She flushed. “Yes, I sort of found it. I hope that’s all right.”
“More than all right.” He cleared his throat. “Does that mean what I think it means?”
“I’m pretty sure it does.” She managed a weak smile.
Ellis laughed. “Blast. I’ve been engaged this whole time and I didn’t even realize it. If you don’t mind … ” He slipped the ring off her finger.
As strange as it had felt when she’d first put it on, her finger already felt naked without it.
He rested his forehead against hers. “Nyssa Glass, will you be my wife?”
She nodded, her emotions grabbing her by the throat. “Yes,” she heard herself squeak.
A grin blossomed on Ellis’s face, and he slid the ring back onto her finger. Happiness rose like a fire in her breast, and in spite of everything she’d been through, she laughed.
“And I mean now,” Ellis continued. “Or if not now as soon as legally possible. I don’t want to wait another heartbeat. Nyssa, my Nyss, please?”
“Yes,” she whispered into his ear, savoring the shiver that ran through him. “Yes to all of it.”
“Good. I’ll have Clarence—that’s my lawyer; you’ll love him—make the legal arrangements. I bet he can get us an expedited license. He’s clever that way.”
Nyssa’s stomach twisted at the mention of the legal system. “But I’m wanted here. There’s evidence that I’m innocent. Rivera had it. We have to find it!”
“Shh!” He held up his hand. “It’s all right. O’Hara—she’s working with us now, long story—called me about an hour ago and said they found tapes in Rivera’s study, practically gift-wrapped. She thinks Aito might’ve taken them out of the safe as a final parting shot to Rivera … though we can’t ask him because he somehow vanished into thin air before the police arrived at the manor.”
“Aito? Is he on our side, too?” Her head felt like rusty gears, barely keeping up. “What else did I miss while I was out?”
“Well, as soon as the doctor assured me you were going to be all right, I sent a telegram to San Azula. Mrs. H and Theo were worried sick when I left them, so I wanted them to know you were all right.” He eased a stray lock of hair away from her eyes. “I can’t believe I almost lost you.”
Nyssa started to smile, but it caught in her throat. “I sort of feel like … like I did lose you. Ellis, there’s something about the computer I need to tell you.”
Chapter Seventeen
Nyssa stirred, savoring the cool comfort of the pillow beneath her head. The aches plaguing her body had melted away like heated wax, and she just wanted to melt away with them.
Ellis’s arm snaked around her waist, pulling her against him. He pushed back her hair and kissed the nape of her neck. A shiver cut through her.
“Good morning, Mrs. Dalhart,” he whispered.
She laughed and rolled over to embrace him. “Good morning, Mr. Dalhart.” They kissed until she needed to come up for breath.
Nyssa found Ellis’s hand, and his long fingers entwined with hers.
“Do you think we’ll ever be able to recover Hart?” she asked.
His smile faded. “The surge wiped out all the data on the computers, Hart’s program included. I’m sorry. I know you bonded with him over the last few days, but he’s gone.”
Her heart ached, and she closed her eyes. “I feel so guilty. He gave his life for me.”
“Was he technically alive, though?” Ellis stroked her face. “He was basically a recording of my personality from what you’ve told me, not an individual in his own right.”
“He felt real.” She sniffed back tears. “And he’s gone.”
Ellis kissed her forehead. Safe in his arms, she allowed herself to cry.
He ran his hands up and down her back. “Nyss, I don’t know if Hart was real or simply a convincing technological trick, but he was real to you, and I’m so so sorry you had to lose a friend like that.” His eyes caught hers in a steady gaze. “However, I know one thing, you have nothing to feel guilty about. Hart wouldn’t blame you for what happened, and he did it willingly, fully understanding the consequences.”
“How do you know?” she asked.
“Because he was a copy of me. If my options were living without you or dying for you, dying would be the only possible choice.” He squeezed her closer. “I’d have done the same as Hart had our places been reversed.”
“No, you’re not allowed to die for me.” She grabbed him by the hair and pulled him down for another kiss. “You better not leave me alone here.”
“I wouldn’t dare.” His lips slipped from her mouth to her cheek then neck.
A pleasant shiver cut through her being.
He laughed and rose up on his elbows, his eyes twinkling. “Besides, wouldn’t you go crazy having two of me around the house?”
“Never.” Nyssa shook her head.
She nestled against Ellis, savoring his touch. Perhaps he was right, and Hart was only an echo of Ellis himself. Still, she’d never forget the computer and all he’d done for her.
Her stomach grumbled.
“We should order breakfast.” Ellis rolled away from her to where his chair rested beside the bed. “Clarence said we could eat in our room if we wanted.”
Nyssa rose and slipped on a dressing gown as Ellis used the videophone to call down to the kitchen. Soon two maids brought in a folding table and a tray of coffee and muffins. Nyssa sat across the little table from Ellis and inhaled the steam from her cup. “Almost as good as Mrs. H’s.”
Ellis took a bite of muffin, swallowed, then chuckled. “I’m worried about what the old girl will do to us when she finds out we got married without her there.”
Nyssa laughed. “We could pretend we didn’t, then have another ceremony with her in attendance.”
“Oh, she’s too wily for us to pull that off. I’m sure she’ll know the moment she lays eyes on
