THE WRONG STERLING

CHAPTER TWO

ELENA’S POV

I was too excited to quickly notice the extra pair of shoes at Luca’s door.

In fact, I didn’t even realize there had been an extra pair until I walked in on Luca and a lady sitting in his living room.

They weren’t kissing or doing anything intimate.

But they were close.

Too close.

The kind of close that instantly makes your stomach tighten when the man sitting beside her is supposed to be getting married in four weeks.

I froze at the entrance for half a second, trying to process what I was seeing.

Luca’s hand rested casually on the back of the couch behind her, and whatever conversation they had been having seemed far too comfortable.

Too familiar.

A strange feeling crawled up my chest.

“What the heck is going on?!” I snapped before I could stop myself.

Both of them turned immediately.

Luca looked like a child who had just been caught doing something wrong.

Guilty.

Panicked.

Almost pale.

And the woman beside him?

She looked annoyed.

Actually annoyed.

Like my presence was interrupting something important.

That alone made my blood boil.

I took a proper look at her then.

Red hair.

Sharp features.

Pretty.

Very pretty.

And confident enough to keep staring at me like I was the problem.

I tightened my grip on my bag.

Luca stood abruptly, nearly stumbling over himself in the process.

“Elena...uhm....this is Serena,” he rushed out. “My distant cousin from my mom’s side. She just moved from California, and she needed a place to stay for a while, so I was just helping her settle in.”

The explanation came too quickly.

Like he had rehearsed it.

Or worse.....Like he had been waiting to use it someday.

I folded my arms slowly.

“Oh really?”

“Yes,” he said quickly. “Yeah. She literally just got here.”

He laughed nervously afterward.

A very fake laugh.

I looked back at the woman, Serena.

She still looked unimpressed.

Not nervous.

Not awkward.

Just irritated.

That irritated me even more.

“C’mon, Serena,” Luca said awkwardly, motioning toward me. “Say hi.”

All I got in return was a lazy little wave.

No smile.

No warmth.

Nothing.

I blinked slowly.

Wow.

I wanted to say something rude.

Actually, I wanted to say several rude things.

But instead, I forced a tight smile.

“Hi.”

Her eyes moved over me briefly before she leaned back against the couch again like she belonged there.

Something about that tiny action bothered me more than it should have.

The room suddenly felt uncomfortable.

Heavy.

And Luca was making it worse with how tense he looked.

He kept rubbing his palms together and glancing between both of us like he was trying to stop an explosion before it happened.

I almost laughed.

Almost.

Because if there was truly nothing going on, why did he look so scared?

LUCA’S POV

I was too distracted with Serena to even notice the front door opening.

One second we were talking.

The next...

“Elena?”

My entire body went cold.

The look on her face made my stomach twist instantly.

Shock.

Confusion.

Suspicion.

I stood up so fast I nearly hit the table.

Think think thinkkk

But my mind completely blanked.

I knew how this looked.

And the worst part?

Serena wasn’t helping at all.

She just sat there looking irritated, like Elena had interrupted us.

Which, technically, she had.

“Elena, this is Serena,” I said quickly. Too quickly. “My distant cousin from my mom’s side. She just moved from California…”

The lie rolled out before I could stop it.

I hated lying to Elena.

But what else was I supposed to say?

“Hey, my secret side piece is sitting in my apartment while you plan our wedding?”

Yeah.

No.

Elena’s eyes narrowed slightly.

And I knew immediately that she didn’t believe me.

Or at least… she didn’t fully believe me.

Still, she didn’t explode the way I expected her to.

That surprised me.

Actually, it scared me more.

Because Elena only got quiet when she was thinking too hard.

And whenever she started thinking too hard, it became difficult to talk her out of anything.

I glanced briefly at Serena, silently begging her to cooperate.

Instead, she gave Elena the driest wave imaginable.

God.

I was finished.

ELENA’S POV

Luca had introduced Serena and me, but for the past few minutes, we had done nothing except stare at each other with barely hidden hostility.

I’m not usually the jealous type.

At least, I don’t think I am.

But something about this woman immediately put me on edge.

Maybe it was the way she looked at me.

Or the way Luca suddenly couldn’t act normal.

Or maybe it was simply female intuition.

Whatever it was, I didn’t like it.

Still…

I decided to let it go.

For now.

Mostly because I suddenly remembered why I came in the first place.

And despite everything, I still wanted to share my good news.

“Anyways,” I said, forcing some lightness into my voice, “I was calling your phone earlier, but I guess you were busy with your ‘cousin’ to answer.”

I smiled slightly at Luca.

But my eyes flickered briefly toward Serena.

And I could have sworn she rolled her eyes.

Interesting.

Luca laughed awkwardly. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

I nodded slowly before finally blurting out the news I had practically been dying to share.

“So… I got a job offer.”

That got his attention immediately.

“What?”

“From Sterling Inc.”

The room went quiet.

Very quiet.

Luca’s entire expression changed so fast it almost gave me whiplash.

The nervousness disappeared.

And something darker replaced it.

Something sharp.

Cold.

I frowned slightly.

“I got offered the position of Head of the Media and Journalism Division,” I continued slowly. “Can you believe it?”

I expected excitement.

Shock.

Pride.

Something.

Instead, Luca looked… angry.

Not openly.

But enough for me to notice.

And Serena?

Her eyes widened for a completely different reason.

Like the name itself meant something to her.

Luca recovered quickly, but not quickly enough.

“That’s… wow,” he muttered.

“You okay?” I asked carefully.

“Yeah,” he answered too fast. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

I stared at him for a second.

Because honestly?

His reaction was weird.

Very weird.

Especially for someone whose fiancée had just gotten the opportunity of a lifetime.

“Aren’t you happy for me?” I asked slowly.

“I am,” he said immediately.

But it sounded forced.

Like he was reading from a script.

I looked at him carefully.

“Then what’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” he insisted. “I just… Sterling Inc is a very demanding company.”

“Well, yeah,” I said with a small laugh. “That’s why it’s such a huge opportunity.”

His jaw tightened slightly.

Then he asked quietly,

“Are you going to take it?”

Now that confused me.

Why wouldn’t I?

“Well… yeah,” I answered slowly, my excitement returning slightly. “I start next week.”

Luca held my gaze for a moment.

And something unreadable passed through his eyes.

Something I couldn’t explain.

“That’s… uhm… that’s great, Elena.”

But believe me....That was not the reaction I was expecting.