The Witness Quotes

“But when two people feel something, they ought to respect that enough to figure it out”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“She wants to learn how to handle a gun.

Well, I want George Clooney naked in my bed, but I haven't attempted kidnapping. Yet.”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“Do you think I'd leave you alone when you're twisted up like this? I tell you I love you, and it feels like I broke your heart."
"No one has ever said that to me. In my life, no one's ever said those words to me."
"I'm making you a promise right here that you'll hear them from me every day.”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“Because you’re the one. Because I’ve never felt for anyone what I feel for you. I want a lifetime with you, Abigail. I want a home with you, family with you. I want to make children with you, raise them with you. If you truly don’t want any of that with me, I’ll give you the best I’ve got, and hope you change your mind. I just need you to tell me you don’t want it.”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“You're pretty sassy this morning, son. Is it all about Reingold's rulings?"

"That didn't suck, but I've got me a fascinating, beautiful woman I'm falling for. Falling hard."

"Quick work."

"In the blood. My mama and daddy barely did more than look at each other, and that was that. She's got me, Russ. Right here." He tapped a fist on his heart.

"Surely it's not considerably lower where she's got you?"

"There, too. But, Jesus, Russ, she does it for me. I just think about her, and... I swear I could look at her for hours. Days."

Brooks let out a half-laugh, edged with a little surprise. "I'm done. I'm gone.”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“And still she felt more confident at the prospect of taking on the Russian Mafia than she did attending a backyard barbecue.”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“Studies show adolescent males often make decisions based on sex. Many fail to grow out of it.”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“People say to someone they love: I'd die for you. They don't expect to, of course, have no plans to. They may believe it, or mean it, or it may simply be an expression of devotion. But I know what it means now, I understand that impossible depth of emotion now. And I know you would die for me. You'd put my life before yours to protect me. And that terrifies me.”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“He turned his head, kissed the top of her head. "I love you."
"It sounds lovely in bed, in the dark, when everything's quiet."
"Because it's true. And it'll be true in the morning.”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“After weighing the pros and cons, I’ve decided sex with you would be mutually satisfying. You’re attractive and pleasant. And clean. You kiss very well, and while I’ve found that’s not always a reliable gauge for skill in bed, it often follows. If you’re agreeable, we can finish dinner, I’ll show you the greenhouse, then we can go in and have sex. I’m on birth control, but I would require you wear a condom.”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“She left me because she could, because I made a choice that allowed her to walk away. I could make her proud of me, proud of what she’d accomplished in me, but I could never make her love me.”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“You can’t know everything. Sometimes you have to trust. Sometimes you have to just feel.”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“What good are laws if they're not human?”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“It didn’t take him long, and he pulled up nearly nose-to-nose with Ash as they came in from opposite directions.
“You shaved off your …” It couldn’t rightfully be called a beard, Brooks considered. “Face hair.”
“Yeah, it got too hot.”
“Uh-huh.”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“Love doesn’t turn on and off like a light switch.”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“She’d never been taken before, he realized. Not like this, where her surrender was complete, not when she couldn’t separate some small part of herself to reach for control. And God, he wanted to take her, to destroy that fascinating and innate control.”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“We can’t have choice and free will and still be fated.”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“Organized religion has an unfortunate history of fostering violence.”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“Considering all the interruptions, she’d had a very good, very productive week. Her fee for the job she’d just completed would fatten her bank account and add to her peace of mind. And Sunday? She’d give the computer a rest. She’d clean her weapons, work in her garden and greenhouse, maybe get a little hiking in. Then settle down with her leftover soup and read the evening away.”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“Nothing drove sex out of a man’s mind surer than a couple of wild kids fighting”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“there was an itch, he couldn’t ignore it. One that told him if he kept scratching he’d uncover something … else.”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“She had a feeling joining the FBI was no longer an option, but she didn’t ask. It might have been foolish, but not knowing a definitive answer left a sliver of hope.”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“This above all—to thine own self be true. And it must follow, as the night the day. Thou canst not then be false to any man. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“Listen up," He stalked back over to her, pulled her to her feet. "I expect -no, I demand--more respect than that from you. I'm not some weak-spined half-ass fuckhead who slithers off when everything's not just exactly perfect. I loved you an hour ago. I love you now. I'm going to keep right on loving you, so get used to it and stop expecting me to let you down. It's insulting, and it's pissing me off.”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“sorry to interrupt, but do you have a moment?” she asked Brooks. “Or two. Come on in.” He took her hand, kept it after he closed the door to his office. “What happened?” “It’s good, what happened.” The good made her a little breathless. “Garrison contacted me. Her report was very brief, considering, but inclusive.” “Abigail, spill it.” “I’m—oh. Yes. They’ve picked up Cosgrove and Keegan. They’re interrogating, and that may take some time. She didn’t mention the blackmail, but I’ve followed some of the communications in-house, so to speak. Naturally, they believe Keegan blackmailed Cosgrove, and they’ll use that to pressure each of them. More. More important. They’ve arrested Korotkii and Ilya Volkov. They’ve arrested Korotkii for the murders of Julie and Alexi, and Ilya as accessory after the fact.” “Sit down, honey.” “I can’t. It’s happening. It’s actually happening. They’ve asked me to meet with the federal prosecutor and his team to prepare me for testifying.” “When?” “Right away. I have a plan.” She took both his hands now, held tight. “I need you to trust me.” “Tell me.” ON A BRIGHT JULY MORNING, one month”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“It was like being rolled over by a steamroller made of flowers, Abigail thought. It didn’t really hurt, it was all very pretty and sweet-smelling. But you were still flattened.”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“Delay is an excuse. It’s fear, not courage.”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“There’s no such thing as predestination or fate or destiny. Life is a series of choices and circumstance, action and the reaction, and results of other people’s choices. Your father’s illness influenced you to choose this position at this time. I think it was a loving and loyal choice, but it wasn’t meant.”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“It’s an unfortunate by-product of a patriarchal society that women are deemed sluttish or cheap for engaging in sex for pleasure while men are considered vital. Virginity shouldn’t be a prize to be won, or withheld. The hymen has no rewarding properties, grants no powers. Women should—no, must—be allowed to pursue their own sexual gratification, whether or not procreation is the goal or the relationship a monogamous one, just as a man is free to do so.”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness

“I may not know precisely how this sort of thing functions, but I understand perfectly well your family’s opinion of me will be important.” “My mother and sisters already like you.” “They may tend in that direction, until I rudely attend the barbecue without a covered dish.”
― Nora Roberts, The Witness