The CEO Above My Desk (Mckenzie Shinabery) novel Chapter 53

Chapter 53

Violet

She’s enjoying this. She’s not here for truth–she’s here for reaction.

Camille’s voice cuts in. “Give it back.”

The journalist laughs. “No.”

Theo’s patience snaps like a rubber band. “Lady, you’re about three seconds away from being carried out like a folding

chair.”

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“Touch me,” she says, and her phone appears in her hand like a weapon, “and your company gets a lawsuit, a headline, and

a trending hashtag.”

Theo smiles without humor. “I’ve survived worse than a hashtag.”

“Then why are you sweating?” she shoots back.

Theo’s smile widens. “Because you smell like desperation and cheap perfume, and it’s a lot at three in the afternoon.”

Camille chokes.

The journalist’s eyes flash. “Classy.”

Theo shrugs. “You started it.”

I keep my gaze on the paper. The wrong paper. The fake draft with the too–right note.

Which means someone knows my internal shorthand.

Or someone has been watching me use it.

My skin crawls.

“I’m going to ask you once more,” I say calmly, sliding the papers back across the desk without touching them more than necessary. “Leave.”

She doesn’t.

She leans in. “Is it true that Councilwoman Hargrove has been using Ashcroft Industries as a private funding channel?”

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Chapter 53

“All media inquiries-”

“Are handled through legal,” she finishes again, and now her voice is sharper, meaner. “Yeah. But here’s the thing. Legal

didn’t write this.”

She taps the margin note. “You did.”

My throat tightens.

Theo’s head turns slowly toward me. “Violet.”

Camille’s gaze darts between us, confused.

I don’t blink. I don’t give the journalist anything.

“You’re reaching,” I say.

“No,” she says, and her bright reporter mask slips for half a second, showing something colder underneath. “I’m

confirming.”

“How?” I ask.

She smiles again, too smooth. “Because you’re careful. You’re not the type to leak. Which means someone else did.

Someone with access.”

My spine stiffens.

Theo’s voice is low. “Okay. That’s enough.”

The journalist’s eyes flick to him. “Oh? You’re going to throw me out now?”

“I’m going to have security throw you out,” Theo corrects. “And then legal will contact your editor.”

She laughs. “Do it. You think that scares me?”

“It should,” a new voice says.

Rowan Ashcroft steps into the lobby.

The air shifts immediately.

He doesn’t rush. He doesn’t posture. He simply arrives, and the building rearranges itself around him like it knows who

owns it.

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Chapter 53

He doesn’t look at the journalist first.

He looks at me.

Just once.

A silent question.

Are you okay? Are you contained? Did she touch you? Did she get anything?

I give a small nod.

Then he turns to her.

“What do you want?” Rowan asks.

Relief flashes across her face like she’s been trying to get past the receptionist wall and finally found the door.

“Mr. Ashcroft,” she says, voice bright again. “Finally. I’m just trying to get a statement regarding-”

“You have none,” he says.

Her smile falters.

She holds up the papers. “I was told there were financial irregularities-”

“You were lied to,” Rowan replies calmly. “And you’re done here.”

Her jaw tightens. “Are you threatening me?”

“No,” Rowan says. “I’m informing you.”

She straightens, trying to regain control. “The public deserves transparency.”

“The public deserves facts,” Rowan replies. “Not fishing expeditions.”

She turns the papers toward him like she’s offering proof. “These speak for themselves.”

Rowan doesn’t take them.

He doesn’t even glance at the numbers.

He looks at the margin note.

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Chapter 53

The exact line that made my stomach twist.

Blue tags for allies. Red tags for liabilities.

His eyes narrow.

Just slightly.

So he knows.

Not the system–he knows that this is a detail that shouldn’t be in anyone else’s hands.

The journalist catches the micro–expression and pounces.

“That,” she says, voice quick, “is from your internal workflow. Your staff uses it to categorize—”

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