How the fuck does he explain this with anything like the truth. He can't even pretend to be ImpSec - he'd never have made it past the tests. So what the hell does he say? Especially in the face of having clearly made her sad.

Maybe ... maybe he could just stop lying. How much of a hypocrite would that make him? Agreeing with Piotr when it involves Byerly's secrets, and then going against that same tactical decision for the sake of his own comfort. The longer he thinks about it, the more obvious his conflict becomes.

"It's not a discussion for a party," he says at last. "Tell me about one of your homes, will you? I want to keep dancing."