Lucas hoped that he wasn’t late for a meeting he had with a new investor. Hamilton Enterprise was branching out more into other parts of Europe, such as buying property for companies that could turn over a more substantial profit. He and Tyler were opening Hamilton branch offices all over Europe.

Their newest one would start work in Italy. They were setting their sights on France, which was why they were meeting with Mister Martin Jacques. He and Tyler were very excited about the new venture. Since their dad resigned and turned the company over to them, they've made a lot of changes to improve the work performance of their company's employees.

One of the new changes affected them both personally because they had young children. They decided to empty out all the offices on the ground floor of the building and knocked out the office walls converting the open area into a daycare for everyone to take advantage of cost-free. He looked down at his watch then back at his daughter who was not a happy camper that morning. Zoi seemed to have a hard time letting go of him. Each time he tried to put her down she started to cry and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.

"Come on, Zoi, Daddy has to go to work. I’ll be upstairs if you need me, I promise,” he told her as he tried to put her down one more time.

"No, Daddy," she whined.

Pattie, the daycare provider, reached out for her, and it only made Zoi scream louder in his ear. Lucas would have been suspicious that the providers were mean to the kids, but it wasn’t the case. Parents were allowed to show up throughout the day to spend time with their kids. Never mind the cameras stationed around the room that connected to a secured company website where parents could log in and look in on their child whenever they wanted.

Maybe she's coming down with something?

He touched her forehead checking her temperature. It felt normal to him. He tried to put her down again when Sadie, her little friend, came over to them and was trying to get her attention, but Zoi refused to even look at her friend.

"I'm sorry, Sadie, I don't think she's in the mood to play today."

He didn't have a choice—Zoi was going to be spending the day with him. The deal they were working on was very important, and his investor would just have to understand that he was dealing with a cranky child.

Maybe I can have my assistant watch her while I'm meeting the Mister Jacques or try to put her down for a nap. Yeah, no two-year-old goes to sleep when you tell them.

He got on the elevator and glanced at Zoi who seemed happy that she got what she wanted.

"Good morning, Mister Hamilton," his assistant, Matthew, greeted when he got off the elevator. He tried to hand Lucas a hot cup of coffee but stopped realizing he had Zoi in one hand and his briefcase in the other.

Lucas handed Mathew his briefcase along with Zoi's bag and took the coffee cup from him. "Good morning, Matt.”

"Sir, would you like for me to take Zoi to the daycare?" he asked as they started walking in the direction of his office.

At hearing her name, Zoi lifted her head off his shoulder and looked at Matthew as if he was a stranger to her. She’s definitely in one of those moods. "No, thank you, it's a spur of the moment, take your daughter to work day." He smiled at Matthew. "Is my brother here yet?"

"Yes, sir, he's in the conference room. He wanted to check everything over before Mister Jacques arrived."

"Did you remember to—"

Matthew was already nodding before he finished his question. "Yes, sir, and I checked to make sure that Mister Jacques arrived and was picked up on time. And that he was settled in his hotel room. He was treated to dinner and special entertainment at his request."

"What about—"

"There's a car waiting for him as we speak to bring him here and Clarence will be waiting downstairs to greet and show him to the conference room after he's been given the guided tour."

"Thank you, Matt, you are truly an asset to me. What would I do without you?” he complimented his assistant as they separated, but not before Lucas heard his mumbled words of "I could think of a few things."

Lucas knew that Matthew had a small crush on him, but it never interfered with doing his job, and he never encouraged his feelings. Lucas simply pretended he didn't know. As a matter of fact, a few of the women and men who worked for him had a small crush on him and his brother. But Lucas wasn't interested in dating anyone. His heart still belonged to Rebecca, and it would for a very long time.

Lucas headed straight to the conference room while Matthew went to his office. He opened the door to the conference room and just as Matthew said, Tyler was checking things over. They both had an obsessive-compulsive disorder when it came to making sure that everything was done a certain way for their meetings.

"Hey, big bro," he greeted with a smile. "And it's Princess Zoi, what brings you to our lovely kingdom today?" Tyler walked over to them with his hands extended and she practically jumped into his arms.

Lucas sighed, happy that he was finally able to take a sip of his coffee and watched as his brother made his daughter smile. Lucas was known for spoiling Zoi but so did everyone in his family. He knew that it wasn't out of pity because she had a way of melting the coldest hearts—one of the reasons he easily bent to her will.

"Hey, Ty, do you think you can handle the meeting on your own?"

Tyler looked away from Zoi and looked him over. "Yeah, but why?"

"This is the most she's smiled all morning."

Tyler looked back at Zoi who was playing with his tie. "Is she all right?"

"Yeah, I just think she just needed some daddy time. Lately, I've been working every chance I get even at home."

"Say no more," Tyler said. "If you need to spend time with Zoi, I understand, big bro. No matter what, family comes first. If I need you, I'll call you."

Relieved to hear that, Lucas nodded. "All right, I'm going to take care of a few things before I head out. Mind watching her for me?"

“Nope, the little princess and I will stay here and have a bit of fun," Tyler told him, as he tickled Zoi's tummy making her squeal with laughter.

Lucas chuckled and shook his head then walked out of the conference room; his brother definitely had a way with her. He took a sip of his now cold coffee as he walked in the direction of his office. He stopped in front of Matthew's desk. "I'm going to be working from home today. Tyler will handle the meeting alone, but I want you to assist him with anything that he might need from my end. Also, forward all the documents that I need to look over to me and I will take care of them at home."

"Got it, boss," he responded getting up from his desk.

"I'm going to be here for a few more minutes, so come and see me if there's anything we need to discuss before I head out."

Matthew nodded, and Lucas walked into his office, closing the door behind him and sat at his desk. The few things he could do now would give him more time to spend with Zoi. He looked at the picture of him and Rebecca sitting on his desk; it was from their wedding. He was blindfolded, and they were standing with their backs to each other and an open door separating them, holding hands.

The pictures were taken twenty minutes before he’d said "I do" and Lucas just wanted to speak with her one more time letting her know how much she meant to him. And praying that she didn't have cold feet. They'd honeymooned in Rome for one week, and Greece for another. He remembered the smile on Rebecca's face when he'd surprised her with the tickets. Granted they spent most of their time in their hotel room making love.

Looking away from the picture, Lucas focused on the work at hand. He understood that his family was worried about him and wanted him to start dating. The few blind dates his mother tried to set him up on were a sure sign. He didn’t know when he would be ready to really date again, he missed Rebecca and wasn't in a rush to find a new woman to fill her spot. He also promised her that he would give love a second chance. But he didn’t know if he would recognize the emotion if he got a chance to experience the type of love he had with Rebecca.

At one point, he, along with his family, expected him to spiral into depression, but he didn't have that option. His daughter needed him to be sane and sensible. He was glad that his family gave him the space he needed before intervening and helping him out.

 You’re much stronger than you give yourself credit for, a soft voice whispered in the back of his mind that sounded a lot like Rebecca.

Signing his name on the last document, Lucas put his pen down as he picked up the documents and placed them in a folder before putting them down in his outbox for Matthew to take care of for him. Then he started on answering emails that he could take care of before going home and spending the day with his daughter. He was tackling the last of his emails when his office door opened.

"Hey," Tyler said walking into his office with a sleeping Zoi in his arms. "She's knocked out, so if you want to stay for the meeting, you can."

Truthfully, Lucas wasn't in the mood to work. Although he was excited about their new business venture, he wasn't in the right frame of mind to sit in a meeting and listen to other people drone on. He suspected Zoi knew that as well. "Nah, I'm going to take her home. I already told Matt to help you with the meeting.”

Getting up from his desk, he grabbed his case and threw the other documents that he needed to take care of at home inside of it. He walked over to Tyler and carefully took his sleeping daughter, trying not to wake her. He could feel Tyler's eyes watching him, and Lucas knew the question that was coming.

"I'm fine, Ty." Tyler gave him a disbelieving look. "You’re such a mother hen."

“I’m worried about you. So is everyone else, they just won’t say it to your face.”

“No, they simply do it behind my back, or Mom sets me up on dinner or lunch dates.”

“Can you blame her? Everyone is tired of hearing the same 'I’m fine' crap when we can all tell you’re far from fine.”

“Look,” Lucas said then took a deep breath trying to calm down—it wasn’t working. “I know you’re tired of hearing it and, for fuck’s sake, I’m tired of saying it. But the truth is I’m fine; I’m not dating because I’m not ready. I come to Sunday dinners even when I don’t feel like being around you guys, and I show up where everyone wants me to be, but I guess that’s not good enough for you guys.”

“Don’t do that; you don’t need to be on the defensive.” Tyler ran his hands through his hair. “I get you want to be alone sometimes, and maybe we’ve been a bit pushy, it’s partly because we love you and miss Rebecca too. Look, I will ask everyone to back off a bit and give you some breathing room. But, bro, if you ever feel like talking, I’ll be there in a heartbeat.”

Lucas sighed closing his eyes giving his brother a quick nod before looking at his brother. “I’m heading out.”

He went to take a step, but Tyler stopped him. “I’m serious, Luc, and I’m here for you no matter what.”

He could not be angry with Tyler or anyone in the family for that matter, and they were all genuinely concerned about him. In truth, he hadn’t done anything different to ease their worry. He and Tyler walked out of his office and to the elevator.

“Don’t forget Rayne is coming over this Friday night.”

“How can I forget? You remind me every freaking day.” 

Tyler and Ethan had a scheduled date night on Fridays, and since Lucas didn’t have a social life, he volunteered to watch his niece for a couple of hours. Also, Zoi loved having her cousin around, and they got along very well. Raynebow was also a wonderful babysitter in training for whenever he needed to get a few things done in his home office.

Tyler smiled and got the same dreamy look on his face when he thought about his husband. “I’m happy for you, and I hope you know that?”

“I do,” he said. “Look, I know you’re not ready to date, but when you get ready to get back out there, Ethan and I will watch Zoi for you. Hell, you don’t need to ask, you just drop her off and be on your way.”

The elevator door opened, and Lucas got on it. “That won’t be for a very long time.” He was happy that before Tyler could say anything the elevator door closed.

Lucas sagged against the walls of the elevator waiting for it to get to the ground floor. Speaking with Tyler made him realize that he was going to need to have a conversation with the adults in his family, it shouldn’t be up to his brother to set them straight. Maybe he and Zoi needed to go on a vacation, get away for a bit. The last time he went anywhere was on his honeymoon.

He loved his family and didn’t want to blow up on them, especially, his mom. It would be one thing if the women his mother was setting him up with were remotely interesting to him or that he’d feel any kind of attraction for them. Lucas remembered when he and Rebecca met, he’d tried his damnedest to fight what he was feeling for her by going out with other women. But no matter what he did he couldn’t stop thinking about her. Lucas didn’t think he was ever going to find someone who would fill his thoughts the way Rebecca did. 

* * *

This was a bad idea.

Lucas wished someone would have warned him before he came up with the idea. Tyler and Ethan had dropped Raynebow off, and Lucas had the crazy idea to take the girls out for pizza instead of cooking or order takeout. Two months into his Friday night babysitting gig, Lucas didn’t feel like staying home which had prompted the idea to take the girls out to dinner. Zoi wasn’t giving Raynebow a moment's peace as she tried to enjoy her meal. He could also tell that Raynebow was trying to be patient with her baby cousin. It was almost endearing. Zoi insisted on being close to her cousin, who loved taking care of her in turn.

He shook his head looking at his daughter who had pizza sauce not just all over herself but on her cousin as well. Lucas seriously had no idea how it happened when he’d cut the pizza into bite-size pieces for his daughter. He’d read a few months earlier that it was fine for her to have it, but they forgot to mention how messy things could get. Considering he had instructed the server to put as little cheese and sauce on her pizza as possible.

“What am I going to do with you?” he asked his daughter who gave him the cutest smile ever as he reached over and picked her up from the high chair and started cleaning her up. “You’re such a messy monster.” He looked at his niece. “I’m sorry, Rayne,” he apologized to her.

“It’s okay, Uncle Lucas, Zoi is still a baby and was just trying to share her food with me. Dad says I used to do the same thing when I was her age.”

“Is that what you think,” Lucas said with a chuckle.

“Well, it looks like you have your work cut out for you.” The deep baritone voice caused Lucas to look up.

A bright smile graced Lucas' lips. “Tucker.” He threw the napkin down and stood with Zoi in his arms and extending a hand for his friend to shake. “What the hell are you doing in my neck of the woods?”

Tucker smiled and shook his hand. “I’m here to set up a tactical training for my team with the New York branch. How have you been?”

Their hands separated. “I’ve been better,” Lucas told him with a one-arm shoulder shrug. “How about yourself?”

“Same,” Tucker answered, just as the hostess stopped next to him.

“Sir, your table is this way,” she said to him.

“You can join us if you want, unless you’re here with someone else.”

“No, I’m here by myself,” Tucker said to him then looked at Zoi and then Raynebow. “I can tell someone is having fun.”

Lucas chuckled. “Yeah, you're right. Zoi decided to . . . well, I’m not quite sure what she was doing.”

He sat back down and positioned his daughter so that she was sitting comfortably on his lap. He moved over a bit, giving Tucker enough room in the U-shaped booth. The man was built like a fucking linebacker. Tucker looked at the hostess who was still standing there and told her that he was going to sit with them and ordered a beer and a large cheese pie.

“Hello, beautiful Raynebow,” Tucker greeted Lucas’ niece, making her smile.

“Hello, Mister Stevens.”

“I’ve told you before, Rayne, call me Tucker or Tuck, none of that mister stuff.”

“Okay,” she giggled and then looked at Lucas. “Uncle Luc, can I get some ice cream?”

“Sure, and bring a small bowl for Zoi as well,” he instructed.

“Are you sure?” Raynebow asked looking at a very messy Zoi who was more interested in the sauce and cheese slipping through her fingers than what everyone else was doing.

“On second thought, forget it. She made enough mess for the night,” Lucas told her. She nodded and ran off leaving him and Tucker semi-alone.

“So, tell me what’s going on with you?” Tucker asked him. “It’s been a while since we saw each other.”

The last time they’d seen each other was a few months ago at one of Nicholas’ soccer games. Tucker had become an extended family member, along with some of Jaxson and Brenden’s friends. The man was hard to pin down, he was constantly working and had no social life.

He sounds an awful lot like me.

“Not much, my life consists of work and taking care of Zoi and being a babysitter on Friday night for Ethan and Tyler, so they can have some time before the baby is born.”

“I heard they were having another baby. Tell them I said congratulations.”

“I will, but you can do it yourself if you ever show up for a family dinner. My mother is itching to drag you out of your work cave. Fair warning, when she’s on a mission, there’s no stopping her.”

“Consider me warned,” Tucker chuckled.

“How long are you planning on staying in New York?”

“Another day or two, depending on how my meeting goes tomorrow.”

“You said you’re here for a work thing, right?”

“Yeah, a couple of the other directors are coordinating training between their guys and mine taking, place in a few months.”

“Wow, doesn’t that sound like fun,” Lucas said sarcastically.

“You can join us if you want. I have connections.” He winked.

Lucas shook his head. “Nope, I’m good, thanks. I took a break from all of that. I have other things to worry about now.” He looked down at Zoi who was painting her face with tomato sauce. “As messy as she is right now, she needs me more than anyone else.” He grabbed a couple more wipes and started cleaning her up as much as he could.

“I can understand that.” Tucker smiled and for a spilt-second Lucas thought he had a beautiful smile. He studied Tucker’s face and noticed the dimples in his cheeks that went with his handsome face, or maybe the better word to use was charming.

I wonder what else he has that’s charming? Holy shit! Where the fuck did that come from?

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he focused on Zoi trying to distract himself by cleaning her up. She fussed a bit but still allowed him to do what he needed. He smiled looking down at her; she was his pride and joy. Zoi stopped fussing then and looked at Tucker when she heard him chuckle. She stared at him for a few seconds as if she’d just noticed that he was sitting there. She turned her head and looked at Lucas then back to Tucker and did something he never expected.

She reached out her hands towards him for him to take her and said, “Up.”

Lucas looked at Tucker who had the same shocked expression on his face. Everyone knew of Zoi’s temperament and that she didn’t like to be held by anyone that she didn’t recognize. It’d been a while since the last time she saw Tucker.

Maybe she thinks he’s Julian, they are brothers after all, with similar facial features. But they are definitely different when it comes to their physique.

Lucas mentally shook his thoughts and paid attention to his daughter who was starting to fuss the longer Tucker took to pick her up. He looked at Lucas who nodded that it was okay before plucking her out of his arms. Instantly, she stopped fussing and peered into Tucker’s face for a few seconds before resting her head on his shoulder with her little arms wrapped around his neck.

The only thing Lucas could think while watching as his daughter got comfortable in Tucker’s arms was what the hell?

* * *