Concerto Quotes

“When I was twelve years old he saved me, and I have belonged to him ever since … Maybe I need to save him back for him to belong to me, too.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“I don’t want you to hurt for me, Liam. Can’t you see that? I don’t want to hurt for you. That isn’t how love should be.”
He swallows. “It’s the only way I know how.”
“Me too.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“I want you to see me for who I am now. You’re determined to think I’m helpless. I’m still twelve years old and orphaned to you, so maybe it is wrong for you to fuck me, Liam. If you can’t treat me like a woman then you don’t deserve to keep me. You don’t get to be the hero and the villain.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“Are you happy now?” I growl against her throat. “Knowing I broke every rule for you. Knowing I’d do it again. I love you, Samantha, and I hate you for it.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“Maybe I needed to save him back for him to belong to me, too. Maybe he’s finally mine.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“When I was twelve years old, he saved me, and I have belonged to him ever since.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“He spent six years protecting me. It’s my turn to protect him.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“I can’t lean on him anymore. I can’t take and take and take, knowing he won’t let me give anything back. That isn’t a relationship. That isn’t love.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“When did he become the thing I need protection from? I love him, but it does hurt—like kneeling on jagged rocks. It almost feels worse to finally stand up. That’s the way we learned to love. The pattern needs to break. He grew up protecting his brothers and keeping enough emotional distance that he could walk away. I grew up desperately trying to please men who would never really be pleased. My violin became the way I proved my worth. It became the way I fought for them to love me. That’s the irony of this concerto. The stage was both my freedom and my cage.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“If Alice represents curiosity and innocence, then the Queen of Hearts is pained feminine knowledge. They aren’t two separate people. They’re two sides of the same coin. One hopeful, one desolate. One searching out friends. One alone.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“What will it take—some kind of sacrifice?” He sounds angry about it. “You’d love that, wouldn’t you? That would be just the thing for you. The martyr. The savior. I don’t want you to hurt for me, Liam. Can’t you see that? I don’t want to hurt for you. That isn’t how love should be.” He swallows. “It’s the only way I know how.” “Me too.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“A tear slips between my lashes, pooling against my cheek. “I want you to see me for who I am now. You’re determined to think I’m helpless. I’m still twelve years old and orphaned to you, so maybe it is wrong for you to fuck me, Liam. If you can’t treat me like a woman then you don’t deserve to keep me. You don’t get to be the hero and the villain.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“You couldn’t even bring yourself to hug me without also fucking me. I don’t know if you’re capable of experiencing affection that doesn’t end in you feeling terrible for taking advantage of me.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“I love you. You know that?” “Do you?” I have to fight back the rise of tears, the ache in my throat. “Or do you love taking care of me? Do you love breaking yourself into pieces for me?”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“Like a kaleidoscope coming into focus—he’s more clear to me now than he has ever been.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“This whole thing could be about that single night—the guilt he felt over a twelve-year-old girl he didn’t even know. How long would he spend atoning for it? My heart already knows the answer: forever. That’s not a real relationship.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“Liam is the walking, talking embodiment of overwhelming human suffering. It defines his life. It shapes his actions. That’s why he can’t let himself love or be loved. He doesn’t know what it means not to suffer. For us to be together? It’s giving food to a starving man. He’s been hungry so long all he can manage is a bite. God, I asked him for a hug in that safe house—he gave me sex. I reach out for him now, my palm cupping his face, a good three inches away. He flinches hard enough so that I can’t touch him.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“I gave him that much, but it isn’t enough. How can it be? He gives me complete devotion. He gives me protection.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“It makes me think pulling me out of that orphanage wasn’t only selfless. It wasn’t only a man atoning for his mistake. I give him that moment. That respite from overwhelming human suffering. With my innocence. With my music. With my body. It makes me want to do it again.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“There’s this phenomenon that can happen when a soldier’s lost at sea. He can survive hours, days, even weeks. Using his training and undiluted adrenaline.” My throat clenches, imagining Liam in such a scenario. “Sometimes when they’re rescued, the next day, that’s when they die. The body finally relaxes. It stops fighting so hard, and the heart fails.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“Mahler finished writing Kindertotenlieder, translated “Songs on the Death of Children” a few weeks after his daughter was born. She died years later in childhood.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“didn’t think Harry was a cold-blooded killer. Because I’m one. We can usually recognize our own kind. Like knows like.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“The cello is cousin to the violin, with a deeper voice and larger size. The musician holds the violin. The cello, with its foot firmly planted on the ground, holds the musician. In the still, Jessica has her arms wrapped around the body, her shoulders draped against the neck in an intimate embrace. Her head bends toward the instrument, as if it’s whispering a secret only she can hear.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“Bethany walks onto the stage. “Oh my God. He’s crazy.” “He’s not crazy,” I say almost absently. I don’t know how I know that. He certainly acts crazy, but it feels like something else. “He’s hurting.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“Oh my God. He’s crazy.” “He’s not crazy,” I say almost absently. I don’t know how I know that. He certainly acts crazy, but it feels like something else. “He’s hurting.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“This woman. I have no fucking defenses against her, and I break my own rules.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“this child prodigy who grew up into my worst nightmare. Someone who could make me feel again.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“For this moment, I’m hers. The man who loves her—broken and wrong.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“Whatever she wants I’ll find for her. It’s not even a choice. It’s a biological”
― Skye Warren, Concerto

“Haydn’s Symphony No. 96 is nicknamed “The Miracle” because the audience dodged a chandelier that fell from the ceiling at the premiere.”
― Skye Warren, Concerto