Chapter 124 Lucas is Dead

Chapter 124 Lucas is Dead
Tyler's POV
Quin kept on laughing, like I had just cracked the best joke of the century.
He doubled over laughing. The kind of laugh that made his shoulders shake and his eyes water. Meanwhile, I sat beside him on the couch looking completely serious.
“Stop laughing.”
That only made it worse.
“Oh my God,” he managed between breaths. “You’re serious.”
“I am dead serious.”
That earned me another round. Cooper chose that exact moment to climb into Quin’s lap and lick his chin. Tiny traitor.
"Cooper thinks I'm right too."
Quin finally managed to compose himself. He wiped beneath one eye and looked at me. “Tyler. losing Cooper for a few minutes doesn’t mean you'll be a terrible parent.”
“You don't know that.”
Quin leaned back against the couch. Cooper immediately stretched across both our laps like he paid rent. The little freeloader.
“Tyler, parents lose sight of their children sometimes. They're not robots.”
“That’s not reassuring at all.”
“It wasn’t supposed to be.” I groaned. Quin reached over and squeezed my knee. “You found him, which was all that matters.”
“After a panic attack.”
“But you found him.”
I glared at him. He smiled. It was one of those smiles that made it impossible to stay annoyed. I hated when he did that.
“You’re missing the point here.”
“No. You’re creating a point that doesn’t exist. You're overthinking the whole thing.”
I crossed my arms. Quin sighed. “Tell me what’s actually bothering you.”
I looked away. Immediately. Because suddenly this wasn’t about Cooper anymore. And maybe it never had been. The room became quiet. The television played softly in the background while Cooper snored on our legs. And somehow all of that silence made it harder to avoid the truth.
“I don’t know.”
“Come on babe. Talk to me.”
I rubbed my face. “I just…” The words felt stupid. Embarrassing. But once they started coming, they wouldn’t stop. “My mother was awful.”
Quin’s expression softened immediately. I hated that look, it made me feel exposed.
“I know.”
My throat tightened. “She blamed me for everything. Every bad thing that ever happenrd.” I laughed bitterly. My eyes dropped to Cooper. The puppy remained blissfully unaware of human trauma. Lucky him. “I spent years thinking there was something wrong with me. What if something really is wrong with me?" Quin looked like what I was saying was confusing him. “And sometimes I worry that maybe…” I stopped.
“Maybe what?” Quin asked.
I took a deep breath. “Maybe that’s how this works.” His eyebrows pulled together. “What?” “Parents mess up their kids.” The words sounded ridiculous when spoken aloud. But they still hurt. “My mother messed me up.” I laughed softly. “Maybe one day I’d mess up mine too.”
For several seconds, Quin simply stared at me. Then he reached over and took my hand. “That’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever said.”
I gasped. “Wow.”
“I’m serious.”
“You’re supposed to comfort me.”
He rolled his eyes. “I am comforting you right now.” he held my gaze“Tyler.” His thumb brushed over my knuckles. “The fact you’re worried about being a bad parent already proves you wouldn’t be one.”
I frowned. “That makes no sense.”
“It makes perfect sense.” He ignored me. “My father wasn’t perfect.” That surprised me. I blinked. “What?” “My father.” He shrugged. “He made mistakes.” I looked confused. “Have you forgotten he almost sent me away. Your father practically worships the ground you walk on.”
“He does now.” The emphasis caught my attention.
Quin smiled faintly. “When I was younger, he worked constantly. He missed birthdays. He missed school events. He missed a lot.” I never knew that. “I thought he was always…” I gestured vaguely. “Like this.”
“He wasn’t. It took him awhile to come to terms with the fact that I was gay.” Quin leaned back. “Buy he learned. And even now he still makes mistakes.” That made me pause.“He must have realized what mattered.” he said
I thought about Mr. McKenzie. The man who looked at Quin like he’d hung the moon, but looked at me like I was a threat when I first met him.
The realization settled slowly. Parents weren’t born perfect, nobody was. People learned, grew and changed. “If we ever have kids—” My brain stopped completely. I froze. Quin's smile looked dangerous now “Oh?”
I immediately regretted speaking. “That’s not what I meant.”
“You said if.”
“I was speaking hypothetically.” His grin widened. “Sure.” I used a pillow to hit him. He caught it effortlessly. Show off. “I hate you.”
“Can we start making babies now? I swear I'll be gentle."
"Excuse you? That's not happening. I'm still injured." I looked away from him because if I kept looking at his eyes we'd definitely end up naked.
After so much back and forth quin gave up on breeding me but occasionally let me know the option was still open. Cooper had somehow migrated completely into my lap. Again. The little tyrant. My fingers moved absentmindedly through his fur. Quin suddenly brought up another topic.
“When do you want to get married?”
“All of a sudden?” His expression remained casual. Like he hadn’t just launched a grenade into the conversation. “Our wedding.” He shrugged. “When should we have it?” I stared.
“That’s your transition?”
“What transition?"
“We went from talking about childhood trauma to breeding me. And now we’re talking about marriage.”
“Seems like an improvement to me.”He shrugged.
“You’re unbelievable.”
“So?”
I studied him for a moment, I wasn’t sure what to say. The truth was… I hadn’t thought about it, although I knew we'd get there. Who would propose without intention of getting married.
“You really want one?” The question slipped out before I could stop it.
Quin looked offended. Deeply offended.“Tyler. why would I propose if I didn't want to get married.”
“Technically I proposed too.”
“So why wouldn’t I want a wedding?”
I smiled. “You don’t seem like a wedding person.”
His eyebrows shot up. “ When it comes to you, I’m absolutely a wedding person. A big time one at that.”
“You are?”
“Yes.” The certainty made me laugh.
“ And this time I want a wedding I'll remember.” Something inside my chest tightened. His gaze found mine“I don’t remember the one that led us here.” The joke died immediately. Neither of us remembered that wedding. The one that accidentally changed our lives. The one that somehow started everything. “I want to remember this one.” His voice softened. “Every second of it.”
My throat suddenly felt tight. “I’d like that too.”
His smile appeared instantly. “I knew you’d agree.”
“Don’t get cocky.”
Too late. His grin widened.
He began to ask all sorts of questíns including how I want my dream wedding to look like, the Guest lists and Possible venues. We showered together, which was a bit difficult because Quin felt like we should start trying for a child early. I ended up blowing him instead. By evening, I felt lighter. The fear about Cooper and future parenting reduced drastically.
Quin’s phone rang suddenly, the sound cutting through the room. He glanced down. His expression shifted. “Jake.” I sat up slightly. “Everything okay?” Quin answered.
I couldn’t hear Jake, only Quin. And the growing silence. “When?” Quin’s jaw clenched. “What happened?” No response. Just listening. The silence stretched longer. I glanced at Cooper who was stretching lazily.
Quin finally spoke again. “Are they sure?” from his expression, it sounded like bad news. “I understand.” The call ended.
“What happened?” He didn’t answer immediately. Like he was trying to figure out how to say it. The silence felt endless. Finally—“Jake got a call about Lucas.” Every muscle in my body tensed. The name alone was enough. The nightmare still felt too recent.
“What about him?”
Quin looked at me.“He’s dead.”
Everything stopped. “What?” My voice barely worked.
“Jake said they found him in his cell.”
I stared. Unable to process it. Lucas. Dead? How? When? Why? A thousand questions slammed into me all at once. Quin’s expression remained stunned. “They’re saying it was suicide.”
The room felt strangely distant. Like I was watching someone else’s life. Not mine. The man who because of his stupid obsession over Quin kidnapped us .Was gone.
I didn’t know what to feel. But I was relieved. My hand found Quin’s automatically. He squeezed it immediately. Neither of us knew what to say. Lucas would never be able to hurt anyone ever again.
Lucas was dead.