The CEO Above My Desk Chapter 143

***Violet***

Devin steps fully inside and closes the distance between us. Fast. Controlled. Focused.

“What happened?” he asks.

I don’t answer right away.

Instead... I lift my phone slowly. Turn the screen toward him. And press stop.

The recording ends. The timer freezes.

His eyes drop to it. Then snap back to mine.

And for the first time since I’ve known him, Devin actually looks impressed.

“Tell me,” he says carefully… “…that you didn’t just do what I think you did.”

I tilt my head slightly. “I’m observant,” I remind him.

A slow, dangerous smile spreads across his face. “Jesus Christ,” he mutters. Then quieter—“I now see why Rowan loves you.”

Something in my chest tightens at that.

I ignore it.

Devin straightens, already shifting gears, already thinking ten steps ahead. “Alright,” he says, brisk now. “Walk me through everything. Start from the moment I left the room.”

I exhale slowly, forcing myself back into it.

“They repeated the same questions,” I say. “Timeline. Courthouse. Boutique. Who paid. Which card. Names of employees.”

His eyes narrow slightly. “Fishing for inconsistencies.”

“Yes.”

“Good,” he mutters. “You didn’t give them any?”

“No.”

He nods once. “Good.”

I continue, “Then they escalated. Three of them. Pressuring. Interrupting. Trying to trip me up.”

His jaw tightens. “And?”

“I profiled them.”

That gets his attention.

“How?”

I shrug slightly. “Pointed out what they were doing wrong. Their tells. Personal things.”

His brows lift just slightly. “You destabilized them.”

“I made them uncomfortable.”

“Same thing,” he says. “What happened next?”

“They got defensive,” I reply. “Started talking over each other. Then someone knocked on the glass.”

His expression sharpens. “Who?”

“I couldn’t see. They left immediately.”

“And then?” he presses.

I hold his gaze. “And then Hargrove walked in.”

Silence. Not loud. Not explosive.

Just… still.

Dangerously still.

Devin’s entire posture changes.

“With Avery,” I add.

That does it.

“What the fuck is she doing in here?” Devin snaps, turning halfway toward the door like he’s about to drag someone back in by their throat.

“She said I caused a mess,” I continue, ignoring the way my pulse picks up again just thinking about it. “Said I embarrassed her. That this was about control.”

Devin’s jaw flexes. “Of course it is.”

“She admitted it,” I say quietly.

He freezes. “Admitted what?”

“That she ‘removed obstacles.’” I don’t break eye contact. “Didn’t deny Calder. Didn’t deny anything.”

A slow, dangerous silence fills the room.

“And Avery?” he asks.

“Backing her,” I say. “Running her mouth. Acting like she belongs in that world.”

Devin lets out a sharp breath through his nose.

“Where the hell is her assistant?” he mutters.

I blink. “What?”

“Hargrove doesn’t go anywhere without her assistant,” he says, already thinking out loud. “Older woman. Always present. Always managing access, conversations, optics.”

I shake my head. “It was just them.”

“That’s a problem,” he says immediately.

“How?”

“It means this wasn’t official,” Devin says. “This wasn’t scheduled. This wasn’t controlled through her usual channels.” He looks back at me. “This was impulsive.”

That sends a chill through me.

“She wanted to see me,” I say slowly.

“No,” he corrects. “She wanted to assess damage.”

“She didn’t expect you to push back,” he continues. “She didn’t expect you to be a variable.”

My fingers tighten slightly around my phone. “Well,” I say quietly, “I think I surprised her.”

Devin lets out a short, humorless laugh. “You did more than that.” He steps closer again, eyes dropping briefly to my phone before returning to my face. “Tell me exactly what you have on that recording.”

I unlock the screen and scroll slightly, pulling up the waveform. “Everything,” I say. “From the detectives pushing me… to her admitting she removes obstacles… to Avery backing her.”

His eyes darken. “Do they know?” he asks.

I shake my head slowly. “No.”

“Good.” He straightens, already pulling his phone out, already moving. “Because if they don’t know,” he says, dialing, “then we control when they find out.”

My stomach flips. “Devin…”

He glances at me. “Yeah?”

“What happens now?”

His expression doesn’t soften. Not even a little. “We stop reacting,” he says. “We start destroying them.”

“Come on,” he says, already turning toward the door, phone against his ear.

I grab my phone and follow him out into the hallway, the shift from that room hitting me all at once. The air feels different out here. Louder. Colder. Real again.

“Yes,” he says sharply. “I need internal audio from Interview Room Three. Full recording. Time stamped from the moment my client was placed in that room.”

Pause.

“No, I don’t care if it’s ‘pending authorization.’ Get authorization.”

We turn the corner.

Fast.

He doesn’t slow.

“This is a procedural issue,” he continues. “Unauthorized access to a witness during an active investigation. I want the audio before anyone has a chance to ‘lose’ it.”

That word lands hard.

Lose.

Like files disappear.

Like truth gets buried.

Like Hargrove expects.

“Good,” he says into the phone. “Send it directly to me. Not through department channels.”

He hangs up.

And that’s when I see him.

Rowan.

Standing in the hallway like he never belonged in that room to begin with.

Marcus is beside him, one hand still lightly at Rowan’s arm, though it looks more like habit than necessity now.

Rowan’s eyes find me instantly.

Everything else fades again for just a second.

He scans me. Head to toe. Checking. Always checking.

I don’t realize I’ve moved until I’m already closing the distance.

“I’m fine,” I say before he can ask.

His jaw tightens slightly. “I didn’t ask.”

Of course he didn’t. But he still looks relieved. Just for a second. Then it’s gone.

Marcus exhales like he’s been dealing with both of us all night and is two seconds from walking into traffic. “Your alibis check out,” he says, looking between us. “Courthouse. Boutique. Security footage. Multiple witnesses.”

Theo’s voice echoes from down the hall. “I told you!”

“Quiet,” Camille snaps somewhere behind him.

Marcus continues, ignoring them. “For now, you’re clear.”

“For now,” Rowan repeats.

Marcus gives him a look. “Don’t make me regret saying that.”

Rowan doesn’t respond.

He just steps closer to me.

Close enough that his presence settles around me like something solid again.

“However,” Marcus adds, “you are not to leave town.”

Rowan’s eyes flick to him. “My residence is in the next town over.”

Marcus closes his eyes briefly. **“Rowan.”**