The CEO Above My Desk (Mckenzie Shinabery) novel Chapter 104

Chapter 104

Violet

The car barely rolls to a stop before I see them.

Vans.

Tripods.

Clusters of people packed along the sidewalk in front of Ashcroft Industries like they’ve been waiting for hours.

My stomach drops.

“Oh my God,” Camille mutters beside me.

Cameras are already turning.

Microphones lifting.

The moment the car door opens, the shouting begins.

“Mr. Ashcroft!”

“Miss Pierce!”

Flash.

Flash.

Flash.

Theo sighs heavily from the front seat. “Well, That escalated overnight.”

Rowan opens the door first.

And the crowd surges forward.

Security immediately steps between us and the reporters, but it barely slows them.

“Mr. Ashcroft, are you hiding a key witness in an Internal Affairs investigation?”

“Miss Pierce, are you romantically involved with your boss?”

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My face heats instantly.

“Did Ashcroft influence your testimony against Detective Calder?”

Another voice cuts through the chaos.

“Is that why he carried you into his house?”

Cameras fire in rapid bursts.

The flashes are blinding.

Rowan steps out fully, his posture calm and controlled, but the energy around him shifts immediately.

His hand comes to the small of my back as I step out beside him.

Not guiding.

Anchoring.

“Stay with me,” he murmurs.

The press pushes closer.

Too close.

A microphone nearly hits my shoulder.

“Miss Pierce, are you being coerced into cooperating with Internal Affairs?”

“Did Ashcroft isolate you from investigators?”

“Is he controlling your testimony?”

My chest tightens.

Someone shouts from the back of the crowd.

“Blink twice if you need help!”

Laughter ripples through a few reporters.

My throat closes.

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Chapter 104

Rowan’s arm tightens around my back instantly.

Theo steps forward beside him. “Back up. Now.”

But the reporters don’t move.

They surge closer.

“Mr. Ashcroft, are you paying her?”

“Did you compensate Miss Pierce for cooperating against Detective Calder?”

The words slam into me like a punch.

Rowan stops walking.

Just for a second.

Theo notices immediately.

“Rowan,” he warns under his breath.

Rowan turns his head slowly toward the crowd.

His expression is calm.

But the air around him turns sharp.

“If you touch her again with a microphone,” he says evenly, his voice carrying clearly over the noise, “I will have every one of you removed from this property.”

The reporters hesitate.

Only for a second.

Then the shouting starts again.

“Mr. Ashcroft, is this a conflict of interest?”

“Miss Pierce, are you financially dependent on your employer?”

Rowan doesn’t answer.

He simply keeps walking.

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Security finally forces a path through the crowd toward the glass entrance doors of the building.

A journalist near the front shouts:

“Miss Pierce! Is this why Internal Affairs froze your accounts?”

My feet stop.

Everything in me locks.

The words slam into my chest like a physical blow.

Rowan hears it too.

His head turns sharply toward the reporter.

For a moment the world feels like it tilts sideways.

Frozen.

My accounts?

What?

Panic spikes instantly.

“Inside,” he says quietly.

Security pushes harder, creating a narrow corridor through the chaos.

We reach the glass doors.

Someone shouts again behind us.

“Miss Pierce, did Ashcroft pay you?”

The doors slam shut behind us.

The noise outside drops to a muffled roar.

But my heart is still racing.

“What the hell did he mean?” I whisper.

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Rowan looks at me, brows pulling slightly together.

“I don’t know,” he says.

Theo exhales slowly beside us. “Let’s get upstairs.”

The lobby is quieter, but not calm.

Employees are staring.

Phones are already out.

People whisper as we pass.

We step into the private elevator and ride up to the executive floor in silence.

The moment the doors open, Rowan turns toward his office with Theo already speaking quietly beside him.

Camille and I head toward the reception desk.

But the journalist’s words won’t leave my head.

Is this why Internal Affairs froze your accounts?

My hands start shaking.

“That can’t be right,” I mutter.

Camille glances over. “What?”

I drop my bag beside the desk and immediately pull out my phone.

My banking app opens.

The loading wheel spins.

Then the screen changes.

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The CEO Above My Desk