“Even with everything broken and decided inside her she couldn't quite allow herself to disappear for good.”

“The idea of committing her body to the hands of a man she trusted was freeing, liberating in a way she couldn't quite explain, even to herself”

“It was almost reckless how vulnerable she allowed herself to be; you couldn't help but hate her for doing that to herself, and at the same time hate yourself for giving in to it, and underneath all of that, despite your hate for her, couldn't help but love her.”

“Is it good or bad?" she asked Issa. The wrong question, she knew. She just couldn't help herself."It's both, sweet girl," said Issa. "like everything.”

“He couldn't help approving that she hid herself from every scoundrel who wished to ogle her bosom.He was the only scoundrel allowed to ogle Diana Carrick.”

“People marveled at her ability to build characters from the inside out, to submerge herself and disappear beneath the skin of another person, but there was no trick to it; she merely bothered to learn the character's secrets. Laurel knew quite a bit about keeping secrets. She also knew that was where the real people were found, hiding behind their black spots.”