“It feels like I’ll do anything for you. Jump off a bridge for you, turn myself inside out for you. It feels like madness, and I never want it to end.” Cole considers this, his dark eyes roaming over my face. “Then I must be in love,” he says. “Because that’s what I feel, too.””
“you care about me, Cole, I know you do. I’ve seen it. Maybe you don’t want to care. Maybe you’d like to kill me right now to stop it. But I don’t believe you will. Too much has happened between us. You’ve changed too much.””
“I want Cole. I want him like money, like success, like achievement. I want him much more than I want other supposed necessities: safety, for instance. Or sanity.””
“Everyone is a mix of good and bad. Can the good cancel out the bad? I don’t know. I’m not sure I even care. If there’s no objective measure, then all that matters is how I feel. Cole is a shade of gray I can accept.””
“Cole smiles at me, unabashed. “I’m not trying to change who you are. I’m trying to reveal it. A diamond can’t shine until it’s cut.””
“I need to experience his strength, his power, his ruthlessness, because that’s what I need in a man. It’s the only way I feel safe. He has to terrify me so I know he’ll terrify everyone else. I’ve never met a real hero; I don’t think they exist. Only a monster can protect me.””
“It's always better to tell the truth. Lie to the world but not to yourself.””
“Loving someone gives them power over you,” Cole says.””
“You’ve been watching over me. Protecting me. Helping me. You might have told yourself it was for your own enjoyment, for your own fucked up reasons. But you care about me, Cole, I know you do. I’ve seen it. Maybe you don’t want to care. Maybe you’d like to kill me right now to stop it. But I don’t believe you will. Too much has happened between us. You’ve changed too much.””
“Why do you need music for everything?” Cole asks me. “Because it makes everything better,” I say, stepping into the pounding spray.””
“How can I be so afraid of someone, and yet I can’t bring myself to run? I don’t want to run from Cole. I want to stand still while he comes to me, and then I want to reach up and touch his face. I want to pull off the masks, one by one, until there isn’t any left. And then, whatever is underneath . . . I want to see it.””
“David with the Head of Goliath"You know that's a self-portrait, don't you?" I tell him. "Caravaggio used his own face as the model for Goliath's severed head.""Yes. And his lover was the model for David.""Maybe they were fighting at the time," I laugh.Cole looks at me with dark, steady gaze. "Or he knew that love is inherently dangerous.””
“[i]She still thinks it might have been me.[/i]She thinks I did that to her.And yet she's here, now, alone in this room with me, inches away, her lips as swollen and flushed as mine...[i]She's more twisted than I ever dared to dream.[/i]””
“In that moment I realize this whole thing has been a performance.She knew I would watch.She's been fucking him me, me.To get revenge on me.And I realize... she's everything I dreamed of and more. More vengeful. More strategic. More effective.More fucked up.””
“Cole is a shade of gray I can accept.””
“I loved my father,” I say coldly. “The day I lost him was the worst day of my life.” Cole smiles. “The worst day so far.” What. The. Fuck.””
“You didn’t want me for my looks?” I say, pretending to be hurt. Mara laughs, despite herself. “Not back then,” she says, “But don’t worry, I’ve become much more shallow. Now I notice them every minute of the day.” “Thank you,” I say, tossing my hair and smoothing it back with both hands.””