The CEO Above My Desk Chapter 156

***Rowan***

The loft feels like a war room.

Phones ringing.

Screens glowing.

Security footage paused across three different monitors while Devin paces behind me talking to legal like he’s seconds away from committing homicide through sheer professionalism alone.

Theo is leaned over the conference table with both hands braced against the surface, staring at blueprints of the parking structure while one of our security managers talks through damage reports over speakerphone.

I’m done listening to excuses. “No,” I say flatly. “Try that sentence again, and this time pretend you enjoy continued employment.”

Silence crackles over the line.

The security manager swallows audibly. “Sir, the lower access point cameras failed approximately ninety seconds before the detonation.”

“Failed,” I repeat slowly.

“Yes, sir.”

I lean back in my chair slightly, rubbing my thumb against my jaw while trying very hard not to put my fist through the table. “Interesting.”

Nobody speaks. Because everyone in this room knows that tone.

Theo glances at Devin briefly.

Devin just sighs and keeps typing.

“Tell me,” I continue calmly, “how exactly does a multimillion-dollar security system ‘fail’ ninety seconds before an explosion?”

“Sir, we’re investigating—”

“No, you’re unemployed.”

The man goes silent instantly.

I continue before he can start begging. “Effective immediately, your access is revoked. Security credentials terminated. Legal will contact you tomorrow.”

“Mr. Ashcroft, please—”

I hang up.

Theo exhales loudly. “Jesus Christ.”

“He’s lucky I’m only firing him.”

“That was only partially his fault,” Devin mutters without looking up from his tablet.

“And the Titanic only partially sank.”

Theo snorts despite himself.

I stand abruptly from the chair and walk toward the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city.

Smoke still curls faintly in the distance. My building. My company. My employees.

Someone touched what belongs to me tonight. Someone got close enough to make a statement. That thought alone makes something vicious twist inside my chest.

Behind me, Devin’s phone rings again.

He answers immediately. “Ashcroft legal.”

Pause.

Then his expression darkens. “Oh, absolutely go fuck yourself.”

Theo bursts out laughing.

I turn slightly. “Who?”

“Insurance.”

“Ah.” That explains it.

Devin pinches the bridge of his nose. “No, we’re not waiting seventy-two business hours before initiating structural review. The building exploded, Susan.”

Another pause. His eye twitches. “No, Susan, I don’t care about protocol right now. I care about not becoming the next fucking skyscraper memorial downtown.”

Theo fully loses it at that point, laughing into his hand while Devin glares murderously at the phone.

I almost smile. Almost.

Then another monitor flashes. New alert. Building media mentions increasing.

My jaw tightens immediately. “Pull it up.”

Theo taps the keyboard. News coverage floods the screen instantly. Reporters outside the barricades. Speculation. Commentary.

Then Hargrove’s face appears again. And just like that, every ounce of humor evaporates.

Theo mutters, “That woman really does look like she drinks children’s tears recreationally.”

“Probably through a wine glass,” Devin adds.

I stare at the screen coldly while Hargrove speaks carefully about “public safety concerns” and “continued instability surrounding Ashcroft Industries.”

“Oh, she can absolutely eat glass,” Theo mutters.

My phone vibrates again.

Mayor.

I answer immediately. “What?”

“You sound pleasant,” the mayor sighs.

“My building exploded.”

“Yes, I’m aware.”

“Then you understand why my patience is currently hanging by a very thin fucking thread.”

The mayor exhales slowly. “We’re containing it.”

“No,” I correct coldly. “You’re attempting to contain it.”

Silence.

Then, carefully, “We’ve already activated federal oversight.”

“And somehow my parking structure still exploded.”

“We don’t know if this was connected yet.”

I actually laugh at that. A dark, humorless sound. “Really?” I ask quietly. “Because I can think of several people who suddenly developed explosive hobbies the second my wife became inconvenient.”

Theo winces slightly from across the room.

The mayor sighs heavily. “Rowan—”

“No,” I cut in sharply. “I am done pretending this city isn’t rotting from the inside out.”

The loft goes silent around me. Even Devin stops typing. Because they know. They know exactly how close I am to snapping completely.

“You asked me to trust the system,” I continue. “The system interrogated my wife, altered recordings, allowed a councilwoman into an active investigation, and now my fucking company exploded.”

The mayor stays quiet. Smart man.

I turn back toward the windows slowly.

The city glows beneath me. Corrupt. Filthy. Mine.

“You have forty-eight hours,” I say quietly.

“For what?”

“To make me believe your city deserves saving.”

Silence.

Then, “…That sounded vaguely threatening.”

“It was extremely threatening.”

Theo snorts loudly.

The mayor sighs again. “Jesus Christ.”

“No,” I say calmly. “At this point, I’m pretty sure even He’s avoiding this mess.”

I hang up before he can respond.

The loft falls silent again. Heavy. Tense.

Theo slowly leans back in his chair. “So,” he says carefully, “we’re at supervillain levels now, huh?”

I look at him flatly. “My building exploded.”

“Fair.”

Devin’s tablet buzzes again. He reads the message. Then grimaces.

“What now?” I ask.

“Stock dropped three percent.”

I stare at him. Then laugh once under my breath. Not because it’s funny. Because at this point the universe clearly enjoys testing me.

“Wonderful,” I mutter. “Maybe tomorrow someone will set my yacht on fire for dramatic consistency.”

“You don’t own a yacht,” Theo points out.

“I might buy one now just so someone else can explode it instead.”

That actually gets a real laugh out of Devin. Short. Exhausted. Borderline unhinged.

Another call comes through. Internal security this time.

I answer immediately. “What?”

“Sir,” the man says quickly, “we recovered partial footage before the cameras cut.”

Every muscle in my body tightens instantly.

Theo sits upright. Devin freezes.

“And?” I ask quietly.

The man hesitates. Never a good sign.

“Sir… I think this was coordinated.”

My expression darkens slowly. No shit. But the way he says it.... The fear in his voice... That means he found something worse. Something deliberate. Something planned.

My grip tightens around the phone hard enough to hurt. “Send me everything,” I say.

Then colder... “And if anyone leaks a single frame before I authorize it, I will personally turn their future into a documentary about consequences.”