The Stand Off by Z. Stefani Read Free Book Online Page A

is already blocked off with signs.” His smug smirk turned into a
full smile when she glared at him.
     
    “I’ll remove every last one of
them,” she sneered.
     
    “And my men will put them right
back up.”
     
    “You won’t win,” she vowed.
     
    “Do you want to bet on that? I
always win.”
     
    She called him a vile name under
her breath before storming out of his office and slamming the door as hard as
she could.
     
    Dean leaned back against his desk
with his arms crossed over his chest as he processed her words. No one had ever
spoken to him like that. He’d never felt such an urgent need to discipline
anyone in his life. Nor had he ever wanted to spend a little more time with
anyone. For some reason, he would have liked her to stay a while longer; he’d
enjoyed their little argument. He was caught between anger, lust, and
curiosity. He wanted to know a little more about Lux Hart.
     
    ***
     
    Lux pulled in front of her house,
got out of her car, and stood before the building; her eyes immediately going
to the door on the far left.
     
    “Asshole just doesn’t cover it,”
Lux whispered with a grimace on her face.
     
    Just as Dean had promised, the
lounge entrance was covered with signs; they had also doubled the amount of red
tape. She could feel her blood begin to re-boil. She had taken the long way
home to try to calm down after that horrific meeting. Now she was back at
square one… and now she was out for his blood.
     
    She stormed over to the entrance
and began to pull the signs down. She heard the loud familiar squeak from the
middle door, the Music hall entrance, and looked to her right to see her sister
coming towards her.
     
    “They said that if we took it
down that they will just have to put it all back up in the morning,” Pixie
said.
     
    “Let them, I‘ll just take it back
down. I will do this every day for the next fucking month!” Lux vowed as she
grabbed another long piece of red tape.
     
    “I’ll help,’ Pixie smiled as she
began to help Lux take down the signs. They heard the middle door open again
and saw Graves, Kiki, and Lolo run over.
     
    “We’ll help, too,’ Graves said.
     
    “I take it your little impromptu
meeting didn’t help?” Kiki asked.
     
    “No, it made things worse,” Lux
admitted.
     
    “We’ll fix it; everything will be
okay,” Pixie hugged her.
     
    Lux wanted to believe her, but
she knew that she would have to go to extreme measures to make everything okay
again.
     
    It didn’t take long with the five
of them working together to clear away the signs and tape.
     
    “Much better,” Pixie grinned as
she looked at the building.
     
    “It’s a temporary fix,” Lux
reminded her.
     
    “We’re going to need a lot of
garbage bags,” Lolo said.
     
    “I have a much better idea,”
Pixie smiled widely.
     
    ***
     
    Dean was trapped in the thought
of Lux and had become fixated with fucking her. He could not stop thinking
about their meeting and how close he had come to losing control. He was still
lost in thought as he locked his office and left for the evening. The curious
smile on his face disappeared when the elevator doors opened to reveal Sandy
Lens. She was a high level pest who could not comprehend rejection. She was a
statuesque, part-time model who moonlighted as a receptionist in the main
lobby. She was as beautiful as she was dull and as persistent as she was
irritating.
     
    “Hi Dean,” she purred with a
sensual smile.
     
    He stepped into the elevator,
intent on ignoring her, but that never stopped her from trying.
     
    “I was wondering if you were free
this evening?” she asked.
     
    “No,” he answered curtly.
     
    “I have two tickets to the opera;
I thought you’d be interested. What about tomorrow night?”
     
    “I’m busy,” he answered, while
staring straight ahead.
     
    “Well what about next weekend? I
could refund the tickets and rebuy them for next weekend.”
     
    “I’m busy.”
     
    “Next