42. Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Two
Hook, Line + a Complete Sinker
The headlights of Croix’s car sweep across our driveway just as the evening news cycle resets. The volume on the TV is low, but the bold, crimson banner scrolling across the bottom of the BSN feed is impossible to miss.
I freeze, my hand still resting on the diaper bag.
“brEAKING: CROIX LONDON EXPELLED FROM SOCCER LEAGUE FOLLOWING VIOLENT OFF-FIELD ALTERCATION.”
The anchor’s voice cuts through the quiet of our living room, clinical and cold.
It’s a landslide. In the span of a single afternoon, his management team has severed ties, and every major endorsement deal—the faces on the billboards, the luxury watch campaigns, the cleats—has vanished.
The golden boy of the pitch didn't just stumble; he’s been erased.
The car door slams outside, a sharp crack against the silence of the driveway.
I look at Luca, whose expression goes from celebratory to stone-cold in a heartbeat. Our “peaceful” family dinner just hit a wall at ninety miles an hour. Croix is standing on our doorstep with his world in ashes, and the cameras he spent his life courting are now hunting him down.
Luca throws the door open before Croix can even knock. He doesn't ask for an explanation or look at the scrolling news ticker. He just reaches out and pulls his friend into a crushing hug. In the sudden quiet of the foyer, I hear Luca’s voice, low and urgent.
“Brother,” Luca whispers. “What the fuck happened?”
***
Stay tuned for the explosive finale of the Strikers series. The game is changing, the stakes have never been higher, and Croix’s story is just beginning.