“The firm of Strange had not been built on softness; what you stole from it, you were welcome to keep.”

“Becky walked to the sea late in the day, trod barefoot among the tumbled blocks of stone that lined the foreshore, smelling the old harsh smell of salt, hearing the water slap and chuckle while from high above came the endless sinister trickling of the cliffs. Into her consciousness stole, maybe for the first time, the sense of loneliness; an oppression born of the gentle miles of summer water, the tall blackness of the headlands, the fingers of the stone ledges pushing out into the sea.”

“She laid her heart and soul right in your handsAnd you stole her every dream and crushed her plansShe never even knew she had a choiceAnd that's what happens when the only voice she hears is telling her she can'tYou stupid boy”

“I haven't been with a man before.""I know it." Adelia's smile was soft, almost wistful. "Do you think I wouldn't know if that had changed for you? You think too much of yourself to give what you are to something unless it matters.No one's mattered before.”

“What the hell are you doing here?""A typical Grant Campbell welcome.”

“I've never had inner turmoil about all this. You find a lot of people these days who cannot stand to be alone. You could lock me up in solitary for weeks on end, and I'd keep myself amused.”

“She glanced down to where Seth's fingers were still curled around her arm. "Are you testing my biceps, Lieutenant? I do like to think they're firm.""Your muscle tone's fine." From what he could see of her in the filmy ivory slacks, it appeared more than fine.”