Free The Stand Off by Z. Stefani Page A

the fresh morning air to see that her
prediction had come true. The front of the lounge had been completely
barricaded, and they had doubled the amount of roadblocks. To add insult to
injury, there were thick layers of red tape across the front and the do no
enter signs were back. All their hard work in removing the blockades had been
for naught, but she had known that before she began the task.
     
    What disturbed her most was
seeing the workmen carrying out boxes of music equipment. She watched as Floyd
headed towards her with a rather large box.
     
    “I wasn’t sure where you would
want the piano. Your sister Kiki told me that it is very valuable to you,”
Floyd said with a smile.
     
    “What the hell are you doing with
our instruments?” Lux barked at him.
     
    “Mr. Blake told us to pack up
everything in the lounge and give it all to you. He also said to make sure that
nothing got damaged in the process,” he informed her with a smile; obviously
thinking it would appease her.
     
    “I want you to put everything back where you found it right now!” She was not the least bit pleased.
     
    “I wish that I could, but I
can’t; I’m really sorry.” He shrugged and went back to work.
     
    Lux took a deep steadying breath,
trying desperately to calm down. She even began to count to ten but
unfortunately she wasn’t able to make it past three. She cursed, called Dean a
few choice names, and headed towards her car.
     
    She didn’t waste time; she drove
straight to Dean’s office. She parked her car in front, rushed into the
building, and headed to the elevator. She couldn’t get to him fast enough. She
felt her anger surge and her nerves rattle as the elevator stopped at the top
floor.
     
    She stormed past the smiling
receptionist and headed down the hall to Dean’s office. She was greeted by
Dean’s smiling secretary.
     
    “Mr. Blake is in a meeting, he
cannot be disturbed.” The secretary said.
     
    “What’s your name?” Lux asked
impatiently.
     
    “Amelia,” she answered
hesitantly.
     
    “Hi, I’m Lux. Amelia, how many
times do we have to go through this? Every time I come here, I tell you that I
have an appointment, but you still deny me entrance to his office. Every time I
come, he lets me right in, why would you think today would be any different?”
     
    “Um, because he’s in an important
meeting,” she repeated.
     
    “Isn’t every meeting important?”
     
    “Yes.” she nodded.
     
    “Then why is this one so
special?”
     
    “He’s really not in his office
this time, he’s in the boardroom,” she explained.
     
    “Just point in the direction,
I’ll take it from there,” Lux urged her.
     
    “Will you take full blame if he’s
mad?”
     
    “I would love nothing more,” she
smiled wolfishly.
     
    Amelia pointed towards the
opposite hallway. “Just keep going straight until you hit the large double
doors.”
     
    “Thanks, I’ll tell him you tried
your hardest to stop me.” She smiled as she headed in the direction that Amelia
pointed towards.
     
    It was another hallway that led
to two monstrously large, distorted-glass doors. She took a deep breath before
she grabbed the oversized, platinum door handle. She opened the door and walked
directly into the boardroom. She almost grinned, realizing Amelia wasn’t giving
the standard issued excuse this time; Dean really was in an important meeting.
     
    All five of the men sitting
around the table looked at her, but Dean raised his brow.
     
    She ignored the stares as she
walked over to stand by Dean.
     
    “Your men are trying to remove
things from my building; valuable instruments. There is also an obscene amount
of red tape on the doors preventing anyone from entering,” she spoke directly
to Dean in a controlled voice.
     
    “I told them to deliver them to
you… undamaged,” he answered.
     
    “And I told you to leave
everything where it was,” she lowered her voice.
     
    “Now is not the time,” he