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Ty turned and put his back to the side of the desk, ht But as they ht of him He peered around the corner and counted threeat his tie in obvious displeasure Maybe he hated wearing tuxedos as much as Ty did

"It is stuffy," Aruards, and the man went over to the therly

"You seem ill," one of the men commented, but his accent was so thick Ty wasn"t quite sure if that hat he said or not The thug began to walk around the sofa, bringing hi place Ty ducked away, co around the other side Armen sat on the side of his round bed, the side that didn"t look like the end of the bed, anyway, and he was facing away frouards had disappeared into the bathroo his boss some modicum of privacy Ty took the chance and crawled across the floor to the bed, intending to slide under it before he re was on a solid pedestal He resisted the urge to curse and hugged to the expensive carpet, rolling as close as he could to the side of the bed as he heard one of the three in to move around the stateroom

The comforter almost covered him, but he was still just some dude sprawled on the floor if any of the men decided to walk around to that side of the bed

He held his breath, waiting

"I am overtired Perhaps the expensive Scotch Mr Porter shared does not agree with me," Armen muttered finally "All is well Please leave me," he ordered in the same monotone voice he"d always spoken in

Ty frowned Mr Porter was Zane He had shared his Scotch with Armen? Ty didn"t even try to ponder that one He listened as the two men muttered obediently, and Ty counted to ten before he heard the door shut behind the shallowly, straining his ears so he could hear Armen"s movements

But thearound on the bed Ty ain; then he pushed himself up and raised his head over the bed Ar where he"d been, shoulders slumped, head down As Ty watched, he raised his head and took in a deep, see with hi became more labored, and he pressed a hand to his chest just before his body seemed to collapse inward and he toppled forward to the floor Ty shot up and slid over the bed before he thought better of it, landing next to Armen"s prone form on the other side of the bed

"Armen?" Ty whispered as he put a hand to Arled in response

Ty quickly rolled hi note of horong his body felt He was coripped his hand, and his fingers were icy cold to the touch He blinked rapidly up at Ty, but then even the blinking stopped There were no facial tics orto indicate the man was still alive His eyes were so dilated that the normally coffee-colored irises were completely black His entire body was soaked in sweat Ty bent his head to listen and could hear faltering, rasping breaths The pulse at his neck was thready, and even as he checked for it, Ar

Ty certainly wasn"t an expert, but he knew poison when he saw it

Syncope and paralysis, respiratory distress, dilation of the pupils, profuse perspiration And one last stuttering breath before the body went completely still

Ty winced and shook his head as he sat down hard and looked down at Armen"s body helplessly Ty was fa He was almost certain he"d used this one himself a time or two The culprit was probably a Calabar bean, a native of Africa Half a bean would be lethal, but to act so quickly it had to have been several, ground up and slipped into soripped hi it nearly lass of Scotch with Zane

Ty left Ar the man was past help

He shot out the balcony door, barely thinking to close it behind him, and he didn"t take as much care as he probably should have as he stood on the railing of the balcony to Ar himself around the partition But he couldn"t afford to be careful when Zanefrom the same poison that had killed Vartan Ar success, but the best thing to do was voet to Zane now if he"d had as big a dose as Arht already be too late

He landed on the floor of the balcony with a heavy thuh the balcony doors Luckily they weren"t latched, or he would have et inside

"Ty!"

There was Zane, striding toward hi and not yet paralyzed Ty didn"t think, he htly as his heart pounded from fear and adrenaline He closed his eyes and let himself just soak in the warmth and the scent of Zane"s body next to his He"d been so panicked he"d almost unconsciously convinced hiain Zane"s arto hiet out of there," Zane was saying, lips ainst Ty"s ear and hair

Ty pulled his head back and looked at Zane al Did you drink anything?"

"What? Drink anything? We all had drinks with dinner," Zane said as he clasped Ty"s upper ar out"

"Did you drink your drink, Zane?" Ty nearly shouted, grabbing Zane in the sa him violently

"Jesus! No! What the fuck? I told you I wouldn"t drink anymore if I didn"t absolutely have to!" Zane exclaimed, hurt clear in his voice

Ty took Zane"s face in his hands and shook his head, struck speechless with relief He allowed ato explain, and finally he just came out with, "Armen"s dead"

Zane"s confusion was clear, but he didn"t snap at Ty about it

"How?" He stepped back enough to look Ty up and down "You"re okay?"

Ty shook his head "I didn"t kill hi about not feeling well and having shared your Scotch Then he dropped dead in his rooht… are you sure you"re okay? You didn"t even have a sip?"

Zane cupped one of Ty"s cheeks in his palm "Not even a sip

Ca attraction out on the dance floor" Ty hugged hiain in relief Zane huffed quietly but pulled hi to relax "As great as this is, we"ve got probleo "Armen"s dead because he drank your drink So not only was he not the one trying to kill us, but so to kill us!" He pulled back and looked Zane over yet again to assure hiht: they had work to do "And the Bianchis are either guilty, or they"re in danger too"

"Or dead on the goddah "Bianchi drinks like a fucking fish" Then he crossed his arms "Wait If Armen drank my drink, and it was the one that was poisoned, then Bianchi would already be down," he said, looking at his watch "We had those drinks almost froood ten minutes after you left But he took off really quickly after you Call it… five minutes onset, maybe fifteen minutes to death?"

Ty closed his eyes and waved his hands through the air "Stop doing rabbed his jacket and moved around Zane to head for the door "Co roo on the entrees," Zane said as they practically ran out of the stateroom