“His insinuation agitated me,” he said. “It’s the reason I went for a walk last night. And my time alone helped me realize that there may be more to Max’s intentions than merely pointing blame for his blindness.”
Anna folded her arms. “What do you mean?”
“I think he has feelings for you.”
Anna straightened her spine. “You’re mistaken.”
“Are you sure?” Bruno asked. “You spend a lot of time together.”
An image of sitting next to Max at the piano, her head leaning on his shoulder, flashed in her brain. Her heart rate quickened.
“I cannot begin to imagine how terrifying it might be for Max to face the prospect of living on his own, with the exception of a dog companion.” He placed his palms together. “How long has he been here with you?”
“Over five weeks,” she said.
“It took me far less than that to fall for you.” He moved close. “I think he cares for you, and he dreads being on his own. It might be a catalyst for creating a fallacious impression of me in his head. And he’s using it to create a divide between us.”
“Max doesn’t have feelings for me,” she said. “And he’d never deliberately try to hurt either of us.”
“How do you know?”
She drew a breath, struggling to provide a rebuttal.
“I wanted to tell you about this last night, but I thought it might upset you.” He looked into her eyes. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already begun telling you stories to create doubt about me.”
She lowered her head.
“Oh, no,” Bruno said sadly. “He did say something. Didn’t he?”
“Ja,” she breathed.
“I’m so sorry, Anna. I wish I would have talked to you earlier.” He gently placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’m not upset, nor do I have any ill feelings toward Max. He’s merely grown fond of you. He’s hurting inside, and he might be afraid to be on his own.”
Her mind struggled to process Bruno’s words.
“When we go home,” Bruno said, “I’ll talk with Max and sort it all out.”
“You’ll do that?”
“Of course,” he said. “Will that make you feel better?”
She nodded.
“Gut.” He caressed her cheek with his thumb.
As if by reflex to his touch, she placed a hand to the nape of her neck and clasped the chain to hermutter’s locket.Harbor your heart. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Anything,” he said.
She drew a deep breath. “Why would the army waste the skills of a chemist on building bunkers?”
He paused, looked at her. “Our military places little value on education when assigning men to their posts.”
She looked deep into his eyes, seeking any hint that he might not be telling her the truth, and she found nothing. But an ache, deep in the pit of her gut, compelled her to find out for certain, even if she had to mislead him.
“Is there anything else you’d like to know?” he asked.
“There is,” Anna said, gathering her courage. “When were you going to tell me that your family’s business was supplying the military with poison gas?”
