“Celia sighed. “Her life may not have been her own, but her death was. She made a decision and saw it through. None of us can take that from her. None of us should. We should respect that, as hard as it may be.”

“But then she happened. The girl who had never been able to call her life her own taught a boy who had the world at his fingertips exactly what it meant to live. He wasn’t alone anymore.”

“She's a great cook.""Yeah," Carmine said. "Probably the Italian in her."[...]Dominic laughed. "Must be. You know damn well she has Carmine's full-blooded Italian in her all the time."Carmine's muscles went rigid, and Vincent started coughing as he choked on his drink. Celia snorted, trying to hold back her amusement, but Dominic didn't bother containing himself.”

“His chest swelled with pride at her words. “Good, because no one touches my girl unless she wants to be touched. No woman should ever be violated. That’s something my mom made sure we understood. She said a woman’s body was a temple, and you should never enter it without an invitation. I was just a kid and didn’t understand at the time, but she stressed it so much that I remember.”

“Nella vita: chi non risica, non rosica," he said finally, his voice quiet. "In life: nothing ventured, nothing gained. My mom used to tell us that. It's been a long time, but I can still hear her saying it.”

“See how much she’s changed… you did that for her”“I didn’t do anything”…“You’re the one who made the difference … no matter what you do tomorrow, Carmine, what matters is that you did that today.”…“All I did was love her.”“Ever think maybe that’s what she needed? Sometimes we don’t have to really do anything. We just have to be.”

“Every "I hate you" that echoed from her chest was followed by an "I love you" from his lips. Every time she begged him to let go, he told her he would be there forever.”