Craving My Ruthless Ceo novel Chapter 111

Chapter 111

Anna’s POV

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I hesitated, feeling panic take hold of my insides. Don’t you dare show weakness in front of him.

“I don’t know,” I repeated, my voice smaller now. “Maybe the question isn’t do I want to do it. Maybe the question is… can! do it?

There it was, the truth I’ve been avoiding.

Roman moved closer, close enough that I had to tilt my head back to look at him. His hand came up, hovering near my face but not quite touching.

“Anna,” he said, and the way he said my name made warmth spread in my chest. “You can do this.”

“How do you know?” I asked, hating how vulnerable I sounded. I don’t know the first thing about running an ad campaign. I’ve never done anything like this before. I’m your assistant. I schedule meetings and answer emails and make coffee. I don’t… I can’t…”

“You can,” he interrupted firmly. His hand finally made contact, his thumb brushing away a tear I hadn’t realized had fallen. “You should believe in yourself more.”

Easy for him to say. He’s Roman Blackwood. He doesn’t fail at anything.

“Mr. Blackwood…”

“In the meeting, you showed insight that my entire marketing team didn’t see,” he continued, his voice low. “You understood the emotional core of what we’re selling in a way that years of marketing experience couldn’t teach them. You were confident. Articulate. Brilliant.”

He thinks I’m brilliant.

My heart was doing strange things in my chest, and I couldn’t look away from his eyes.

“But I don’t know how to execute it,” I protested weakly. “I don’t know the technical aspects, the budgets, the…”

“That’s what the team is for,” he said, cutting me off again. “You have the vision. They have the technical skills. Together, you’ll create something extraordinary.”

His thumb was still on my cheek, his touch gentle despite the fire in his eyes. “And you have me. I’ll be there every step of the way. You won’t fail.”

“How can you be so sure?” I whispered.

A ghost of a smile touched his lips. “Because I never fail. And if you’re working with me, neither will you.”

His arrogance should annoy me. Why doesn’t it annoy me?

“I want you to think of this as a learning opportunity,” Roman continued, his hand dropping from my face, leaving my skin cold where his warmth had been. “A chance to grow, to prove what you’re capable of. Not just to me or to Laurent or to anyone else. To yourself.” He paused, his eyes holding mine. “You’re better than you think you are, Anna. It’s time you started seeing what I see.”

What does he see? What could someone like him possibly see in someone like me?

I swallowed hard, trying to process everything he was saying. Part of me wanted to believe him, wanted to trust that I could do this. But another part was terrified.

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Chapter 111

“What if I mess up?” I asked. “What if I make the wrong call and cost you millions? What if…”

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“Then we’ll fix it,” he said simply. “That’s what business is, making decisions, some right, some wrong, and adapting. But Anna, I’ve been doing this for decades. I can see talent when it’s front of me. And you have it.”

He believes in me. Roman Blackwood believes in me.

I felt some of the fear giving way to a confident spark. Maybe I could do this. Maybe I was capable of more than I’d given myself credit for.

“Okay,” I said softly. “I’ll do it.”

Roman’s smile was genuine this time, warm and almost proud. “ood.”

We stood there for a moment, the hallway quiet around us. Our yes locked, neither of us willing to look away. His gaze held mine, dark and intense, and I couldn’t breathe. The air between s felt charged, heavy with everything unspoken.

Then I remembered the other thing, the thing that had been eating at me since Laurent made his proposition.

“Mr. Blackwood,” I started, my voice careful. “About the modeling…”

His expression darkened immediately, all warmth draining from his face. “No.”

“But you didn’t even let me respond,” I pressed, feeling frustrated “Laurent was talking about me, about my body, about putting me in the campaign, and you just decided, without asking what I thought.”

“There was nothing to ask,” Roman said, his voice hard. “The answer is no.”

“But it’s my body,” I argued, feeling my temper rise. “My choice. Shouldn’t I get a say in…”

“I’m not letting any man take pictures of you half naked,” Roman cut me off, his voice rising slightly. He stepped forward, backing me against the wall, towering over me. “You’re not parading around in lingerie for men to ogle you. Never.”

There it was again, that possessiveness.

“But…”

“No, Anna.” His fingers came up to rest on the wall above my head, caging me in. His breathing was heavy, his chest rising and falling as he stared down at me. “Didn’t you hear him talking about your body as though he had seen you naked? That bastard. Talking about your breasts.”

His hand moved slowly from the wall, dropping to cup my face, his thumb tracing my lower lip. The touch was gentle, but his eyes were wild.

My breath hitched.

Then his fingers traced the curve of my collarbone, then moved to my waist, gripping me there and pulling me against him.

I felt the solid wall of his chest, the heat radiating off him, his breathing ragged against my forehead.

“He stood there,” Roman said, his voice a low growl, “describing you like you were already his, like he had any right to even think about you that way.”

His hands traced a path up from my waist, along my ribcage, then higher.

They grazed the edge of my breast through my dress, circling slowly across my cleavage, barely touching but enough to make every nerve ending scream for more.

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10:44 Sat, Feb 21 GGG.

Chapter 111

I gasped, my back arching slightly off the wall.

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