Page 48 of The Berlin Sisters
‘I’m choosing to help the cause, David, the same as anyone else in the resistance is doing. The same way that Hanna is choosing to help.’
His eyes were sad, and she knew that it would take her a long time to forget the way he was looking at her. ‘I’m just saying that I would want to keep you from danger, Ava. I don’t like the thought of him taking advantage of you, especially when it’s clear you have feelings for him.’
‘We’re not romantically involved, it’s a professional relationship and nothing more,’ she said firmly. The last thing she wanted was for anyone to know how she felt about Noah, not when she was engaged to Heinrich, even if it was only David who’d figured it out. ‘But I appreciate your warnings. Thank you for thinking of me.’
David nodded, but she wasn’t certain she’d convinced him.
‘I’ll see you again soon,’ she said, as he began to climb back up to the attic.
He turned and looked at her. ‘Keep asking your father if there’s something more for me to do,’ he said. ‘Tell him there’s only so long I can stay cooped up here. And Ava, please stay safe.’
‘Perhaps he’d rather protect you than let you risk your life?’
David smiled, albeit sadly, before disappearing from sight. Once her mother had come back down, they secured the attic staircase and went downstairs to the kitchen. But Ava was deep in thought, and it appeared her mother was too, because they took their dinner to the table and ate in relative silence, as she thought about the Goldmans moving about two floors above them.
‘Is your sister keeping well?’ her mother finally asked.
‘Yes, Hanna’s fine.’ Or at least Ava thought she was. They hadn’t seen much of each other in the past couple of weeks, since she’d been seeing more and more of Noah.
‘And Eliana? She’s adjusted to the change?’
Ava nodded. ‘She has.
They continued eating, but she noticed that her mother pushed her stew around on the plate a lot, doing more moving than eating.
‘I overheard some of your conversation with David earlier,’ her mother eventually said.
Ava waited for her to continue, setting down her spoon.
‘I don’t want to interfere, but he’s right about no young man asking you to do things, using his relationship with you to—’
‘David was ill-informed. That is not the case,’ Ava replied, bristling. ‘There is nothing for you to worry about.’
‘But if it were the case, you need to remember how careful you must be. Your father’s involvement – well, he’s always tried to be as careful as possible, to do things that could easily be blamed on another.’
Ava’s mother set her spoon down, too.
‘If whatever this man has asked you to do is something that will lead straight back to you? It’s not only you who’s in danger, whether you’re in a romantic relationship with him or not. You’d be endangering all of us, the Goldmans included.’
Her words washed over Ava, and she knew her face was reddening as her mother watched her. How typical of her mama to say the one thing that she knew she couldn’t argue with.
‘I know what’s at stake,’ Ava eventually said. ‘But thank you for the reminder. I shall keep what you said close to my heart.’
They both picked up their spoons again and resumed eating, although Ava found each mouthful hard to swallow. Because, despite what she’d just said, and despite understanding the risk, she’d already agreed to do something for Noah that would very much be something that only she could be blamed for, should the deceit be discovered. Her world had changed after her first afternoon with Noah; and when he’d asked her to access the diary, to obtain information that only a few people would know about, she’d realised there was nothing she wouldn’t do to help him.
‘Ava! There you are,’ Hanna said, rushing to her and helping her off with her coat, at the same time giving her a panicked look. It had been a week since she left the country house, and the first night she’d returned to the apartment to find her sister there. They were more likely to see one another as they bumped around in the dark, hurrying down to the cellar during an air raid. ‘Heinrich has been here waiting very patiently for you.’
Ava shot the same kind of panicked look straight back at her sister.Heinrich is here?
She took a deep breath and fixed her smile, hurrying into the sitting room to find him with Eliana. She glanced at Hanna and saw the tight set of her face, and then noted the high colour on Eliana’s cheeks.
‘Heinrich! What a lovely surprise,’ she said as he stood. ‘I wish I’d known to expect you. I would have come home sooner.’
‘I went to your office but was told you’d already left for the day, so I came here,’ he said, as his eyes ran up and down the length of her body before fixing on her face. ‘But you weren’t here, either.’
‘Well, first of all, I see you’ve made the acquaintance of my delightful cousin,’ she said, stalling as she tried to put a story together in her mind. ‘But yes, you’re quite right that I left work a little early. I had some errands to run, for my father.’
Heinrich frowned. ‘That’s strange, because your father—’
