Craving My Ruthless Ceo novel Chapter 203

Chapter 203

Anna’s POV

I pushed through the office door.

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Once inside, my eyes swept across his desk, and the giant windows showed the city skyline, but no Roman.

My shoulders dropped slightly. I’d braced myself for whatever he’d throw at me, for catching me hugging

Laurent.

I let out a huge sigh as I crossed toward his desk. Files were scattered across the mahogany surface, and a coffee cup sat near the edge, still half full.

Maybe I could straighten things while I waited, do something with my hands to distract myself. I reached out and shifted a stack of papers to the side, lined up a row of pens.

The monitor glowed beside me, drawing my attention.

A notification flashed in the corner of the screen.

My hand paused over the files, and my eyes drifted to the bright rectangle. I shouldn’t look. My fingers hovered in the air between the desk and the mouse, and I bit my lower lip.

My hand moved, and I pressed down before I could talk myself out of it.

The email opened. An attachment icon sat at the bottom, and my cursor moved to it, pressed down again.

My breath caught.

The screen filled with images of me in the studio during the campaign shoot Laurent had scheduled.

The black bra cupped my breasts, and the high-waisted bottoms hugged my hips, showed the curve of my waist. My hair fell loose around my shoulders in soft waves.

One shot showed me looking over my shoulder, my breasts pressed together, my lips parted. Another captured me laughing, my head thrown back, the line of my throat exposed.

My hand trembled, and I kept pressing down. More images loaded.

Topless shots appeared. My back to the camera in some, my hands covering my breasts in others, but in one my hand slipped down my side as I changed positions, and my entire breast was almost on display, barely covered by my forearm. These were angles Laurent never showed me, shots I didn’t know he’d taken Hed promised tasteful, artistic, but some of these angles made my skin crawl.

My fingers went slack, and I swallowed hard, but nothing went down.

Roman didn’t know about the photo shoot. He wasn’t even aware I’d done it. How did he get these?

Laurent’s voice echoed in my head. “My photographer was robbed. They took everything. All the photos from

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Chapter 203

your shoot, gone.”

It’s not possible. All that couldn’t be a coincidence.

:

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My legs gave out, and I staggered backward, fell into his chair. The pieces snapped together like puzzle pieces I didn’t want to see.

My mind flashed back to days ago, the morning after the incident in Roman’s room at the club, when he told me he found me by tracking my phone.

Wait.

Oh my God.

He was tracking me all day, every day.

Shit.

My hand covered my mouth.

This is not okay.

He would have seen me go to Laurent’s studio, would have known exactly where I was and what I was doing.

Did he send someone to rob Huglio?

Did he stage the whole thing?

No. No, that’s not possible. I refused to believe it. Roman wouldn’t do that, wouldn’t stage a robbery just to get photos of me, wouldn’t go that far.

My head shook as I wrestled with the thought.

There had to be another explanation. Maybe he’d gotten the photos some other way.

The door opened, and Roman stood in the doorway, his eyes locked on mine.

His brows pulled together.

“What’s wrong?”

I stared at him and said nothing.

He walked around to where I sat and leaned against the desk beside me.

“Anna, I asked you a question. What’s the matter?”

I glared at him.

“Can you please explain what this is?” The words finally broke free, and I gestured at the screen.

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Chapter 203

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His gaze dropped down to the desktop, to my images displayed across it.

“Anna, why are you going through my system?”

“That’s beside the point.” I scoffed. “How did you get these?” I pointed at the screen.

His hand shot out, and his fingers wrapped around my wrist, pulling me away from the computer. He reached over and closed the page, then frowned at me.

“Your job as my assistant doesn’t give you the right to go through my system without my permission. That’s against my rules.”

He reached for my arm and tugged me to my feet. My hip bumped against the desk edge as I rose.

“You bloody well know it.”

I jerked my arm free.

“Private matters, my foot. Those pictures are of me. That’s my body, my face. How dare you act like I don’t have a right to know how you got them?”

“You shouldn’t have gone through my emails.”

“Don’t try to deflect.” I cut him off. “The real question is, how did you get them?”

He looked away.

“I have my ways.”

Anger burned through me.

“By that, you mean sending someone after Laurent’s photographer and robbing him of his camera and other personal belongings?”

Roman didn’t answer.

“I should be asking why you would take pictures like that.” His tone turned accusatory. “Why would you let Laurent photograph you half-naked for the world to see?”

“Don’t turn this around. You robbed…”

“Do

you see

see what happened with Pierre?” He moved closer, each step bringing him nearer. “There are men like him out there, men who would look at those pictures and think they can put their hands on you.”

“That was your fault.” My hands balled into fists. “If you hadn’t stolen Laurent’s pictures, if you hadn’t interfered, maybe none of this would have happened.”

His eyes narrowed.

“Are you serious right now?”

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Chapter 203

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“Laurent explained everything. Huglio was robbed, Laurent lost his phone, he couldn’t reach me. That’s why he wasn’t there.”

“And you believe him.”

“Yes.” I lifted my chin. “How am I supposed to believe you didn’t stage all of this? How convenient that you showed up right when Pierre…”

“You think I would let someone drug you just so I could play hero?” His voice dropped so low I barely heard it.

My back pressed harder against the glass.

“You think I would risk someone putting their hands on you…” He stopped, and his chest rose and fell faster. “That’s low, Anna.”

I looked away, and my hands unclenched slowly.

“Fine. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” I forced myself to meet his eyes again. “But I don’t know what to think when you keep doing things like this.”

“Things like what? Protecting you from yourself?”

“No.” I pushed off the window and moved sideways along the glass. “You’re trying to control every decision I make. I chose to do that photo shoot. I chose…”

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