Chapter 1

ONE

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" On his feet, Aidan clapped and cheered as the players in red and blue raced down the court. Transition offense, executing the play he and his husband had practiced at the gym earlier that week. Only today, it wasn't him and Jamie jogging at their midlife best. Instead, the much younger, much faster guard who was coached by Jamie barreled down the lane, using his speed and size to get the basket and draw the foul.

"And one!" Danny shouted from the front row of their suite, pumping his fist and exchanging high fives with Levi and David beside him.

A row back, Aidan chuckled as he reached for his beer. The stout was local, not as good as his best friend's brew but better than expected, its thick texture and subtle spice befitting the holiday season. Less subtle were the purple and gold and silver and black decorations that festooned everything—the giant tree outside the arena, the digital scoreboards inside it, even the luxury box he'd rented out for their friends and family. Granted, he expected nothing less in Los Angeles. He flicked the purple ornament nestled in the garland at the end of his row. "Should have brought some orange and black decorations."

" Or ," Mel said from Danny's other side, "they could've just waited to put all this shit up after this weekend."

"Hey!" Danny scoffed at his wife. "It's a holiday tourney, and it's after Thanksgiving. Fair game, chica."

"I don't care how early the holidays arrive," Lauren said from across the aisle. "As long as they show up with peppermint lattes." She flitted her fingers around her mug, her nails striped red and white and tipped in navy for Jamie's team. Beside her, Jax had dyed their mohawk the same, and their girlfriend, February, had woven red, white, and navy ribbons into her braided pigtails.

"Get in the hole!" Levi shouted, drawing Aidan's attention and his laughter. He'd gotten to know the San Diego ASAC over the last couple of years, and it was usually his husband, Marsh, the cyber agent on Aidan's left, who was the louder of the two—except when it came to basketball. Levi's alma mater had played in the first game of the tourney, and after a quick sweatshirt change, he and his son were cheering loudly beside Danny, gamely pulling for Jamie's team now.

On the sidelines, Jamie cheered for his players too, slapping their backs as the team's head coach called a huddle during the television timeout. As good as Jamie had been as an FBI agent, he was better at basketball and at coaching, a natural on the court in either capacity.

"He's really good at this," Marsh said, as if reading Aidan's mind. He tilted his beer bottle toward the court where Jamie had pulled aside a player, showing him something on a tablet. "With the kids too," Marsh added, before lowering his voice and asking, "You two ever think about having any?"

Aidan tipped back his bottle, savoring another sip as he gathered his thoughts and words, the matter... unresolved. He and Jamie still talked like it would happen one day, same as he and his late husband, Gabe, had done. Jamie was undeniably good with kids of all ages, they both liked them, and they both spent as much time with their niblings as they could, their favorite of whom, Katie, had just turned ten. And if that wasn't a punch to the I'm-old gut, Aidan didn't know what was. Time moved faster than any of them could keep up with. A blink and five years had gone by since he and Jamie were married. Five very busy years between Aidan's job as Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's San Francisco field office and Jamie's as an assistant coach for a D-I basketball program and occasional cyber consultant for the Bureau. Not to mention friends and family getting into trouble and falling into love, growing said family, as evidenced in this very suite. "We've talked about it, but making time..."

"I understand that," Marsh said with a laugh, and Aidan figured the cyber agent with temple grays under his cowboy hat did understand, better than most. "Always thought I would too, then twenty years in the military and trial by fire at the Bureau got in the way. Until..." His gaze slid a row ahead and the corners of his mouth tipped up as his husband and son argued over a call. "Sometimes they land in your lap when you least expect it."

"If I recall correctly, you landed in their lap."

"Same difference." Smiling wider, Marsh waggled his ring finger. "Happily ever after in the end." His fond gaze lingered another few seconds on Levi and David before returning to the game.

Same as Aidan's, even as his mind continued to wrestle with Marsh's innocent question. Or so it had seemed in that moment when Marsh asked. Unlike when his mom or sisters brought it up at family events, always out of Jamie's earshot. Aidan wondered if Jamie got the same questions from his mom and sister. Did he answer with the same "when the time is right" line as Aidan? What would he answer if Aidan asked? Should he ask? Aidan didn't feel a deep, hankering need for kids like he'd heard his sisters and his brothers-in-law talk about before they'd had theirs. For Aidan, it was more like an idle wondering that hummed low in his mind. But the time for idle wondering was dwindling, as was his stamina for diapers and all-nighters. If he and Jamie were to adopt, he'd lean more toward a child in need who was Katie's age or a little older, though the thought of raising a teen also sent a shiver racing up his spine.

A thunderous roar went up from the crowd, knocking Aidan out of the theoretical future and back into the here and now. Jamie's team was up with fifteen seconds left, and their best free throw shooter was at the line. He drained the first shot, making it a three-possession game.

"That should do it!" Marsh said, as Levi and David shouted "Victory!"

On the sidelines, Jamie was celebrating too, waving his arms and amping up the crowd, turning their box's direction and throwing them a stunning grin. The sheer joy on his face sent Aidan's heart racing, like five years hadn't passed at all. His joy, his love for the game was so infectious Aidan almost missed the shift in mood a row ahead .

"What happened?" Danny shouted over the crowd. He turned away from the crowd and hunched over, a hand over his other ear, trying to amplify the quiet. "They stole what?" His dark brows snapped together, distress clear in his pinched expression. "We'll be right there."

"What's going on?" Aidan asked, as Danny righted himself.

"Cargo theft at the port." As head of the family shipping empire, Danny would get that call, especially if the value of the stolen goods was significant. So would Mel, if she hadn't handed off chief of security duties a few months ago. Didn't mean she'd fully stepped away from the role.

"Off one of our ships?" she asked.

"Not exactly," Danny said, then waited for the final buzzer to sound and the cacophony of cheers to die down before continuing. "Goods were off-loaded from one of our ships onto a truck that was stolen from our yard."

"Contents?" Aidan asked.

"Can't tell you that, big bro. Not until it's official."

Aidan raised a brow. Danny was the last person to be a stickler for the rules. Which meant... "Real high value?" Danny nodded. "Angry buyer?" And nodded again. Artwork or jewels, if Aidan had to guess. Or cars, maybe. In any event, it would be official soon. "We've got a former colleague on the task force here in LA."

"And I'll call Matt," Marsh said, clearly having eavesdropped. "Levi and I would help too, but we're on a flight out to San Francisco tonight. If we don't make it, I'm gonna have an angry son and angrier niece to deal with."

"And I understand that," Aidan said. "Thanks for calling Matty in." He clasped Marsh's shoulder, then hustled for the stairs, weaving out of their box and down to the sideline, flashing the access badge Jamie always made sure he had for situations like this. "Jamie!" he shouted over the celebrating fans and players.

Jamie whipped around, his blue eyes wide and his grin big. "Did you see that drive?"

Aidan found it impossible not to return the smile, happy for his husband and the team, independent of the storm clouds brewing elsewhere. "That was the play we practiced earlier in the week."

"He nailed it!"

"Y'all did great tonight. Go celebrate with the team. I'll meet you back at the hotel later."

"You know you're always welcome," Jamie said, snagging his hand. "Everyone is!"

"I'd love to, but I'm headed to the port with Mel and Danny."

Jamie's smile dimmed, his fingers tightening around Aidan's. "What's going on?"

"Cargo theft." Aidan kept his own smile in place, unwilling to dampen this win for his husband. "Just want to be sure it gets into the right hands."

"Matty K?"

Aidan nodded, then flashed his free hand, fingers wide. "And Jazz Hands."

"Good call." Chuckling, Jamie pulled Aidan in for a quick but firm kiss. "Ring me if you need anything. And be careful."

"Always."