Page 41 of The Berlin Sisters
He looked out, brushing against her as he peered down the hallway. ‘You weren’t followed?’
Her eyes widened. ‘I don’t think so. Should I have been checking?’
Noah just laughed. ‘You have much to learn, little butterfly, but this is why you’re so perfect. No one would ever suspect you’d be involved in anything with that innocent face of yours.’
She wasn’t sure whether to bristle or smile, but given the way Noah was grinning at her she decided to take it as a compliment. When he stepped aside and indicated that she should come in, she did, taking her coat off and folding it over her arm as he locked the door behind him.
‘Does anyone know you’re here?’ he asked.
She was tempted to lie and say yes, given that she was alone in a strange man’s apartment, but instead she shook her head and told the truth. ‘No.’
Noah walked across the room and took down a glass from a kitchen cabinet, picking up a bottle and pouring some liquor into it, as well as topping up his own.
‘Drink?’
She barely ever consumed alcohol. The last time had been when she’d found the Goldmans in her attic and her father had asked her to join him in his study.
‘Yes,’ she replied, despite her nerves. Perhaps it would help to settle them?
Noah came closer, too close if she was honest, before inviting her to take a seat across from him.
‘This is where you live?’ she asked, looking around the apartment and thinking that it felt more like a family home than that of a bachelor.
‘I don’t stay for more than a few days in the same place,’ he said. ‘The longer I’m involved in all this, the more paranoid I get that someone will give me up to the authorities. So I’m constantly moving from place to place.’
She studied him, taking a sip of her drink and trying to stop her eyes from welling up as it burned in her mouth and throat. She doubted she’d ever get used to drinking straight liquor no matter how many times she tried.
‘My father is the same, he’s always paranoid about listening devices at home.’
‘Your father has every reason to be cautious. He’s surrounded by some of the most powerful men in the country, who’d love nothing more than to see him fall and take his place. Including your fiancé.’
She paled. ‘Heinrich?’What does he know of Heinrich?
He held her gaze. ‘Surely you must know how dangerous an ambitious young SS man can be?’ He laughed. ‘And don’t look so surprised, I know everything there is to know about you. I wouldn’t trust just anyone to work for me.’
She took another sip of her drink so she didn’t have to answer.
‘Ava, why did you come here?’ he asked. ‘You’re engaged to an SS man, you have a good job, you’re the kind of young woman the Nazi Party loves. Why did you decide to become involved in any of this?’
‘Perhaps I’m trying to right my wrongs.’ She swallowed.
He smiled. ‘Perhaps.’
She took a deep breath. ‘My sister told me that you’re ruthless. That no matter what you say, you don’t care about how many people you have to lose in pursuit of the greater good. She wasn’t happy that I’d agreed to help you.’
‘She said that?’
Ava cleared her throat. ‘She told me that you could be as dangerous to a woman as Adolf Hitler could be, just for different reasons. That you would stop at nothing to further your goals.’
‘And did she tell you what those goals were? Did she explain why I am both nothing and everything, like our esteemed Führer?’
Ava took another tiny sip of her drink as Noah edged closer, leaning forward on the armchair that he was sitting on. She watched as he downed what was left in his glass before holding it between his fingers, his elbows on his knees as his eyes met hers, making it impossible for her to look away. Had her instincts been wrong in coming to see him?
‘No,’ she whispered. ‘She did not tell me those things.’
‘Your sister is right, I will stop at nothing to eliminate the evil in our country and help to restore it to the Germany we were before this warandthe last one. If that means losing some good people along the way, then so be it, it is the cost of war. There are millionsrotting in camps, being killed by the thousands, so I’m constantly reminded of the bigger picture. That sometimes, in order to achieve greatness, we have to make sacrifices along the way.’
She had the most overwhelming feeling that she shouldn’t have come then, even though she was powerless to get up and walk out of the door. Noah was magnetic, and despite the fear rising inside of her, she stayed seated, her gaze locked on his.
