“Never in his life had he hit a girl, nor would he. But, right now, he wanted to kick that NSA cutie in the ass cheek.”

“He kicked my ass, but he also treated me like a person and not just some girl.”

“I remember that look," she said. "It's the one you once gave Carlos right before you threatened to kick his ass.""I can still kick ass," he said with absolute steel. "I just wanted you to know that.”

“That girl had ruined his life. He had fallen in love with her fast and hard. Stella had stormed into his perfectly normal life and scrambled it until he didn’t know what was worth fighting for anymore. All his dreams and ambitions featured her now. Every time he imagined his future life, he saw her in it, and every time that happened he had to remind himself that she didn’t want to be imagined there. She didn’t want him, not for the long run.When in fact, Stella was all he wanted.”

“Girl, you’re the Sentinel of this House, and you’ve been trained by Catcher and Luc and Ethan. He’s in the training room right now. Get down there and kick his ass!”

“He runs his finger tips along my cheek, caressing my face. “Hush. I’m right here.” He looks at me with deep anguish in his eyes. Like there’s so much he wants to tell me but feels it’s too late now. I want to stroke his face and tell him that it will be okay. That everything will be all right. And I wish so badly that it would be.”