Maya POV
“You’re telling me they were fighting over who gets to bring you home?”
Tim’s voice was way too loud for a Monday morning. I almost dropped my spoon into my cup of soup.
We were sitting in the office cafeteria, at our usual table near the window. The scent of burnt coffee and overcooked lasagna hung in the air, but I didn’t mind. It was quiet, for once. Peaceful.
I hadn’t seen either Noah or Alex all morning—thank God. My nerves couldn’t handle another testosterone-fueled ego clash before noon.
“It wasn’t like that,” I mumbled, poking at the sad salad on my tray. “They weren’t fighting. Exactly.”
Tim gasped dramatically and set down his sandwich like the drama needed his full attention. “Girl. Stop. They were definitely fighting. The way you described it I am pretty sure one looked like he wanted to throw hands, and the other looked like he wanted to throw you over his shoulder.”
I snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I’m serious,” he said, leaning closer. “It’s giving Noah was possessive—like wolf-pack alpha type behavior. That man’s jaw was clenched like he wanted to bite Alex.”
I choked on my water. “Tim!”
“I’m just saying. Noah Sterling likes you.”
I nearly spat my drink across the table. “Likes me? That man hates me with every fiber of his cold, CEO-wannabe soul.”
Tim rolled his eyes. “You’re so blind.”
I rolled mine back. “You weren’t there when he called me stupid. Or made me cry in front of a chart. A chart, Tim.”
“But did he drag you out of a crowd at a party and storm away like a jealous villain in a Netflix series?”
I opened my mouth to argue but… nothing came out. Because unfortunately, he had a point.
“I don’t know,” I muttered. “Maybe he’s just… controlling.”
“Okay, but let’s talk about the real headline,” Tim said, wiggling his brows. “The way Alex and Noah look at each other like they’re two seconds away from throwing fists. Girl, they are not okay.”
I nodded, my voice low. “Yeah. They seem… hostile. Like, intensely hostile.”
“Hostile,” Tim repeated. “Honey, they are at war. And do you know why?”
I raised a brow. “Why?”
He grinned and leaned back like he was about to drop the hottest gossip of the year. “Because I would be hostile too if my half-brother stole my girlfriend.”
My spoon paused halfway to my mouth. “I’m sorry, what?”
Tim’s eyes sparkled. “Yup. Word around the office is they literally shared a girlfriend.”
My mouth dropped open. “Who stole whose girlfriend?!”
“Girl,” he said with a dramatic sigh. “Have you been living under a rock?”
“Apparently!”
“Back when Alex first joined the company,” Tim began, lowering his voice like we were on some spy mission, “he had this gorgeous, model-type girlfriend. Super polished. Blonde. Expensive skincare routine. Anyway, things were fine… until Noah stepped in.”
“Wait—Noah stole her?” I asked, eyes wide.
“Or she left Alex for Noah. Depends who you ask,” Tim said with a shrug. “Some say she and Noah had a thing on the side. Others say she was using them both. But either way, since then? Ice. Cold. War. Between the Sterling boys.”
I blinked, trying to wrap my brain around it. “That explains… so much.”
Tim nodded like he’d just solved a murder mystery. “Yup. That’s the tea.”
I slumped back in my chair. “What the hell did I walk into? I thought I was just working in content. Not starring in some executive love triangle with a backstory.”
“Well,” Tim said with a smirk, “welcome to Sterling Enterprises: where the spreadsheets are boring, but the drama is top-tier.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “God. Why didn’t you tell me all this sooner?”
“I thought you knew!”
“I had no idea.”
Tim popped a fry into his mouth. “Well now you do. And you, my dear, are right in the middle of it.”
I was about to say something—maybe joke about running off to Fiji to avoid both brothers and their drama—when a voice sliced through the air behind me like a blade.
“When you two are done gossiping,” Noah said, tone low and deadly, “I need you in my office, Maya.”