Page 109 of Poison Vows

“And… I’m pretty sure you won’t hesitate to use any one of those killer moves you have perfected over the years to take me down once you find out how long I’ve been your shadow.”

His words end in an echo.

The long brightly lit hallway is empty save for the two of us, but he might as well have just shouted the answer with those words.

“Years! You’ve been watching me for years?”

“Yes, Young Miss.”

“Why? Is it because of Emmett?”

Ty looks up at me, holding my gaze silently, and I see the answer.

I scoff. “Well, tell your young master to fuck all the way off from now on! I don’t need him to monitor me.” Ty apparently finds this amusing and that ticks me off. “What’s so amusing?”

“I will most definitely be reprimanded for admitting two things to you…”

“He won’t find out, just tell me.”

“Actually, the young master has ways of finding out things that happen in secret all by himself without us telling him anything, so I would advise the young miss to always tell the truth.”

“Urgh, don’t call me that,” I say, waving my hand, but my mind is stuck on Ty’s words.

Emmett has ways of finding out things that happen in secret. Then that means the depth of Emmett’s cunning nature is still unknown.

“Tell me the other thing.”

“The young master made one thing clear a long time ago, one that I cannot disregard, regardless of what happens to the young master now or in the future.”

My heart skips several beats.

Of course, with the way the twins are basically Emmett’s right and left hands, it makes sense that they both know about Emmett’s heart disease.

But to hear that he put a command in place that cannot be overturned even after he’s gone makes the knot that has been in the pit of my stomach for years, tighten even further.

“And what is that?” I mutter, half wanting to block my ears and half needing to know what’s going on in Emmett’s head.

Ty suddenly looks at me with a somber expression and when he speaks, my heart leaps into my throat.

“Your protection is nonnegotiable.”

I stare at him, tongue-tied, but he’s not done.

“No matter what happens, here or elsewhere, your safety, well-being and your life are of the utmost importance. This is my life mission that I swore a vow never to shirk,” he says solemnly. “So while we’re both concerned about the young master, as of fourteen days ago, his life is now entirely in your hands.”

My hackles rise.

“What?”

Ty holds my gaze. “I’m not aware of any news regarding the young master, but I do know his future is in your hands, as it has always been.”

“His future?” I croak. He’s the beast that holds my life by guts and blood vessels! “That can’t be true.”

But Ty’s gaze tells me something else.

“Young Miss, it’s not my place to speak out of turn like this, however, I do feel a certain bond toward you due to the years I’ve been in the background of your life,” he says. “But you’re much smarter than you let on.”

I chuckle humorlessly. “Hardly.”

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