Absolute Silence Quotes

“Dante ordered himself a drink. “Long day, huh. Care to tell me about it? I’m an excellent listener.” “Not really. I’m here to drown my troubles, not wallow in them.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“He looked too gorgeous to be a bully, but Dante was a perfect example that pretty packaging didn’t rule out rot on the inside.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“I opened the door to reveal a gorgeous young man on the other side. He wore a leather jacket with a silver chain peeking out from beneath his T-shirt collar. He had an edginess that contrasted with his good looks like a Rembrandt wrapped in barbed wire.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“I removed my clothes until I was totally bare, never taking my eyes from his. Filip remained clothed. There was a power disparity to my nakedness, but that was a part of the thrill. A certain unknown element that was only enjoyable because of my total trust in the man before me. He would test my limits and take my body to extremes—rain down pleasure upon me until my mind shattered—and every touch would come from a place of love and respect.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“Questions started to spring to mind but were squashed when an image of his wife came to mind. Her abrasive personality. Her quick anger and aloofness. She was unpredictable at best and terrifying at times. The walls around her were reinforced concrete trimmed in electric razor wire. Why had it never occurred to me that she was like that for a reason? Fuck. If Matteo had wanted me to know what had happened, he would have already told me, so I didn’t ask. Instead, we rode the rest of the way in silence.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“Power will paint a target on your back.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“I love you, Filip. I live and breathe for you.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“You’re it for me, Filip. You’re mine.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“Who you are, Filip De Luca, is loyal, passionate, and devoted, and I decide whether the risk is worth it. Not you.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“tried to talk to Dante about that—about letting go of the past—but he couldn’t. He was there the night his parents were killed. A five-year-old boy hiding in a cabinet, listening to his parents being murdered.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“He told me your family had killed his parents after his uncle killed your mom.” It was awkward to accuse his family of such an act, but the subject needed to be aired.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“Be firm when needed, but always, always act out of love.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“As much as I wanted answers, nothing would change the past. Dante and Liana would still be dead. I couldn’t undo what had happened.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“His trauma had taken hold of him at a young age and stolen his life away. The most frightening part was how well it had hidden beneath kind eyes and practiced decorum.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“Dante was troubled, and the source of that was a traumatic event that occurred when you two were only children. You were both just innocent victims.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“He wasn’t one to be manipulated or coerced. He didn’t even let Filip take him alive. Dante died on his own terms, just as he’d lived.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“Hope and optimism run eternal. No matter how bad a situation, a small part of us—the survivalist part—croons, it will get better from here. Our own desire for improvement convinces us that the suffering will be short-lived. But that voice grows weaker over time. Doubts set in and whisper nihilistic threats, submerging hope in the oily black residue of despair.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“My father was a member of the Morelli family, as was his brother. After Filip’s mother was killed, the Gallos hunted down anyone involved. Filip’s father lusted for blood, but he didn’t just kill my uncle. Over a year, he eliminated my entire family. We went into hiding for months, but it wasn’t enough. I had just turned five when my parents were gunned down in our home. De Luca never suspected I was there hiding in a cupboard, listening. I heard every scream. Every whimper. I flinched with each gunshot and cringed at the heavy thud of his boot pounding into my father’s lifeless body. I relive that nightmare every time I close my eyes, knowing those monsters never paid for what they did.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“The venom in his stare was pure liquid rage. “This is about revenge. About showing the De Lucas that they can’t get away with killing my entire family. There is no way of working it out.” His answer winded me. Killing his entire family? Surely, they hadn’t actually done that. “What? How?” I stammered. “When I was only four, my uncle killed Filip’s mother. It was a mistake. The families don’t usually touch women and children, but there was a mixup, and his mother was killed instead of his father.” “I thought you weren’t a part of the mafia.” “I’m not,” he spat. “One organization killed my family. The other acted as though I’d never existed once my parents were dead. I want nothing to do with any of them.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“I had no concrete evidence, but that innate sense we’re all born with screamed that I’d unearthed the truth of the matter.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“What if the initials were in order? DL. Instead of Lion’s Den, Dante… I considered my friend and his fondness for lions, and my conversation with Matteo came rushing back to me. Killing Rocco Leone still seeps into my dreams. Leone. Italian for lion. The name of the family who had issued the hit on my father, inadvertently killing my mother. Dante’s last name was Capello, but his parents had died when he was young, and he’d been adopted by another family. Had they given him their last name? Could he have been born a Leone?”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“was distracted when Dante’s accomplice stepped into view. Righteous flames of fury scorched the blood thrumming in my veins. “You bitch,” I hissed, muscles coiling with the need to launch myself at the woman. Liana, in all her redheaded glory, stood nonchalantly in the living room as though she hadn’t just participated in a felony kidnapping plot.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Poor Camilla. Did no one ever teach you that?” “You’re going to hurt me to punish Filip?”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“Vacuous black irises lifted to stare blankly at me. “They took everything from me—Filip’s family. I’ve waited for the right opportunity to repay him. To hurt him. The man who had everything I should have had. I started to think it would never happen and had almost given up entirely. Killing Filip would have been too easy. I wanted to hurt him like they hurt me. But how could I do that when he didn’t care about anything? No one I could easily use to hurt him. Then you arrived. When I saw the way he looked at you, I knew. You were the key.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“Oh, God. He drugged me. Dante had drugged and kidnapped me.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“… I had no idea. I thought you were being kind. I never realized …” I stumbled over my words, trying to process it all. His lips thinned in a sad smile as he stepped closer. “Please don’t hurt me.” Helpless, frustrated tears began to well in my eyes. “I have no intention of hurting you, Camilla.” His voice was so reassuring, I almost believed him. “I do, however, need to take you with me. Things didn’t go as I’d hoped, which only leaves me one alternative. I’ve waited too long to let this chance slip through my fingers.” Take me? Where? Why? The answers would undoubtedly mean bad things for me. Would Filip or my family be able to find me? Did Filip have any idea his friend was psychotic?”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“My anxiety fermented into a paralyzing fear. Something was wrong with Dante. How had I not detected it before? Had he developed some kind of obsession with me? He’d been so casual about our friendship, aside from a couple of awkward instances. He claimed to have been campaigning for my affection but had never once been forthright about his intentions. I had known he didn’t want me with Filip, but that was not the same as wanting me for himself.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“You never would give me a chance. I suppose I should have expected your reaction to finding me here. Somehow, it still stings.” He stepped closer, pondering his surprise. I clutched my purse to my chest. “Dante, you broke into my apartment. I would be angry with anyone who did that.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“I thought when I wasn’t made until I was eighteen that you and the family didn’t trust me.” Matteo slowly shook his head. “No, Filip. I was trying to protect you.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence

“At least you got to be a part of avenging her. That’s one of my biggest regrets in life.” I brushed out invisible wrinkles from my pants. “That I would have been old enough to help punish those responsible.” He shook his head. “It’s best you weren’t there. Maybe you would have ended up like Gabe and rejected the family life.” “It didn’t stop you.” “Yeah, but killing Rocco Leone still seeps into my dreams. I was young. Too young. I insisted I was ready, but that shit haunted me for a long time even though I felt justified in what I did. He set up the hit that took our mother, but ending his life changed me. I’m glad you didn’t have to go through that. That’s why I made sure you weren’t made until you were older. Until you could handle the consequences.”
― Jill Ramsower, Absolute Silence