The Stand Off (19 page)

He wanted to stop her, but he
could not bring himself to even speak. He sat trapped in his own body as her
words echoed through his head. He was torn as he watched her leave his office.
For the first time in his life, a relationship seemed like the lesser of two
evils. Losing Lux due to his fear of commitment seemed as destructive as a
bullet to the brain. His mind raced and his cock became erect as he sat there
slightly stupefied.

He couldn’t allow it to end; he
was not ready to let her go.

There was a huge celebratory
party at the lounge, and everyone was invited. Everyone was excited and ready
to celebrate, except Lux. She was replaying her meeting with Dean over and over
again in her mind. She was thinking about the things he had said as well as all
of the things he had done. He’d given her the building.

As much as she denied it, she
could feel herself falling for him. It was a fool’s journey, one that could
only bring heartache. He could never love her in return; he was incapable of
that emotion, he’d said so himself. He was not made for monogamy, and she
couldn’t allow herself to be hurt. She didn’t want to have sex again, she
didn’t want to see him, and she didn’t want to talk. She especially did not
want to reread one his descriptive texts; his dirty mind would be her undoing.

Who was she fooling? She wanted
to get in her car, race over to his house, slam down his door, and fuck him
until she felt better or until she passed out.

“Fuck that! I am not a piece of
fuck-able meat at his disposal. I know what he’s about; I know what he does to
women.” She paced back and forth.

“Who cares, I should just fuck
him anyway. I don’t really need a relationship; I’ve done fine without one thus
far. I do have the music hall after all!”
She headed to the door and
stopped.

“No! He’s bad. He’s poison!
He’s uncontrollable; he stomps on hearts like ants. He’s been doing it for
years. This is how he plays his game; he lures them in just like he’s luring
you. You have no future with him, he said so himself,”
she stopped and
looked in the mirror, her eyes darting straight to her mother’s picture.

Her mother had finally gotten
back on her feet after what her father had done to her. Her father had been a
womanizer, too, and it had broken her mother down. His womanizing ways had led
to his early demise, which destroyed Pax.

“You vowed to never be like
that, stop now while you’re ahead. Stop now before you’re broken hearted over a
man who puts you in the same category as the countless women he’s fucked. Stop
before someone gets hurt.”

She would force herself to stop
feeling right now. As of this very second, she would never think of him again.

Never!

Lux heard her bedroom door open
and turned to see her sister. Pixie was dressed in an extravagant fluorescent
orange body suit with lots of platinum jewelry and white platforms that made
Lux dizzy just looking at them.

“Why aren’t you in the lounge
celebrating with us?” Pixie asked with a slight frown.

“I’ll be down in a minute,” Lux
replied.

“What’s wrong?” Pixie asked as
she walked over to Lux.

“Nothing,” Lux replied, trying to
keep her face expressionless.

“You can’t lie to me, sister
dear, I know you. I’m not leaving until you tell me what’s wrong.” Pixie sat on
the bed.

“You know me too well,” Lux said
before she sat next to Pixie on the bed.

“Is it Dean?”

Lux stared at her sister for a
moment before she answered, “Yes. It’s all pointless.”

“What’s pointless?”

“Everything is. Pursuing Dean
is,” Lux answered honestly.

“I’m shocked that you would
pursue anyone… you never have. I don’t think you should give up on Dean just
yet.”

“It would be a waste of time,”
Lux answered with a frown.

“No it wouldn’t,” Pixie scoffed.

“Yes it would. Dean will never
settle down…
never
. He thinks monogamy is a form of torture and equates
relationships to prison terms. Trust me; it’s pointless as well as hopeless.”

“But you weren’t much different.
I remember when your beliefs were very similar to Dean’s.”

“Not anymore.” Lux shook her
head.

“Really? I can’t believe you’re
actually considering a relationship?”

“I finally decide to try this
relationship thing, and I pick the one man who could never commit. Again, it’s
hopeless,” Lux sighed.

“I wouldn’t consider it hopeless;
stranger things have happened.”

“Nothing stranger than getting a
womanizer to settle down. We’ve already seen how that can turn out,” Lux
scoffed.

“I never thought you would be
interested in romance. I was beginning to believe you may have been part robot.
So like I said, stranger things have happened.”

“I guess.” Lux shrugged her
shoulders.

“Come on, let’s go party.
Everyone’s downstairs in the lounge celebrating, but you’re the one who
deserves to celebrate the most.”

“That’s not true, we all worked
together.”

“No, you pulled us out of that
hole, Lux, all by yourself. Again,” Pixie said before kissing her sister’s
cheek. “Let’s go.”

“Okay,” Lux nodded. She would party
with her friends, and she would celebrate their win. She would also force
herself to forget Dean, if just for the night.

***

The front of the lounge door was
decorated with various colored balloons, large silver bows, and a large sign
that read, “Back in business.” On the inside of the lounge, on the wall next to
the front door, was a copy of their deed to the property in a bright silver
frame. The rest of the lounge was decorated for the celebration. There were
balloons, party favors, all different types of food, and music. Everyone they’d
ever known was there to congratulate them and celebrate.

“Wow, even the private Dick
came,” Graves said as Clifton walked towards them.

“I invited him,” Pixie informed
them.

“Who else did you invite? Dare I
ask,” Graves asked.

“The man who made this all
possible.” It was at that point that Pixie managed to get Lux’s attention.

“Dean?” Lux asked with wide eyes
and a slight scowl on her face.

“Duh, he’s the one who gave us
the building.”

“Pixie, you didn’t?” Lux asked,
hoping that her sister was joking.

“Of course I did. Not only did he
give us the music hall back, he sent over a lot of champagne. And not the cheap
shit.”

“Did he?’ Lux asked as she turned
to look at the bar to see the bottles of champagne being lined up.

“He most certainly did; he said
they were for the reopening.”

“How did he now about the reopening?”

“Mom told him, I guess,” Pixie
answered with a shrug.

“When did he talk to Mom?”

“She called him to thank him.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me?”
she said I astonishment.

“I thought that you liked Dean?”
Pixie asked in confusion.

Lux stared at her for a moment as
a million excuses rolled through her head. She realized they were excuses,
excuses to hide her true feelings.

Pixie smiled and then turned to
Clifton as he approached, “Hi Clifton.”

“Hi,” he responded, but he was
looking at Lux. “Congratulations Lux.”

“Thank you.” She nodded with a
slight smile.

“I knew if anyone could take down
the big, bad wolf it would be you,” he said with a wink as he stepped closer to
her. “It’s a beautiful party.”

“Thank you.”

“If you’ll excuse us,” Pixie smiled
as she led the girls away but not before she saw the scowl on Lux’s face.

“Please tell me you are not
trying to set her up with him?” Graves asked once they were far enough away.

“You know that would be a waste
of time. I prefer the Dean mission instead,” Kiki chimed in.

“What Dean mission? I thought you
gave that up after the abduction?” Graves frowned.

“Like I’d tell you; you’d just go
right back and tell Lux.” Pixie shook her head.

Clifton stepped closer to Lux,
but she didn’t notice.

“This is a great song,” Clifton
smiled again.

“It is,” Lux nodded.

“I would love to dance,” Clifton
said.

“You should.” She nodded.

“I’d look awkward dancing with
myself.”

“There are plenty of females
dancing… go find a partner. Look at those gorgeous ladies over there; they’re
just waiting for you to ask them to dance.” She smiled.

“I’d prefer to dance with you,”
he admitted.

“No, I’m not big on dancing,” she
lied and looked down for a moment.

“Just one dance… one harmless
little dance. There’s something I’d like to discuss with you.” He smiled
sweetly.

“Okay, one dance,” she
reluctantly accepted.

“Thank you.” He bowed.

Clifton attempted to lead her to
the dance floor, but Lux was already a step ahead of him. She faced him, with a
smile that did not reach her eyes. She felt strange when he stepped close and
put his arm around her. His arm felt foreign; it felt uncomfortable.

She had an intense flash of
Dean’s muscular arms and the way they wrapped around her. Her legs wobbled at
the thought of Dean picking her up in those strong arms.

“You dance beautifully,” Clifton
said, obviously mistaking her weak knees for some form of dance.

“Thanks,” she said awkwardly. Her
empty smile deepened, but her eyes remained unimpressed.

“I have a business dinner to attend
tomorrow night; I would love it if you could accompany me.”

“Um,” she began to think of an
excuse to decline, but Clifton continued.

“It’s more of a favor. I have a
few business colleagues that will be joining us. It would be very beneficial to
my career if you could tell them a little about how I helped assist you with
your building. If you don’t mind”

She looked a little uncomfortable
for a moment but quickly composed herself. Clifton was a good guy; he had put
himself out on a limb and helped her tremendously. “Okay, I do kind of owe you
one, don’t I?”

“No, you don’t owe me anything
Lux,” he said in an obvious attempt to be sensitive and sexy.

“Too bad you don’t find him
the least bit sexy! Well maybe you would have if you hadn’t met Dean first,”
she
thought.

“Thank you.” She nodded as her
sincere smile began to reflect in her eyes.

Maybe it would be fun; besides,
Clifton was harmless. Sex didn’t control his every thought like it did with
Dean. She had faith that Clifton would not make this business meeting about sex
or relationships; he would keep it professional. Truth be told, she needed a
little break from her aggressive thoughts of Dean. No matter how hard she
tried, her mind kept slipping back to him. Maybe this would help… maybe. If
anything, she would be able to thank Clifton for the hours of grueling work
he’d put in to help her. He’d even put his reputation on the line trying to
help. Yes, this was the least she could do.

“No, thank
you
.” He looked
at her lovingly, and Lux felt a bit uncomfortable. Clifton’s smile suddenly
turned down as he shifted uneasily.

“Are you okay?” Lux asked.

He quickly gained his composure
and looked back to Lux, “No, unfortunately I have to go. I almost forgot that I
have a job to take care of. I wish I could stay, I am having such a lovely time
with you,” he said while peeping to his right.

“Okay.” She nodded, wondering
what was wrong with him, but not caring enough to push it.

“I’ll see you tomorrow night.” He
bowed.

“Tomorrow night.” She nodded.

“Do you promise?” He asked.

“I promise.”

“Good, I know you never break
your promises, and I really need your help.” With that, he was gone.

She watched him disappear towards
the side door. She turned to head towards the bar when she was blocked by a
rather large chest. She knew who it was before she looked up; she knew his
scent as well as her own. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, the music went
off, and she could hear her sister’s voice.

“Here he is… our guest of honor!”
Pixie said through the megaphone as she walked towards Dean. Kiki was next to
her, holding a cake with dozens of lit candles. Pax was on her other side,
smiling brightly.

“Without this man, we would not
have the music hall!” Pax said as she pulled Dean into a hug. “Thank you so
very much, you have saved us.”

“If there’s anything we can get
you, don’t hesitate to ask.” Kiki smiled and gave him a quick hug.

“Thank you, Wrecker. Sorry we
ever thought you were a self-obsessed tyrant.” Pixie smiled and also gave him a
quick hug.

“Thank you so much, so very much.
You not only saved the music hall, but you saved this family,” Pax said with a
warm smile.

“Now let the party begin!” Kiki
yelled and the music flooded the lounge again.

The lights went off, and the
party resumed. The sound of champagne bottles popping open blasted through the
room as the fog from the smoke machine crept about the crowds’ feet. The strobe
lights flickered, and everyone began to dance except for Dean and Lux who stood
staring into each other’s eyes. Dean took her hand and led her over to the edge
of the dance floor where the music was low.