The CEO Above My Desk Chapter 133

***Rowan***

“You’ll fit into my world just fine.”

The words leave my mouth low and certain, and I mean every one of them.

She stands there wrapped in nothing but a towel, damp skin still flushed from the bath, hair slightly wet, eyes bright with leftover anger and something sharper underneath it. She had marched into my office half-naked and dismantled Theo in under five minutes.

Most people in that room would’ve hesitated.

She didn’t.

Most people would’ve worried about timing, politics, consequences.

She didn’t.

She saw a problem.

She handled it.

And God help me, I liked watching it.

My hand stays on her waist, thumb brushing once against the towel where it’s tucked securely now. Her breathing shifts almost imperceptibly.

Good.

She feels this too.

I’m already deciding whether I drag her downstairs, throw her over my shoulder, or lock the loft door and keep her exactly where she is when footsteps pound up the stairs.

Fast.

Uncontrolled.

Annoying.

Theo appears first.

Which already tells me I’m about to hate whatever comes next.

He rounds the top of the stairs, breathing harder than necessary, eyes wide in a way I’ve only seen a handful of times in our lives.

Behind him, Camille is climbing slower, one hand gripping the railing, the other pressed over her mouth.

My hand leaves Violet’s waist immediately.

Not because I want it to.

Because I’m assessing.

“What?” I snap.

Theo points behind himself toward Camille like language has temporarily failed him.

“She—”

He stops.

Tries again.

“She said—”

Still nothing.

Useless.

Camille reaches the loft and glares at him. “If you don’t stop talking like a broken lawn mower, I swear to God.”

Then she looks at Violet.

Then at me.

And says the sentence no one in the room is prepared for.

“I’m pregnant.”

Silence detonates.

Theo closes his eyes.

Violet blinks once.

Twice.

Then lights up.

“Oh my God!”

She lunges forward, towel barely surviving the movement, and grabs Camille’s hands.

“You’re pregnant?”

Camille nods once, already emotional. “Apparently.”

Theo opens his eyes again and stares at her like she just announced she’s carrying classified military codes.

“Apparently?” he repeats. “Apparently?”

She throws him a look. “Yes, apparently. I found out thirty minutes ago, Theodore.”

My jaw tightens.

Theodore.

He’s in trouble.

Good.

Violet turns to Theo so fast I almost laugh.

“You knew?”

“No!” he says immediately. “I knew something was wrong downstairs because she looked like she was going to either cry or stab me.”

“Both were on the table,” Camille mutters.

My eyes stay on Theo.

Because he looks terrified.

Actually terrified.

Not of fatherhood.

Of failing.

Interesting.

Violet squeezes Camille’s hands again, glowing now in a way I haven’t seen all day. The grief, the stress, the fear—briefly eclipsed by joy for someone else.

And there it is again.

That thing she does.

Walks into chaos and brings life with her.

Dangerous quality.

Addictive one too.

Theo looks at me like I’m supposed to help.

I don’t.

“You did this,” I tell him flatly.

His jaw drops. “That’s your opening statement?”

“It’s accurate.”

Camille snorts despite herself.

Violet laughs outright.

The room loosens a fraction.

Theo points at me. “You are the least supportive person alive.”

“And yet,” I say, “I’m still not the one who forgot how consequences work.”

He drags a hand down his face.

“I did not forget how consequences work.”

Camille folds her arms. “You literally stared at the test for two full minutes and asked if it could be expired.”

“It could be.”

“It was digital.”

“That means nothing to me.”

Violet starts laughing harder, one hand clutching the towel, the other covering her mouth.

I stare at Theo.

“You’re embarrassing the bloodline.”

“We’re not royalty,” he snaps.

“Speak for yourself.”

Camille wipes under her eyes, smiling now despite the nerves.

Then the smile fades.

Subtle.

Fast.

But I catch it.

So does Violet.

She softens instantly. “Hey.”

Camille looks away. “I don’t know what to do.”

Theo stills.

There it is.

The real problem.

Not pregnancy.

Fear.

Violet glances at me once, then steps aside, creating space between them.

Smart woman.

Theo takes one step toward Camille.

Then another.

No jokes now.

No swagger.

Just stripped-down honesty.

“I’m an idiot,” he says.

Camille huffs softly. “Correct.”

“I’ve been distracted.”

“Also correct.”

“I thought helping them”—he gestures vaguely toward me and Violet—“was the priority.”

“It was a priority,” she says quietly. “Not the priority.”

He nods immediately.

No defense.

Good.

“You should’ve been beside me,” she says, voice cracking. “And I felt like I was standing behind everyone else.”

That lands harder than anything.

Theo’s face changes.

He crosses the rest of the distance and drops to a knee in front of her so fast it surprises even me.

“Look at me.”

She hesitates.

Then does.

“You are not behind anyone,” he says. “Not Rowan. Not Violet. Not work. Not anything.”

His voice shakes slightly.

Interesting.

“You are the person I go home to. You are the person I think about when I wake up. You are the reason I’m trying to keep everything standing.”

Camille starts crying again.

Theo looks panicked.

Wrong reaction.

Violet elbows me lightly without looking.

I step in.

“She’s crying because you did well,” I say.

“Oh.”

Theo looks relieved. “Okay.”

Then back to Camille.

“I love you,” he says. “I’ve loved you. I’m just stupid under pressure.”

“Also correct,” she sniffles.

“And if you’re pregnant…”

He exhales shakily.

I say nothing.

Because Violet is smiling.

Fully.

Brightly.

And that is currently the most distracting thing in the room.

She turns back toward me, towel slipping dangerously low on one side.

My mood shifts instantly.

Enough family theater.

Enough emotional breakthroughs.

Enough of Theo reproducing.

I step forward, grip the towel, retighten it with efficient hands, then haul her against my chest.

She gasps softly.

I lean down to her ear. “Congratulations to them,” I murmur. My hand settles at her lower back. “Now everyone out of my office.”

Theo, still kissing Camille, lifts a hand blindly. “Fair.”

I guide Violet backward toward the bedroom door.

She looks up at me, amused. “You’re jealous of attention.”

“No.”

I open the door behind us.

Then look directly at Theo.

“I’m irritated he keeps interrupting my wife.”