Craving My Ruthless Ceo novel Chapter 123

Chapter 123

Roman’s POV

FROM: Roman Blackwood

TO: Annabeth Winters

SUBJECT: Missed Check-In

SENT: Saturday, 6:47 PM

Anna,

You reneged on our agreement,

You were supposed to check in and let me know how your evening with Zoe went. I have not heard from you.

I’m waiting.

Roman Blackwood

CEO, Blackwood Enterprises

I hit send and sat back, drumming my fingers on the armrest of my couch.

Minutes ticked by. No response.

The silence gnawed at me. Where was she? What was she doing? The not knowing was worse than anything else.

I checked my watch. Twenty minutes until I needed to leave for dinner with Elena.

My phone buzzed.

FROM: Annabeth Winters

TO: Roman Blackwood

SUBJECT: RE: Missed Check-In

SENT: Saturday, 7:03 PM

Mr. Blackwood,

I was not aware we had an agreement. You demanded I check in never actually agreed to that demand.

But since you asked so nicely, my evening is going fine. Thanks for asking.

AW

I read the email twice, heat crawling up the back of my neck.

1/8

12:31 Fri, Feb 27

Chapter 123

65 vouchers

She was calling me out. Throwing my words back in my face with that sharp tone, almost like she wanted to gaslight me. Make me question whether I had actually secured her agreement or just assumed it.

The audacity.

I leaned forward and started typing faster.

FROM: Roman Blackwood

TO: Annabeth Winters

SUBJECT: RE: Missed Check-In

SENT: Saturday, 7:06 PM

Anna,

Let me be clearer then.

When I tell you to do something, it is not a request. It is an expectation. And when you choose to ignore that expectation, there are consequences.

We can discuss those consequences on Monday morning if you would like. In detail. Behind closed doors.

Or you can answer my question now. How is your evening with Zoe going? Where are you?

Your choice.

RB

I set the phone down, my pulse hammering.

The image of her reading that email flashed through my mind. Would she be angry? Nervous? Would she push back harder or finally give me what I wanted?

The response came faster this time.

FROM: Annabeth Winters

TO: Roman Blackwood

SUBJECT: RE: Missed Check-In

SENT: Saturday, 7:11 PM

Mr. Controlling,

Actually, plans changed. Zoe had a work dinner with a client and asked me to be her plus-one. I am here as moral support.

It is going fine. Mostly boring business talk.

Happy now?

2/8

12:31 Fri, Feb 27 A

Chapter 123

AW

55 vouchers

Mr. Controlling.

She had called me Mr. Controlling.

A possessive need surged through me, sharp and primal. She had no idea how right she was. How much I wanted to control every aspect of her life. Where she went. Who she saw. What she did.

But the words themselves barely registered because my mind had already latched onto the rest of her message.

Plans changed. A work dinner. With Zoe’s client.

My mind went back to when we had spoken earlier. She had not met my gaze. Her fingers had fidgeted with the edge of her folder. Small tells, but I had noticed them all.

She had been nervous.

I had not pushed then. I had let it slide because I did not want to be that man, the one who interrogated her every move.

But now she was saying plans had changed. That she was at a work dinner. As someone’s plus-one.

My instincts were never wrong. And right now, every instinct I had screamed that she was not being honest.

Two possibilities ran through my mind.

One: She did not want to go out to dinner with me, so she had used Zoe as an escape route. Created a fake evening out to avoid my company.

Or two: The more troubling thought. She was out on a date with another man and had lied straight to my face about it.

Laurent’s face flashed through my mind. Her seated across from hi she had spent last weekend at the club with him.

at some intimate table. Laughing at his jokes. After all,

My blood rose, hot and fast. I shoved the thought aside before it could take root.

She would not lie that boldly to my face. Would she? Maybe she was just lying on her bed right now, pretending she was out with Zoe to rattle me.

It was safer to believe that.

I picked up my phone and set it down again. Then I started typing.

FROM: Roman Blackwood

TO: Annabeth Winters

SUBJECT: RE: Missed Check-In

SENT: Saturday, 7:14 PM

Anna,

A work dinner with Zoe’s client. Interesting.

3/8

12:31 Fr

Chapter 123

What kind of client? What industry? And which restaurant?

I want details. All of them.

RB

El 5b vouchers

I waited, staring at the screen.

The response took longer this time.

Each second that passed felt like confirmation. She was stalling.hinking of what to say. How to lie convincingly.

My phone sat beside me. I picked it up, checked the screen, and fet it back down.

FROM: Annabeth Winters

TO: Roman Blackwood

SUBJECT: RE: Missed Check-In

SENT: Saturday, 7:19 PM

Mr. Blackwood,

A business executive. Tech industry.

Is this interrogation almost over? Because my food just arrived.

AW

A business executive.

My blood went cold.

She had given me nothing. No name. No restaurant. Just vague, evasive answers that confirmed exactly what I had suspected.

She was lying.

The image of Anna sitting across from some man crashed into my mind. Her laughing at his jokes. Leaning forward with that smile she never gave me. Letting him pour her wine. Letting him touch her hand across the table.

My chest constricted. I stood up, paced to the window, then came back.

I would not let my mind go there. Not yet.

But I needed to know.

FROM: Roman Blackwood

TO: Annabeth Winters

4/8

12:31 Fri, Feb 27 A M

Chapter 123

SUBJECT: RE: Missed Check-In

SENT: Saturday, 7:20 PM

Anna,

Male or female executive?

RB

I stood there, watching the screen. Waiting.

The silence stretched.

I checked my watch. Fifteen minutes until I had to leave.

My phone buzzed.

FROM: Annabeth Winters

TO: Roman Blackwood

SUBJECT: RE: Missed Check-In

SENT: Saturday, 7:25 PM

Mr. Blackwood,

Does it matter?

AW

Does it matter?

My fingers hovered over the keyboard.

She knew exactly what she was doing. She knew how this would eat at me. Knew I would picture her with someone else and spiral over it.

Maybe that was the point. Maybe she wanted me to lose control

I started typing again.

FROM: Roman Blackwood

TO: Annabeth Winters

SUBJECT: RE: Missed Check-In

SENT: Saturday, 7:26 PM

5/8

12:31 Fr, Fed

Chapter 128

Anna

ANY

It matters.

Is there alcohol involved? Are you drinking? Are you safe?

I need to know you are safe.

RB

55 vouchers

I stared at the screen, my breathing shallow.