Chapter 70 The choice
Alex wanted to laugh but held himself.
Lucas stared at him wondering what he meant before responding, “I don't have a wife.”
“I want to know more about you. Alright, let's do it this way, I ask the questions and you give me the answers.”
Lucas nodded with a smile and said, “If you’re talking about Derby, we never got married. So she is not my wife.”
Meanwhile, Dan had forwarded the information he gathered about Lucas but Alex never bothered to go through them until after last night when Zenith mentioned his wife. So he already knew everything except Lucas’s secret but he asked to see if Lucas could hide anything but he didn't. He told him everything including why he had to keep his job to sustain himself.
Alex understood what he had passed through and was ready to fight Lucas’s father in court but Lucas said he didn't want to do that.
When they were doing the dishes, Alex brought up yesterday's talk.
“Lucas, yesterday we were talking when I got that business call. I would like us to conclude that talk.
Lucas’s breath hitched. Alex stepped forward, but carefully this time. He wasn’t cornering, just closing the distance a bit.
“When I saw you with Margaret laughing like that… letting her touch you…” His jaw tightened briefly before he forced himself to finish honestly. “I felt that fear again…like someone was pulling something out of my chest.”
Lucas’s expression cracked.
“That’s not ownership,” Alex said quietly. “That’s fear.”
The word settled between them. Lucas understood instantly that Alex was scared of losing him. His heart jumped happily. It wasn't control or ego, it was fear.
Lucas’s voice came softer. “You don’t get to fight everyone who comes near me.”
“I know.” Alex agreed
“And you don’t get to decide for me on how to go about my days.”
“I know.”
There was no argument with him now, only the truth. Alex’s eyes held him steadily. “But don’t mistake my jealousy for a game, Lucas.”
That tone wasn't possessive or
demanding it was raw. He continued, “Lucas, I don’t compete in sports. I don’t chase what doesn’t matter.” He lowered his voice. “But you my Lucas, you mattered a lot to me.”
A silence stretched, the kind that presses against your ribs. Their eyes locked and their heart thudded in their chest. Then Lucas looked down briefly, fighting the way those words moved through him.
“I don’t want to be won,” he repeated quietly.
Alex nodded once. “I don’t want to win you.” He took a small step closer. “I want you to choose me.”
That hit deeper than anything else he had said all day.
Lucas’s fingers twitched at his sides. Alex didn’t touch him or try to trap him. He just stood there, open to any decision he took.
“If you walk away,” Alex said softly, “I’ll let you.”
That wasn’t something Lucas ever thought he would hear.
“But if you stay…” His voice dropped to almost a whisper. “It won’t be because I pushed but because you chose to and I will make sure you won't regret it.”
The air felt thinner now. Lucas finally looked up fully. To his surprise, that possessive pride was not in Alex’s face. There was no challenge, just vulnerability, which he was sure he rarely showed anyone. And that shook Lucas more than his possessiveness had.
“You scare me…,” Lucas admitted quietly but Alex didn’t flinch.
“...Because when you look at me like that… it feels real.”
“It is real, my Lucas, don't be scared.”
And frankly, that was the real Alex, no hesitation, no drama, and just fact. The distance between them was now less than a step. Lucas could feel his warmth. But Alex still didn’t touch him. For once he decided to wait for Lucas’s choice.
Lucas realized the space between them was barely there now. Yet Alex wasn’t moving or reaching out. Just standing there like if he shifted even an inch, the moment would shatter. Lucas could hear his own heartbeat and could feel the weight of everything Alex had just laid bare. There was no control, no pride and he seemed to mean every word.
“You said you'd let me walk away,” Lucas murmured.
“Hmm,” he nodded.
“And you wouldn’t fight?”
Alex’s jaw tightened slightly… not in anger, but in restraint. His eyes glistened with fear. “I will fight for you, not against you.”
That did something to Lucas. Something steady and warm. He stepped forward, closing the last inch.
Alex’s breath stilled. Lucas’s fingers slowly lifted, a bit hesitant at first. Then settled lightly against Alex’s shirt, right over his chest, touching his good luck pendant. Not gripping, just resting there and feeling it.
It seemed not to be enough, he moved much closer, rested his head on Alex’s chest as if listening to his heartbeat.
Alex’s heartbeat was strong, fast, and real. Lucas swallowed hard.
“You don’t get to decide for me,” he whispered again.
“I won’t.”
“You don’t get to own me.”
“I don’t.”
Another killing silence followed.
Lucas’s fingers curled slightly in the fabric. “But I don’t want you standing at a distance either.”
That was the confession due to Alex’s recent distance which got him confused. It was small,
but undeniable. Alex’s control almost cracked but he didn’t grab him quickly. Instead, his hand lifted slowly… giving Lucas time to move away if he wanted but Lucas didn’t.
Alex’s left hand settled gently at Lucas’s waist, while his right hand went up caressing his hair. Then he waited patiently but Lucas didn’t step back.
Instead, Lucas lifted his face just enough for his forehead to rest lightly against Alex’s. A quiet collision, with their breath mixing.
No audience, no territory, just them.
“You scare me,” Lucas muttered softly, eyes half-closed.
“I’ll try not to,” Alex whispered.
Lucas gave the faintest huff of a laugh. “That’s not what I meant.”
Alex’s hand tightened slightly at his waist. “Then what?”
Lucas lifted his head just enough to look at him. “You scare me because I want this. I want my Alex.” Lucas said, his hand playing with his pendant, their eyes locking.
There it was, his choice, clear and unfiltered. Alex’s eyes softened in a way they never did around anyone else.
“I don’t need you to want it loudly,” Alex said quietly. “I just need it to be real.”
Lucas nodded once, “It is real my Alex.”
Light smile curled Alex’s lips as he leaned in. It wasn’t urgent, it wasn’t desperate, it wasn’t claiming either. It was slow as if giving him room to turn away but Lucas didn’t.
Their lips met softly, not fire, not hunger, but relief and something deeper.
Lucas’s hand slid up from Alex’s chest to his neck, holding him there choosing him with every response to his kisses.
When they finally pulled apart, their foreheads pressed together again.
No one was fighting, no one was winning. Just two people who finally stopped pretending.
But somewhere beyond the window curtain, Zenith had come peeking. And what he saw got his blood boiling.
He dialed Nathan’s number.