Until the Final Whistle
Five years ago, Evelyn Ashford disappeared without a goodbye, leaving behind the only man she had ever loved.
Now she's back.
As the newly appointed Social Media Manager of Blackridge FC, she has to work alongside Luca Moretti—the club's captain, football's golden boy, and the man who looks at her as if they've never met.
The world believes she broke his heart.
Luca believes she chose ambition over love.
Neither knows the truth.
As match-fixing, deadly secrets, and betrayal begin to unravel inside Blackridge FC, old feelings refuse to stay buried. But in a game where loyalty is bought, trust is dangerous, and every victory has a price, loving each other again may cost them everything.
Some games are won with goals.
Others are won by Love.
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Chapter: CHAPTER 75 — THE STATEMENTUNTIL THE FINAL WHISTLE---EVELYN---The police came to my flat at four o'clock.Two officers. A detective in a grey suit. A victim support officer who sat beside me on the sofa and spoke in a low, steady voice while the detective set up a recorder on the coffee table. Luca sat on my other side. He didn't say anything. He just stayed close enough that I could feel the warmth of his arm against mine."Take your time," the detective said. "Start wherever you feel comfortable."I took a breath. Then I started talking.I told them about the party. About Julian. About the drink and the hallway and the door. I told them about the video and what was on it and how I had come to have it. I told them about Michael Cross and the safe deposit box and the message that had been sent to my phone. I told them about Victor Hale and the corner of the room and the phone held low. I told them everything.When I finished, the detective looked at me over the top of his notebook."Miss Ashford. Are you wi
Last Updated: 2026-10-17
Chapter: CHAPTER 74 — THE CALLUNTIL THE FINAL WHISTLE---EVELYN---We stayed at the cottage that night.Neither of us suggested going back to the city. The fire was still burning and the rain had stopped and the drive was tucked safely in Luca's pocket and the whole world outside felt very far away. We ate something from the cupboard that wasn't quite a meal and we didn't talk about the video at all. We talked about nothing. Football. The documentary. Kovac's protein bars. Whether the cottage needed a new roof. Ordinary things. Small things. The kind of things two people talk about when they have just survived something and need to remember how to be normal.At some point we fell asleep on the sofa with a blanket over both of us and the fire dying down to nothing. When I woke up, the light through the window was grey and thin and Luca was already awake beside me, watching me."Morning," he said."Morning.""Sleep okay?""Better than I expected."He reached over and pushed a strand of hair away from my face."Goo
Last Updated: 2026-10-17
Chapter: CHAPTER 73 — THE VIDEOUNTIL THE FINAL WHISTLE---EVELYN---The cottage was cold when we walked in.Luca went straight to the fireplace and started building a fire while I stood in the middle of the room with my coat still on and the USB drive in my hand. The drive was small and grey and unremarkable. It looked like nothing. It looked like something you would find in a drawer and throw away without thinking twice.But I knew what was on it. Or I thought I did. And that was enough to make my hands feel like they belonged to someone else.Luca finished with the fire and stood up and dusted off his hands. He didn't cross the room. He didn't reach for me. He just stood there by the fireplace with his arms at his sides and waited for me to decide what came next."We don't have to do this today," he said."I know.""We can wait. We can put it somewhere and come back to it next week. Next month. Whenever you're ready.""I know.""But you're not going to wait.""No."He nodded slowly. He crossed the room and pull
Last Updated: 2026-10-15
Chapter: CHAPTER 72 — THE VAULTUNTIL THE FINAL WHISTLE---EVELYN---Monday morning arrived cold and clear.I woke before the alarm and lay in the dark listening to Luca breathe beside me. He had barely slept either. I could tell from the way he had been turning over all night, from the way his hand had kept reaching for me in his sleep and settling on my waist like he was afraid I might disappear if he let go. When the light finally crept through the curtains I got up and dressed without waking him and stood at the window with a cup of coffee I didn't drink.Three days had passed since Rennick's office. Three days of planning and waiting and pretending at work that nothing was happening. Three days of Luca watching me the way he always watched me when he knew something was wrong and I hadn't told him the whole truth yet.Today was the first Monday of the month. The day Michael Cross accessed his safe deposit box. The day we took back the video.Luca came out of the bedroom around seven. He was already dressed. He
Last Updated: 2026-10-13
Chapter: CHAPTER 71 — THE SECOND CROSSUNTIL THE FINAL WHISTLE---EVELYN---I didn't speak for a long moment.The folder sat open on the desk between us with Michael Cross's photograph staring up at me, and all I could think about was Julian in his hotel room that morning, tired and honest, telling me he had been waiting for me to come, telling me he didn't send the message, telling me he didn't know who Rennick was.Julian hadn't lied to me. His father had."Why would Michael Cross do this?" I asked."Money," Rennick said. "And loyalty. Michael Cross has represented Kane's people for years without ever appearing on any document that could link him to them. He's the kind of lawyer who keeps his own name clean and lets his clients pay the price. When Kane fell, Cross lost his biggest client. He's been trying to salvage what's left of the relationship ever since.""And the video?""He's had it for five years. Victor Hale filmed it. Victor Hale kept it. When Hale was arrested, the file went somewhere. Cross made sure it wen
Last Updated: 2026-10-11
Chapter: CHAPTER 70 — THE MAN IN THE OFFICEUNTIL THE FINAL WHISTLE---EVELYN---The office was smaller than I expected.Two desks. Two chairs. A filing cabinet against the back wall. A window that looked out onto a brick wall and a fire escape. The kind of place where a man could work for years and never be noticed by anyone who wasn't already looking for him.The woman who had let us in gestured for us to sit and then disappeared through a door at the back. Luca stood by the window with his arms crossed. I sat down in the chair facing the empty desk and folded my hands in my lap and waited.Two minutes passed. Then three.Then the door at the back opened and Peter Rennick walked in.He was older than I expected. Late fifties, maybe sixty. Grey hair, thin face, glasses that sat halfway down his nose. He wore a shirt that had been pressed that morning and a jacket that had been cleaned too many times. He looked like a man who had spent most of his career in rooms like this one, watching other people's secrets and keeping his
Last Updated: 2026-10-11
Chapter: Chapter 41: The CollapseMy grandmother died on a Thursday.My mother's voice on the phone was steady but hollow. The way a person sounds when they have already cried all the tears they have."She went in her sleep. The nurse said it was peaceful. She just. Slipped away."I sat on Amina's couch. The phone pressed to my ear. The world stopped moving."When," I asked."Last night. Around midnight. I tried to call you earlier but your phone was off."The diner. I had been at the diner with Eli. Trying to fix my broken heart while my grandmother was leaving the world."I am coming home," I said."I know, baby. Take your time. There is nothing to rush for now."I hung up. Stared at the wall. Amina came out of her bedroom and took one look at my face."What happened.""My grandmother died."She wrapped her arms around me. I did not cry. Not yet. I was too empty for tears.I call
Last Updated: 2026-06-01
Chapter: Chapter 40: The Diner---I got to the diner first.That was deliberate. I wanted to be sitting when he walked in. I wanted to see his face before he saw mine. I wanted the control.The waitress recognized me. She brought coffee without asking."You are alone tonight," she said."He is coming."She nodded. She did not ask more questions. Good.I sat in our booth. The same one. Red plastic seats. Sticky table. The jukebox played something old and sad. I wrapped my hands around the coffee cup and waited.He walked in at seven exactly.He had dressed carefully. Dark shirt. Clean jeans. His hair was combed. He had shaved. He looked thinner than before. Tired. But his eyes found me immediately and something in them flickered. Hope. Fear. Love. All of it.He slid into the booth across from me. He did not try to touch me."Thank you for coming," he said."I said I would.""I know.
Last Updated: 2026-06-01
Chapter: Chapter 39: The FallI stayed at Amina's apartment for three days.I did not answer Eli's calls. I did not read his texts beyond the first words. I'm sorry. Please come home. I love you. I deleted them. I was not ready. I was not sure I would ever be ready.Amina let me sleep on her couch. She made me tea and toast and did not push. She knew me. She knew I had to process this alone before I could talk about it.On the second day, I finally broke. I was sitting on her couch, staring at the wall, when the tears came. Not gentle tears. Hard, ugly sobs that tore through my chest."He kissed her back," I said. "He promised me everything and he kissed her back.""I know, honey." Amina sat beside me, her hand on my back."I trusted him. After everything. After the break. After all the work we did. I finally believed he would never hurt me. And the second I leave, the second things get hard, he lets her in.""I know.""W
Last Updated: 2026-05-31
Chapter: Chapter 38: The KissMy grandmother fell ill in the first week of November.My mother called on a Tuesday morning. Her voice was tight and controlled, the way it got when she was trying not to scare me."She is in the hospital. Pneumonia. The doctors say she is stable but she is asking for you."I packed a bag in ten minutes. Eli stood in the doorway of our bedroom, watching me throw clothes into a suitcase. His face was worried. His hands were shoved in his pockets."I am coming with you," he said."No. You have your presentation next week. The firm is sending people. You cannot miss it.""I do not care about the presentation.""I care. Your career matters. I will only be gone a few days. She will be fine."He did not look convinced. He pulled me against him, his hands gripping my hips. "I hate when you leave.""I will be back before you know it."He kissed me hard. Not a goodbye kiss. A claiming kiss. H
Last Updated: 2026-05-31
Chapter: Chapter 37: The ProposalOctober came full circle.It had been exactly one year since the night at the bus stop. One year since the cold wind and the delayed bus and the sketchbook. One year since Pencil Boy became Eli and everything changed.I did not think about the date when I woke up that morning. I was too busy. My thesis revisions were due in a week. Professor Harding had given me detailed notes and I was working through them methodically. The end was in sight.Eli was quiet at breakfast. He made pancakes and coffee and kept looking at me with an expression I could not read."Are you okay?" I asked."I am fine. Just thinking.""About what?""Nothing important. What are you doing tonight?""Tonight? Working on revisions. Why?""I thought we could go for a walk. To the bus stop.""The bus stop? That is an hour away.""I know. But I want to see it. It has been a year."I set down my fork.
Last Updated: 2026-05-30
Chapter: Chapter 36: The MoveSeptember came with a cool breeze and the first hint of autumn.The house was finished. After months of weekends and late nights, painting and hammering and measuring and building, it was done. The porch had a swing. The studio had good northern light. The study had a desk by the window, just as Eli had promised, with a view of the pond.We packed my apartment in a single weekend. My books went into boxes. My clothes went into suitcases. My grandmother's quilt was folded carefully and placed on the front seat of the car, where it would not get crushed.Amina came to help. She arrived with coffee and doughnuts and a roll of packing tape."I cannot believe you are leaving me," she said."I am not leaving you. I am moving an hour away.""An hour is far.""You will visit. There is a guest room.""A guest room. Look at you, all grown up with a guest room."We packed the kitchen in the morning. The
Last Updated: 2026-05-29
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