Living In Flames. by Emily Zimmerman. (best free novels .TXT) 📕

Grey.” He told me.
He had his back to the stairway now, and was watching me unlock the door, so he didn’t notice when Blake walked up to the second floor. Blake slowly shook his head, telling me not to reveal who I was. “I’m sorry; you must have the wrong apartment. I know of a Skylar who lives a few blocks away, in Blancheway apartments.” I told him with a friendly smile.
This would be an easy lie to believe. Everyone knew each other; there wasn’t a permanent resident in Sabadell that we didn’t know about.
He smiled back. “Right. Sorry for the disturbance.” He told me.
Blake hid around the corner and I breathed a sigh of relief as he took the elevator, unable to see Blake on the stairway. Blake opened my apartment door and pushed me in, making sure no one else was around. “What is going on, Blake?” I hissed when the door was closed.
“Shh.” He held up a hand, listening for a few long moments. He pulled a gun from his belt and I had to stifle an alarmed gasp.
He whispered for me to stay in the foyer, and walked off to check the apartment. I stood in stressed silence, waiting for Blake to reappear. After what seemed like an hour, but was probably only five minutes, he returned.
“The apartment is clear.” He told me, as if I knew what the hell was going on.
“What is going on?” I repeated, louder now.
He ignored my question and walked into the kitchen, opening the fridge and leaning over from the waist to look. “You got any beer in here?” he asked me.
I huffed and crossed my arms. “If you’re not going to tell me what is going on than you can leave.” I told him angrily.
He sighed and slowly leaned back up, closing the fridge. He stared at me, studying my seriousness. “Dan didn’t want me to tell you about this, but it seems I have no choice-“
“You’re damn right you don’t! Dan didn’t have work, did he? He was just taking me to his house to protect me, wasn’t he?” I asked him.
Blake sighed. “Yes. He asked me to help him keep an eye on you…because someone is after you. He didn’t want me to tell you because you’d gone through so much already. That woman that came in to the shop today…the one that started rambling…she was scoping the shop out. She was working for him.” He told me.
“Who?” I asked, panic showing through in my voice.
“Michaels.” He told me, his eyes dead serious.
“Well…what-what do we do? Can’t you…can’t you catch him or…put a restraining order on him or something?” I was sputtering and stammering, my panic taking over.
I felt Blake’s hands on my shoulders and looked up. He stared into my eyes, calming me considerably. “He won’t get near you. As soon as he tries to make a move, we can lock him up, just like Jonathan.” He told me earnestly.
I took a deep breath and nodded. “Can you…take me back to Dan’s house? I-I don’t feel safe here.” I told him.
He smiled slightly. “Sure.”

We pulled up to Dan’s house, and Blake idled out front while I knocked on the front door. Linda opened the door with a sleeping Briana in her arms, she smiled slightly. “Hello dear. Back so soon?” She noticed the bag in my hand. “And staying a while, I presume?”
I smiled. “I hope you don’t mind. Dan asked me to stay.” I told her.
She waved the hand that wasn’t holding the child up. “The more the merrier. Come on in!” she told me.
I walked up to Dan’s room and threw my bag on the floor by the bed. I climbed into bed, planning on taking a long nap. I braided my hair down my back and climbed into Dan’s bed, cuddling into his pillow, and closing my eyes.

The next thing I remembered, I had arms around me, and I was being shifted to the other side of the bed. I opened my eyes, feeling a sense of confusion. Where was I? Dan’s sweet, intoxicating scent brought my memory back. I turned over and looked at Dan, who smiled and kissed me lightly on my lips. “Hey, babe.” He murmured.
I smiled sleepily back. “Hi.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. Linda told me you were staying the night.” He murmured.
I stretched and looked at the clock; I’d only been asleep for a few hours. “Yeah. Speaking of that, I need to talk to you about something.” I told him.
The curious look on his face made it clear to me that Blake hadn’t told him that I knew about Michaels. I sat up and leaned against the headboard. “Blake told me about Michaels.”
I had my hand on his arm, so I felt him stiffen, and I noticed as his once even breathing slowed down to where I could barely see his chest move. “He did…did he?” he asked after a long moment of silence.
I nodded; preparing myself for the anger I knew was coming. But to my surprise, he slowly closed his eyes, and sighed. “So you know…?” he trailed off.
I sighed. “I only know that he is after me because I’m with you. Blake wouldn’t tell me anymore than that. He told me to ask you the rest.” I murmured.
Dan murmured something I didn’t catch and sat up. “There are a lot of things you don’t know about me, Skylar.” His eyes burned into mine and his hands clasped around mine in a tight grip. “The first is that I was a marine from the age of eighteen to the age of twenty. The second is that I did undercover work for the FBI from age twenty two to age twenty four. And the third is through all that time, I made a lot of enemies.”
His rugged brown hair fell in front of his eyes, making me release my hand from his and push it out of the way instinctually. He smiled slightly and lifted my hand to his lips, kissing it softly before setting it back down. His small smile slowly dropped as he got lost in a memory. Stroking the back of my hand with the tips of his fingers, he thoughtfully continued,
“Most of my enemies have tried for revenge, but I’ve thwarted them so much that they have given up. But Michaels…Let me explain how I met Michaels.” He got up and rifled through his dresser drawer, finding the object he was looking for, he walked back over and sat down. He handed me a shiny wooden picture frame. The frame held a picture of a large group of men and women. I found Dan, smiling and laughing while looking at the camera, his arm slung around…Michaels?
I looked at Dan in confusion. “Michaels’ son, Victor, became a wanted felon. Michaels tried to convince me not to go after him, but I was appointed the job. Victor was very close with his father, but he had something wrong with him, he killed because he loved the rush. Long story short, Victor was found. He pleaded insanity, and was put in a mental institute. Michaels was angry at me, he called me a traitor, and told me that he was going to get revenge for what I’d done. Michaels disappeared after that…until now.” Daniel sighed.
“So…he’s going to kidnap me for revenge?” I asked, my voice small.
Dan gathered me into him, pressing his lips to mine. “He won’t get near you.” He promised me softly, but fiercely.
I sighed when he let me go and lie back down, staring up at the ceiling. “Why didn’t you tell me, Dan?”
He lay down with me and wrapped his arm around me, sighing. “You had been through so much just recently; I didn’t want to scare you.” He explained.
I pressed my lips to his jaw, holding his hand tightly in both of mine. “I understand. Do you realize that you are too good to me sometimes?” I chuckled, closing my eyes and inhaling his scent.
“Babe, you deserve a lot more.” He sighed, tightening his arms around me.
Part Three:

Blake strolled into the bakery as I was finishing up with a customer. It was the middle of the day, and my shift was almost done. I shot Blake a dry look. “Don’t you have…oh, I don’t know, police work to do, or something?” I asked him.
He let out a laugh. “Don’t worry, I’m just here to get some donuts for the office.” He said.
I raised my eyebrows. “Really? No bodyguard duty?” I asked hopefully.
“Actually, Dan is going to walk you home and look through your apartment for intruders. He should be here soon.” Blake said.
I blew out a sigh and grumbled something unintelligible. “What kind of donuts do you want?”
“Give me a dozen glazed, five sprinkled and five chocolate.” He said.
“Jeez, who are you feeding, a sumo wrestler?” I teased, filling a big white box with his order.
“Hey, my men are hungry.” He said, doing palms up.
I rolled my eyes and handed him the box. He pulled his card and paid for the donuts, tipping his imaginary hat, he left the store.
I leaned my elbows on the counter, taking my face in my hands and rubbing it tiredly. The door opened and I sighed, not bothering to look up. “Bodyguard duty already?” I asked.
I looked up only to find the man that was at my apartment yesterday, and Michaels. I immediately straightened my stance, my hand discreetly going under the counter to touch the bat that Aunt Mabel kept hidden. “It’s nice to finally speak to you in person. I have to admit, for Dan to take an interest in you…it sparked a little interest in me as well. You are, obviously, remarkably beautiful.” He said, his eyes studying my face, which I kept very casual.
I tensed as his man moved to the side, and Michaels put a hand on his shoulder. “Not here.”
“What do you want?” I finally managed to speak, and was not surprised to have my voice falter.
“It’s actually very simple. But before I explain, I’d like to ask you something. How much do you care about Linda?”
My vision went blurry, and I felt nausea in the pit of my stomach. My hand tightened into a fist on the countertop. “Why?” This time, my voice didn’t waver one bit. I was angry now.
Michaels saw the change in my expression. He smiled. “Now we have an understanding. I want you to meet me by the lake, alone, on the twenty eighth.” He ordered, his voice casual, but his eyes were hard, telling me that this was not a choice for me, it was an order.
My fist got impossibly tighter, and my other hand itched to beat him until he bled with the bat. But I refrained, noting that his man was watching me closely.
“And if I refuse?” I asked, keeping my voice devoid of emotion.
He let out a soft laugh as if this was what he thought I would ask. “The twenty eighth. And to answer your question, I want you.” And he turned, walking out the door.
The pleasant ring of the bell as they left was almost comical, it was so happy in the tense air.