Page 105 of Crossing Lines

“About what?”

Elodie glances at the kitchen door, then back at me, her gaze sharpening. “Quincy.”

A strange, sick feeling punches through my chest. Out of all the things I expected, this wasn’t one of them. I pivot to face her fully. “What about him?”

Elodie shifts, a flicker of worry crossing her face. “Listen, what I’m about to tell you...could get a lot of people in trouble. But you need to know.”

“Go on.”

She leans in, the edges of her voice tinged with urgency. “Another team approached him with an offer. Hunter’s worried Quincy might actually be considering it.”

The room spins, just for a second, and I plant my hand on the counter to steady myself. Quincy? The one player I thought was unshakable? The idea of him leaving feels like a blow to the gut. Worse than that—if a team has approached him, it’s a clear violation of tampering regulations since he’s still got two years on his contract.

“What team?” I force out.

Elodie winces, and I know the answer before she even says it. “Nova.”

A curse burns the back of my tongue. Nova. The same team Mert’s been cozying up to. The air feels too thin, like the room is pressing in from all sides. I can’t lose one of my best players. He’s the glue that binds us all together.

“Thank you for telling me,” I say slowly, still digesting everything.

Elodie’s hands twist together. “I don’t want to get anyone in trouble. I just thought you should know… But maybe—God, can you just pretend I didn’t say anything?”

“Say anything about what?” Nina’s voice cuts through the tension, clear and curious. She’s standing at the threshold, her hair damp and gaze narrowing as she takes in Elodie and me.

“Another team is trying to poach Quincy,” I tell her, not bothering to temper the frustration in my voice. “Nova, specifically.”

“The team Mert’s been meeting with?” Nina asks.

I nod and Elodie asks, “Who’s Mert?”

While Nina fills in Elodie about who Mert is, I look down at the envelope Elodie brought. A suspicion sparks through my haze of anger. I tear at the edge, revealing photos that send my pulse hammering.

Zeki. With Mert. At a café. The timestamp blazes at the bottom, marking the exact time when Nina and I were in Izmir.

Doubt churns like a storm. Every certainty I had about Zeki is now slippery and uncertain. It all fits together too perfectly: Zeki’s sudden appearance, his interest in my work, the abrupt end to his carefree lifestyle. What if this isn’t just Mert’s ambition, but Zeki’s too. Maybe they shared the blackmail payoff, divided up the loyalty theybetrayed?—

“Evren?” Nina’s voice, sharper now, pulls me back. “What is it?”

I push the photos into her hands, bile rising as I try to steady the tremor in my chest. “That’s Mert and Zeki.”

Nina’s expression shifts from shock to a cold, simmering rage. “I’m sure there’s an explanation,” she says, unconvinced.

I meet her gaze. My voice stripped raw. “But what if there isn’t?”

“Then Zeki better be prepared for the consequences,” she says. “Because if he’s behind this, he’s going to know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of my wrath.”

Knowing that Nina is by my side, fierce and unwavering, fills the hollow ache in my chest. I’m not alone in this fight, and for a moment, that’s enough to keep the anger from breaking me apart.

Zeki arrives at the house thirty minutes later, the tension in the air so thick it’s hard to breathe. Elodie has already made her hurried goodbyes, her worried gaze lingering on Nina and me as we promised to keep her updated. Now, the silence is punctuated only by the rhythmic tick of the kitchen clock, each second stretching out unbearably.

The front door opens, and Zeki’s footsteps echo down the hallway before he strides into the kitchen, his face curious, almost carefree. “What’s the emergency?”he jokes, only to stop when he spots us. His brows knit, a hint of unease tightening his features. “Who died?”

“No one,” I say, the word weighted, bitter. I stand and push the photos across the table toward him.

The color drains from his face as he takes in the photos. His gaze snaps to mine, and there’s a flicker of panic. “I can explain.”

Nina steps forward, her voice a sharp cut through the quiet. “Are you working with him?”

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