The CEO Above My Desk (Mckenzie Shinabery) novel Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Theo drives in silence, eyes fixed on the road.

The quiet stretches.

It presses.

“Am I really a suspect?” I ask finally.

The words come out flat, like I’m asking about the weather.

Camille doesn’t answer right away.

“They’ll try to make you one,” she says at last.

The truth hits harder than I expect. Harder than if she’d lied.

My throat tightens. “But I didn’t-”

“I know,” she interrupts. “I know you didn’t.”

“That doesn’t seem to matter.”

“No,” she agrees quietly. “It doesn’t. Not to men like him.”

She exhales sharply, anger flashing across her face. “If I had five minutes alone with Calder, I’d knock that smug look right off his face.”

I let out a weak breath that almost sounds like a laugh. Almost.

“He doesn’t get to do this,” Camille continues, voice rising. “He doesn’t get to look at you like that, like you’re something he needs to crack. I swear, if he

pushes this-

“Camille,” I say.

She stops, glancing at me. “What?”

“It’s not helping.”

Her expression falters.

“I know you’re trying,” I add. “But it just makes it worse.”

She swallows, nodding once. “Okay. Okay. I’m sorry.”

The car hums quietly again.

I stare out the window, city lights streaking past, my reflection faint and unfamiliar in the glass. I don’t look like myself. I don’t feel like myself.

“They asked me why I was dressed like that,” I say suddenly. “Like it meant something.”

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Chapter 16

Camille’s jaw tightens. “That’s bullshit.”

“I know.” My hands twist together. “But they keep looking for something that isn’t there.”

Theo speaks for the first time. “Rowan won’t let them steamroll you.”

I don’t respond.

Because I don’t know what that protection costs yet.

And because as much as I want to believe it-

Right now, all I can think about is how easily they decided I might be capable of this.

How quickly everything I’ve held together could be taken apart.

Theo pulls into Camille’s driveway and cuts the engine. The house sits dark and quiet, porch light glowing soft and steady like it’s been waiting for us.

He gets out first, jogging around to open the back door before I can reach for the handle.

“Careful,” he says automatically, offering a hand.

I take it, mostly because my legs still feel like they belong to someone else.

Theo swallows. “Bye.”

“Bye,” Camille says.

He lingers another half-second, then turns and heads back to the car.

I watch him go.

I watch the way Camille exhales once the taillights disappear down the street.

And I understand.

Not because they say anything. Not because they touch.

Because I know what it looks like when two people are careful with something fragile.

They’re in love.

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The CEO Above My Desk