Page 15 of Last Chance to Save the World

I march closer to him, jamming a finger into his chest. “I know you’re on board with rewriting the code of the climate cleaners so we don’t completely turn Earth into a pay-to-play game of survival,” I say, “but I also know that I can’t trust you.”

“Ada, you can—”

I shake my head, jaw tight. “I absolutely cannot trust you, and you’re an idiot if you think I’ve forgotten that for a second. Just because I want to fuck you does not mean I can trust you.” I snort. “Actually, it makes the fucking part hotter.”

He opens his mouth to speak, but I keep talking over him. “Any hotel you get is probably linked to some government account that’ll ping your team. Even if not, you’ll have access to comms. You’ll set me up.”

Rian takes a step back, almost treading on a solar panel. “Ada, you’re being difficult and paranoid.”

“I’m being reasonable,” I counter. I sigh. “I get it. You know I know alotabout—”

There they are.

Those razor eyes that see way, way too much.

“About myclient,” I say, refusing to give him even that much of an answer. “You know I have ins. You know I know people. Code words. What’s the trap? Are you going to arrest me for kidnapping?”

“No!” he protests too quickly.

I cross my arms over my chest. “You go, if you want. But if you go to a hotel, I will think it’s a trap, and I’m out. Which means you’ll be fucked because I’m the one with the code to reprogram the nanobots, and we both know you can’t do it.”

Rian’s mouth drops open at the same time one of the pigeons in the dovecote makes a loud warbling sound, which would be funny if it weren’t for the fact that we’re arguing, and I’m not certain I’m going to win this one, which would...fuck everything.

Finally, Rian says in a low voice, “If it means that much to you, fine. Fine. We’ll stay here tonight.”

I nod firmly. “And when we finish the job tomorrow, that’s it. I’ll disappear.”

He doesn’t say anything to that.

I take a step closer to him, close enough that he could reach out and touch me if he wanted.

“I’ll disappear,” I repeat in a softer voice, “and you’ll let me.”

I can’t read his expression. I can’t figure out what’s happening behind those eyes, what calculations he’s made, what trap he’s laid.

I’m just certain he has one.

Without warning, his hand reaches up between us, grabbing mine. “What if I don’t want you to disappear?”

Gently, I extract my fingers from his. He looks disappointed but maybe also a little defiant.

“It’s better that way.” My voice is almost a whisper. “You’ll never like the way I break the laws you make.”

His lips part, but he doesn’t refute me.

It’s a damn good thing I’ve not fallen for him, because between breaking laws and breaking hearts, there’s only one I walk away from whole.

6

Knock, knock,” Mom says, stepping up onto the roof. A flurry of feathers from the dovecote; the pigeons know who brings them snacks. “All well up here?”

I step away from Rian, retreating. Like a fucking coward. “Everything’s fine. We’ll spend the night, if you don’t mind—”

“Mind? I insist!”

“—and then we’ll be gone early in the morning.”

“Thank you,” Rian adds formally. He really does play the good little boy well. No wonder he wants me so bad.

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