a few feet from his desk. “I had gone undercover if that’s what you want to call it. It’s not a secret that Tyler and I have outside interests, so I went as myself and pretended I wanted to step away from Hamilton Enterprise. That I wanted to do shady side deals with Alphonso Gianni. It made me sick that I had to pretend for six months, going along with whatever he wanted to do and turn a blind eye when I had to watch him beat and rape his own wife. Then I turned around and used her and his daughter to help turn him, only for him to take his revenge by killing them when he escaped.”

Tucker stood up from his chair and walked over to Lucas, sitting beside him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

“He’s going to come after me next. I know it. Tonight, when they asked me to come back, I wanted to say yes so bad. I quit the first time because Zoi needed me but now I’m pregnant, and I can’t put our babies at risk. But at the same time . . .”

“You want to go after him,” Tucker finished for him.

“Yeah.”

Tucker was silent for a few minutes and prayed what he was about to say didn’t start an argument between them. Everything was going perfectly for them already, and he didn’t want to ruin things between them.

“Then, let’s do it together.”

“What?” Lucas asked pulling away looking at him as if he’d lost his mind. “What the hell are you saying to me? I can’t believe you’re telling me to put myself and our twins in danger.”

“But isn’t that what you wanted me to say? You just admitted that you wanted to say yes.” Lucas went to say something, but Tucker stopped him. “Don’t even kid yourself, Lucas, I’ve come to know you better than anyone else in your family. You wanted me to tell you that it’s okay to go out there with guns blazing because you miss the danger, miss going after the bad guy and being the fucking hero.”

Lucas was quiet for a few minutes. Tucker watched him get up and start pacing the room. “If I agree with you and I’m not saying that you’re right. How would we do this?”

“We pool both our resources together. Have people we trust working with us. I’ll call Jaxson, Brenden, and Stephen to help us. Mayson as well, since he’s now working for Seekers and I’m sure Tyler and your father will help. You tell us everything we need to know about Alphonso Gianni. If he’s like any other psychotic sociopath, he’s saving you for last because he wants you to suffer the worst.” Having never met the guy, he could only profile him for what little Lucas told him.

“Why do I get the feeling you don’t trust any of the Seeker agents, except Mayson?”

“And you, I trust you, baby.”

Lucas blushed, and he thought it was adorable. “Okay, and me.”

“Think about this . . . how would Alphonso Gianni know where to find his wife and daughter? Hell, the FBI knew nothing about him until tonight. Seekers has . . .”

“Don’t say it, Tuck,” Lucas said getting up.

“You guys have a double agent in the midst, baby.”

“I told you not to say it,” he whined.

Tucker stood and walked over to him, cupping his cheeks. “We are going to find this guy, and he will never come anywhere close to our family. I get that you’re scared, hell, knowing you’re involved scares the shit out of me, and as much as I don't want you anywhere near this, I know that it won’t happen. But I’d rather be the one watching your back than someone I don’t know or trust.”

“Gods, I hate it when you’re so fucking logical.”

“And right, don’t forget I’m always right,” Tucker said with a smile.

“Are you sure we can do this?”

“I know we can. I know you secret agent types have all your fancy gadgets, but don’t put it past the FBI. We know how to hold our shit together.”

He looked into Lucas’ eyes and knew that his lover was worried about something. There was something he was holding back and wasn’t ready to reveal to him and he hoped Lucas would trust him to tell him what it was. To ease his worry, Tucker bent and pressed their lips together thinking of the only way to give him comfort without using words. Lucas melted in his arms just like he wanted. He still needed to leave, but his husband needed him more now than anyone else. He was about to drag Lucas to their bedroom when the doorbell rang.

Lucas groaned in frustration as they separated from their kiss, resting his forehead on Tucker’s chest. “Let me go see who that is. You still need to get ready to go to the office.”

“All right,” Tucker said to him, but he didn’t move right away. He raised Lucas’ eyes to reach his. “Trust me.”

“I do,” he said, but Tucker still felt that he was hiding something.

He was going to say more, but the doorbell rang once more. They separated, and Tucker went to their bedroom, grabbing his shoes and a new shirt from the closet. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Jaxson’s number who answered on the second ring.

“What’s up, boss?”

“How soon can you, Brenden, and Stephen get here?”

“Hm . . . this time of night with or without the sirens.”

“With, as in plane up in twenty,” Tucker answered.

“An hour,” Jaxson answered him. “Is everything all right?”

“I’ll tell you when you get here, also bring Asher with you, better yet, give me a call when you guys are all together.”

Jaxson was silent on the other end of their call. “That bad?”

“In a way, yes,” he answered being as vague as possible.

“All right, I’ll see you in a bit,” Jaxson said then hung up.

Tucker put his phone in his pants pocket and finished getting dressed. He went downstairs and stopped when he saw Tucker and another guy he’d never seen before in a staring match.

“Would someone care to tell me what the hell is going on?” Tucker asked, standing beside Lucas.

“This is Seth Harrison, an associate I met earlier tonight.”

Tucker extended his hand hoping to break the tension between the man and his husband. “I’m Tucker Hamilton-Stevens.”

He saw the shocked expression on the other man’s face, and for some reason, it reminded him of someone he knew quite well. Seth shook his hand quickly then released it.

“You’re married? Nothing we have on you said you got married—a widower and a single father and nothing else.”

He ran his hands through his hair, seeming somewhat agitated that he didn’t know that Lucas was married. Tucker took the time to study the man. His actions were so familiar he felt as if he’d seen them before.

“It’s recent,” Lucas answered.

“Then we need to put you in protective custody until we find Alphonso Gianni,” Seth told him.

“Read my fucking lips, rookie.” He stepped closer to the other man. "Not. Going. To. Fucking. Happen!”

“I’m not a fucking rookie, arsehole.”

“Yeah, well, until you prove your worth, your words mean nothing to me.”

Instead of saying anything, Seth growled in frustration, and that was when Tucker saw it. Holy shit, this isn’t good; this is not fucking good at all. It’s going to break Lucas’ heart when he figures it out. He must have said something out loud because they were both looking at him with the matching green eyes, only Seth’s had a tinge of blue to his.

“What did you just say?” Lucas asked.

“I . . .” he started but was cut off by his phone ringing. Thank the gods, saved by the fucking bell. “I need to take this.” He held up his phone, showing Jaxson's number. Lucas nodded, and Tucker made his quick escape to the kitchen. “Yeah,” he said answering the phone but didn’t hear a word his friend was saying. 

Fuck, Asher, what the fuck did you do?

* * *