The CEO Above My Desk (Mckenzie Shinabery) novel Chapter 121

Chapter 121

Rowan

I see it the moment it happens.

Everyone else is still moving. Camille typing like her keyboard owes her money, Theo pacing while he mutters about shell corporations, Devin’s voice crackling through Rowan’s phone as he asks for file numbers, but Violet has gone completely

still.

Not calm. Still. The kind of still that means the mind has gone somewhere else entirely.

Her arms are folded tight across her stomach, shoulders rigid, eyes fixed on Camille’s monitors but not actually reading a

single word on them.

Shutdown.

I push my chair back slowly and stand. No one notices when I move toward her. Except her.

“Come with me,” I say quietly.

She doesn’t argue. That’s how I know something is wrong.

She follows me out of the kitchen and down the hallway, away from the glow of Camille’s screens and the low hum of conversation. The farther we walk, the quieter the house becomes until it’s just the two of us and the faint ticking of the

security system somewhere in the walls.

I stop near the tall windows overlooking the dark lawn.

For a moment neither of us speaks.

Then I ask the question anyway.

“Are you okay?”

She answers instantly. “I’m fine.”

The words come too fast. Too rehearsed.

I turn toward her fully. “No,” I say calmly. “You’re not.”

Her chin lifts slightly. “I said I’m fine.”

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Chapter 121

“You’re lying.”

Her eyes flash. “I’m not.”

“Yes,” I reply evenly. “You are. So, I’m going to ask you again. Are you okay?”

She exhales sharply through her nose. “Why do you keep asking me that?” she snaps. “I already answered you.”

“Because I know you.”

She lets out a short, incredulous laugh.

“Oh really?”

“Yes.”

Her arms fold tighter.

“Well congratulations then, Rowan,” she says, her voice dripping with irritation. “I’m fine. That’s the answer. End of

discussion.”

I watch her carefully for a few seconds.

Then I take a slow step toward her.

“You’re not fine,” I repeat quietly. “And you’re going to stop pretending you are before I bend you over my knee and make

you talk.”

Her eyes widen in pure shock.

“You did not just say that.”

“There it is,” I murmur.

“What?”

“The real reaction.”

Her mouth opens, then closes.

And suddenly the dam breaks.

“Oh my god, Rowan, this is insane!” she explodes, throwing her hands in the air. “All of it! Every single piece of this is insane!”

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Chapter 121

Her voice cracks with frustration as she starts pacing.

“The ring, the stupid fucking contract you want me to sign, the fact that some psychopath detective who assaulted me is

still walking around somewhere, and now this-”

She gestures wildly back toward the kitchen.

“Now there’s political corruption and murder and my brother was apparently some undercover informant and-”

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Her breathing starts to shake.

“And those pictures!” she blurts out. “Those stupid pictures of you and Avery floating around like blackmail ammunition!”

I stay where I am, letting her talk.

She runs both hands through her hair.

“I can’t do this,” she says, her voice rising again. “Do you understand that? I cannot handle all of this at once.”

Her eyes finally meet mine again.

“I hate losing control,” she admits, her voice breaking slightly. “Almost as much as you do.”

That sentence hits harder than everything else she’s said.

She exhales slowly.

“The only reason I’m still standing in that kitchen pretending to function is because I’m saving whatever strength I have

left for work,” she says.

Her shoulders sag.

“I’m so close to just saying screw it,” she admits. “Quit my job. Move across the country. Disappear from all of this.”

My jaw tightens.

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The CEO Above My Desk