The CEO Above My Desk (Mckenzie Shinabery) novel Chapter 78

Chapter 78

“Devin.” I say.

He straightens slightly. “Yes?”

“Take a look at something for me.”

I rotate the monitor toward him and stand, giving him my chair. He doesn’t sit right away. He reads standing, one hand

braced on the desk, the other scrolling carefully.

The room fills with the faint sound of text moving upward.

Seconds pass.

Then more.

He doesn’t speak. His face doesn’t give much away at first, but I know him too well. I recognize the moment his jaw

tightens. The moment his brows draw together, not in confusion, but in concern.

Finally, he looks up at me.

And there it is.

Disapproval. Clean and sharp in his eyes.

“Are you okay?” he asks quietly.

I don’t hesitate. “I’m fine.”

That answer doesn’t satisfy him. It never does.

He turns the monitor back toward me and gestures at it.

“Yes.”

u’re really going to do this.”

It’s not defensive. It’s not angry. It’s simply a fact.

Devin exhales through his nose and rubs a hand over his mouth. “Rowan.”

“Don’t,” I warn.

He ignores it. “This isn’t a contingency plan. This isn’t protection. This is

permanent.”

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Chapter 78

“That’s the point.”

His eyes flick toward the security wall instinctively, then back to me. “She hasn’t agreed to anything.”

“Yet.”

His lips press into a thin line. “And if she says no.”

I meet his gaze. “She won’t.”

He studies me for a long moment. “That confidence worries me.”

Before I can respond, a sharp electronic chirp cuts through the room.

Both of us turn.

The security system lights up, pulling the driveway feed to the main screen automatically.

A black SUV rolls through the gate, smooth and controlled. It stops precisely where it should. The doors open.

Violet steps out first.

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My chest tightens, instant and unhelpful. T

She looks smaller than she did this morning. Wrapped in herself. Camille is immediately at her side, hand brushing her arm, guiding her forward. Theo follows close behind, scanning the perimeter like he’s expecting the world to lunge.

They move toward the house.

Safe. On schedule. Exactly where I told them to be.

Devin sighs softly beside me.

“You’re missing something,” he says.

I don’t

from the screen. “Enlighten me.”

He watches Violet for another second, then turns to face me fully. “You’re building this like a fortress. Legal. Financial. Physical. Control layered on top of control.”

“That’s how you survive,” I reply.

“That’s how you own a battlefield,” he counters. “Not how you keep a person.”

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Chapter 78

I finally look at him.

His expression isn’t angry. It isn’t accusatory.

It’s… knowing.

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“What exactly do you think I’m missing?” I ask.

He smiles then. Not amused. Not smug. Just sharp enough to hurt.

“Consent isn’t the same thing as surrender,” he says. “And affection doesn’t come from contracts, no matter how airtight

they are.”

I scoff. “You think I don’t know that?”

“I think,” he says carefully, “that you’re used to people needing you more than they want you. And Violet is not built that

way.”

The front door opens on the screen. Camille ushers Violet inside, still talking animatedly, probably distracting her with something ridiculous. Theo lingers a second longer, glancing up at the cameras like he knows he’s being watched.

Then they’re gone from view.

The house absorbs them.

I feel it settle in my bones.

Devin steps away from the desk. “Think real hard about what you’re going to need to make this work,” he says. “Not

legally. Not strategically.”

I don’t respond.

He heads for the door, pausing with his hand on the handle.

“And Rowan?”

“Yes.”

“If you push too hard, she won’t bend.”

The door clicks shut behind him.

I’m alone again.

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I turn back to the monitor, to the quiet document waiting patiently for my next move.

Think real hard.

Fine.

I lean forward, elbows on the desk, fingers steepled.

Because Devin is right about one thing.

If I want Violet to choose me, really choose me, then power alone won’t be enough.

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10:42 Sat, May 9 M

The CEO Above My Desk

Chapter 79