Page 12 of Last Chance to Save the World (Chaotic Orbits #3)

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S trom!” Rian says, attempting to speak with a warm voice that doesn’t imply we are absolutely not where we belong.

Fetor only has eyes for me, his face carefully schooled. His gaze slides from me to the red phone and back again.

This is the second time he’s caught me touching this phone.

And the second time he’s been just a few moments too late to catch what I was really doing.

I check my earring, making sure it’s secure in my right ear.

It’s fine, I hum into the subvocal transmitter. I don’t look back at Rian as I take a step closer to Fetor, raising both my hands in the air. “Caught me,” I say. I let a saucy smile slip over my face, noting the way Fetor’s eyes drop to my lips.

Fetor raises an eyebrow. It’s a practiced move, I can tell. He thinks he looks intriguing. “Security flagged that you were heading up to your offices, Rian,” he says, gaze still pinned on me. “And I when I saw you brought a guest...”

“Me.” I do a little flair with my hands, framing my face.

“But you’re not supposed to be here,” he says.

I dare a glance behind the man. There are more people by the door now, wearing dark uniforms. Security goons.

Ada, we haven’t reprogrammed the nanobots! Rian’s panic is evident, even through the computerized voice from the subvocal transmitter. If you need an hour, we’ve got to get this started now , and we don’t even know where the damn things are!

It’s fine, I repeat, so low I’m not sure it picks up my words. Trust me.

I absolutely do not trust you, Rian shoots back. So, he did hear me.

I take a step forward. Fetor has his hands on his hips, his elbows jutting out, so it’s easy for me to slip my fingers through the crook of his arm and steer him around, deeper into the communications building. Out of the corner of my eye, the security guards follow a pace behind. None of the other workers notice us, not really; my plan to just look like I belong would totally have worked if this asshole hadn’t interrupted us.

“I know I’m not supposed to be here,” I tell Strom. He bends his head toward me, still letting me stroll deeper into the room.

Good. He’s amused. Eventually, someone is going to piece together what’s happened and tell him, but...it’s not too late to get out of this whole situation.

“Can you keep a secret?” I ask Fetor.

He pauses. A little smile quirks up one corner of his lips.

“I’m only sleeping with Rian so I can get here,” I say in a staged whisper.

Strom snorts, and luckily, the noise cancels out the sputtering sounds Rian makes.

“You didn’t seem his type,” Fetor says.

What a fucking pretentious jackass.

But I smile sweetly.

“I just have this...fascination,” I say, gesturing to the room. Everyone here is busy except for us, all the workers bent over consoles or screens or walking with urgency. There’s a party downstairs, but the people here are too busy ensuring that the entire galaxy’s communication network runs smoothly; they don’t have time for catered pastries. Unlucky bastards.

“A fascination?” Fetor prompts.

I nod, and while his eyes are glued on me, I notice him wave his hand, letting the security drop back. My heart eases a little, and I funnel that relief into a smile that’s actually genuine. “I love the way technology works.”

“I guessed. The control room at the museum, the portal ring on display...”

“A passion you share with me.”

Fetor cocks his head. “I thought you hated me.”

I squeeze his elbow. “I do ,” I say. No point lying about that. “I really despise you. But maybe some of that is jealousy.” I force a pout on my lips. None of my emotions for Fetor are rooted in envy. “You have all the best stuff. And it’s been impossible to see any of it without a little...”

“Manipulation?”

I let go of Fetor’s arm and snap my fingers as if he said the perfect word. “Exactly!”

Fetor glances at Rian. “Sorry, old boy. I could have told you that you can’t trust a girl like her.”

“I know,” Rian says, glaring.

“Don’t be jealous,” I say. “We had a good time, didn’t we? Consider last week payment for the invite here.”

Fetor laughs. He finds this amusing, the idea I’m planting in his head, that I just slept with Rian to get here, next to him.

I am so, so, so glad I’m going to fuck him over when he thinks he has a chance to fuck me.

“Anyway,” I say, walking deeper into the room, toward an enticingly interesting bank of consoles that all look very important. “I know I shouldn’t be here, technically, but—”

“But you’re the type of girl who doesn’t care about technicalities,” Fetor says.

Au contraire, dumbass. But I let him think that.

“Well, you’re here now,” Fetor says. “This is it—the room where all the magic happens.”

By magic he means all the communication systems used by the whole galaxy. The nanobots being released today when that fancy holo countdown hits zero outside? They’re going to save Earth. But the comm sys? That’s...everything.

Far, far more valuable.

Far, far more worth stealing.

“Don’t run off,” Fetor says sharply, turning to Rian, who’d been inching away, trying to break off from us and locate the nanobots. “I can understand wanting to impress your date, but don’t think that this isn’t still a secure location.”

“I expect nothing less,” Rian says. Fetor Tech’s governmental contracts started here. Probably Fetor was only approved for the climate-cleaner program because he already had the communication-networking contract in place.

Fetor turns his attention back to me. “Well, as you can see, this whole place is quite boring.”

I’m not sure if he really means that, but he could not be more wrong. Nothing about any of this is boring. He leads us in an ambling stroll around the entire facility, dismissing the intergalactic receiver hub as “just a booster,” and calling the primary communications array a “backup” without seeing the look of shocked displeasure the woman manning that station gives him. He doesn’t even know what half the stuff in this room is; he just likes the shiny buttons and pretty blinking lights, and he thinks everyone will be as impressed by it as he is.

For all that Rian says I like to break the law, it should be illegal for any one man to be both this dumb and this rich. It’s astounding, really. Any of his employees could run circles around him, but it doesn’t take brains to buy stuff. Strom Fetor sees nothing clearly except profit margins.

The bots aren’t here, Rian tells me subvocally.

Are you sure? I ask.

He nods subtly.

Fetor’s cuff buzzes, and he pauses, looking at the screen on his wrist. “Time for the real party,” he says. “I’ll even allow the gate-crasher to come.”

As he strides to the door, I meet Rian’s panicked eyes. There’s no way we can break away from Fetor now.

Even if Rian had been able to locate the nanobots, it’s too late.