"Karenina?" The name whooshes out of my lungs like air from a tyre. "You mean, Nina, your ex-assistant, then yes. I knew her." I watch him carefully, to see the lies and pretence slip over his face as I expect to. Instead, something strange flashes across his eyes, twitches in the corner of his lips, sets in the way he leans away. And Neil's question comes to mind: You sure he has anything to do with it?

"Who are you?" Carter's brows scrunch together. So much for building trust and getting that confession.

I glance around the busy museum. "Perhaps we can take this elsewhere?"

"We're fine where we are." Carter's jaw hardened as he stares at me.

I lick my lips. Fuck. This is not how I imagined this would go. This was not the way. In public, where I can't... I clear my throat and glance up at the women in the painting, imagining perhaps they too were sisters. Though I can't ever imagine Nina and I bathing together like that, as adults. "I knew her..." I chew my lips and decide, the heck with it. I want to know what he knows and I want to know now, but how do I tell him who I am to her?

"You said that." All the charm and amusement leaves his voice as he levels me with a look. "Start talking or I'll call security. Who are you?"

"Fine." I sigh. I don't see how I can get out of this, but maybe I can still salvage this, if I play my cards right. Speak to his humanity, if he has any. And I suspect he does. Unless all the signals I've picked up are an act to get me to bed? "She was my sister."

The truth seems to slam him like a wall, he actually steps back, hits another visitor again, then shuffles towards me an inch, but only an inch. "Your sister?"

"Anna Karenina," I say, partly scoffing it out. "Our parents thought it'd be hilarious when they introduced us together." When his brows scrunched, I decided I was going to play the grief-stricken sister, desperate to get to the truth, and thus, this whole ruse. "Anna is my real name."

"And Avery?" The lines between his brows deepen.

"An alias." I hope my smile come across sheepish. "Avery Honey was the name I used to go by when we were kids, playing pretend."

The man seems to be in utter disbelief as he takes me in, in my capri teal pants, and cream blouse with faint pink polka dots and my brand new sensible shoes, thanks to him. Not that I'm complaining.

"You're Kare—Nina's sister?" He shifts on his feet, perhaps ready to run. Get that security guard after all.

"One and only." I brush my fringe back and ease my posture, showing him the real me for once in the past two months. Then, I extend my hand out as if this is the first time we are meeting one another, as strangers. "Hi, I'm Anna. Nice to meet you?"

I don't know what I expect. Perhaps in an alternate universe, he'd shake my hand and we'd laugh and I'd be right back on that train, trying to earn his trust. Or alternatively, I'd be desperate enough to drug him and have my way...

Instead, he eyes my hand suspiciously—and rightfully so—before pocketing his hands. Both of them. A glimmer of distrust shimmering in his eyes. "You lied on your CV."

"I did." I nod. "There's no denying it. The cat's out of the bag."

"Why?" He shakes his head slightly, eyeing the nearest exit. "What do you want from me?"

I can only imagine what he's thinking. "I'm not going to hurt you." I subtly raise my hands in I'm-unarmed kind of way. And it's the wrong thing to do the moment I do it, for he shifts restlessly and panic flares through his eyes. "I'm—" I reach for my bag and he shuffles back as if I'm reaching for a gun. I let my hands drop to my sides. "I'm just hoping you can tell me the truth. What happened to her all those months ago? I know my sister. She wouldn't run away. Not like that. Not after Dad—" I stare at the white of my shoes instead. "I was just hoping, if I worked for you long enough, you'd open up and tell me what happened..."

"To a stranger?" The hardness remains in his voice.

"To a friend," I correct, blinking up at him. Hoping he sees that part of what I say is true, if not the whole thing.

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" He scoffs. Looks around, and eyes the exit again. When his eyes fly back to me, there is hurt in their depths, the kind I never thought I'd see. And I can't help but wonder. Do I have this wrong? Is Neil right? Is Carter Thebes truly innocent in the disappearance of Nina Harlow, the most responsible girl I know?

I reach for my bag again, speaking in a calm, tone. "I'm just reaching for my passport, so you can see for yourself." I don't know why I feel this compulsion to prove myself, but suddenly, it's all I can think of. We are here, across the ocean, alone. No tabloids, no cops, not in official capacity. Everything he tells me can stay off the the record, as long as he tells me the truth.

"You can hold onto it until we get back home, if you wish. Then you can report me to my boss." I hold the document out to him and wait. "I just want to find my sister. She's all I have." Not true. I have Mum, and Neil, and my grandparents, but he doesn't need to know that.