“Although she seems sweet and innocent and shy, at times she seems ready to participate in a much more intimate and dangerous game. I know I shouldn’t be thinking about games or misery or anything else concerning Olivia Townsend.But damn if I’m not!”

“Yey more and more there seemed a bevy of things she was not supposed to think about and by virtue of trying not to, she hardly thought of anything else.”

“I think I see her chest rise as she catches her breath. Maybe she’ll be the one to throw on the brakes. God knows I’m not going to. I might regret it later, but right now I’m not thinking about anything but what it would be like to see Olivia without that red dress.”

“Olivia was her only beautiful child. Julia, with her dark curls and snub nose, was pretty but her character wasn't, Sylvia --- poor Sylvia, what could you say? And Amelia was somehow ...bland, but Olivia, Olivia was spun from light. It seemed impossible that she was Victor's child, although, unfortunately, there was no doubting the fact. Olivia was the only one she loved, although God knows she tried her best with the others. Everything was from duty, nothing from love. Duty killed you in the end.”

“She seemed pissed about something, but I ignored it. She probably just wasn’t a morning person. Although with that logic, she wasn’t really an afternoon or night person, either. Come to think of it, she was kind of a cranky bitch . . . and I liked it.”

“Please may this not be a game. Please may this not be a game. Because if it’s a game, I know I’m going to lose.”