Roma Love Quotes

To have and to hold, where even death cannot part us,’ Juliette whispered. ‘In this life and the next,’ Roma returned, ‘for however long our souls remain, mine will always find yours.

I will fight this war to love you, Juliette Cai. I will fight this feud to have you, because it was this feud that gave you to me, twisted as it is, and now I will take you away from it.

You destroy me and then you kiss me. You give me a reason to hat you and then you give me a reason to love you. Is this a lie or the truth? Is the a ploy or your heart reaching for me?

Because even if you hate me, Roma Montagov, I still love you.

I said I wanted you dead," Roma confirmed. "I never said I didn't love you

I hate you, what he really meant was I love you. I l still love you so much that I hate you for it

moya doragaya, I love you, I love you

You destroy me and then you kiss me. You give me a reason to hate you and then you give me a reason to love you. Is this a lie or the truth? Is the a ploy or your heart reaching for me?

I made a vow to you, Roma.’ She took a step forward. No one stopped her. ‘Where you go, I go. I will not bear a day parted. I will take a dagger to my own heart if I must.

Keep fighting for love.

Why do you pause?” Juliette mimicked bitterly. Softly, she set him down, brushing his mussed hair out of his face. “Because even if you hate me, Roma Montagov, I still love you.

What are you afraid of?' Roma Montagov asked. Juliette's lips parted. She exhaled a short, abrupt breath. 'The consequences,' she whispered, "of love in a city ruled by hate.

Because even if you hate me, Roma Montagov, I still love you.

We love WWII because the cause was so obviously just, because you can't be a good person and say you wouldn't fight against an evil like that. It was so black and white on our side, and on our side so few died. (Our side meaning the lantern-jawed John Wayne Greatest Generation constantly canonized soldiers who strode in late to the graveyard that was Europe. Compared to Jewish, Russian, Roma, and other casualties, our losses were minimal.) We felt so strong. In some ways I think we're always trying to recapture that feeling of being a country of superheroes. With every war we invoke that one, we hope it will be that good. -from her blog

Tutt'intorno a noi scorreva la città di Roma, splendida nella sua indifferenza, eternamente sicura di sé, felice di prendersi i nostri soldi e posare per una foto, ma senza avere alla fin fine bisogno di niente e di nessuno.

Touched by an Angel' started my calling to be the messenger, and on a weekly basis, I was able to deliver the message of God's love to the world.

The feud keeps taking and hurting and killing and still I couldn't stop loving you even when I thought I hated you.

I would have found you anywhere.” He reached forward. Tugged that piece of her hair, then tucked the curl behind her ear. “Across the world and under it. No matter how well you hide. It doesn’t matter where you go. I’ll always find you. Understand?

I take you, Juliette Cai," Roma whispered in concentration, "to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, until..." He looked up as he finished the knot. Paused. When he spoke again, he did not look away. "No, scratch that. To have and to hold, where even death cannot part us. In this life and the next, for however long our souls remain, mine will always find yours. Those are my vows to you.

I mourned,” Roma said just as softly. “I mourned for months, years outside the gates of the cemetery. Yet I don’t regret choosing you. No matter how cruel you think yourself, your heart beats for your people. That’s why you shot him. That’s why you took the chance. Not because you are merciless. Because you have hope.” Juliette looked up. If Roma turned, even the slightest, they would be nose to nose. “I regret that I was ever put in the position to choose,” Roma continued. His words were faint, whispered into the world while the streets roared with sirens, the building beside them teemed with chaos, and policemen along every street corner screamed for order. But Juliette heard him perfectly. “I hate that the blood feud forced my hand, but I can’t—I did what I had to do and you may think me monstrous for it. The feud keeps taking and hurting and killing and still I couldn’t stop loving you even when I thought I hated you.

It’s Juliette Montagova.” She lifted her hand and waved her fingers, flashing her gold wedding ring while she continued onward and exited the living room. “I’m a married woman. Roma, come help me get the knives, would you?” In that moment, as Roma pushed off the wall and followed her obediently, he fell in love all over again.

No," Roma finally said. "Then we would not have met. Then I would have lived an ordinary life, pining for some great love I would never find, because ordinary things happen to ordinary people, and ordinary people settle for something that satisfies them, never knowing if there would have been greater happiness in another life." His voice was rough, but it was certain. "I will fight this war to love you, Juliette Cai. I will fight this feud to have you, because it was this feud that gave you to me, twisted as it is, and now I will take you away from it.

I will stare fear in the face," Juliette promised quietly. " I will dare to love you, Roma Montagov, and if this city cuts me down for it, then so be it.

We honor our kids most when, while we guide or discipline them, we give them this gift of unconditional love by accepting them and respecting them for who they are, first and foremost.

I am in love with you,” he declared. It was only for practice, yet his face turned red nonetheless. This was ridiculous. He was fifteen. He could be more suave than this. Roma didn’t know much, but he knew that he had fallen too hard and he had fallen too fast. If he didn’t speak now he might never have a chance, because this city was brutal to dazzling things walking its streets, and Juliette was the most dazzling of them all.

Don’t get me wrong, marriage is good. Good for other people.” “Oh, honey, I can’t wait till it’s your turn. You are going to be so fun to watch when you fall in love.” “That may just be the meanest thing you have ever said to me.

I don't yhink, I'm in love. But I know I'm in love with you, Felice....

I don't think, I'm in love. But I know I'm in love with you, Felice....

I have always loved the expression it’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness because it's about hope.

Quizás Roma no se construyó en un día, pero imagina lo que los ingenieros podrían haber alcanzado si hubieran tenido un libro llamado Cualquier Persona Puede Construir Roma, Construir Roma para Tontos, o Construir Roma en Un Mes.

Juliette would have accepted the burden of playing dead if it meant safety for those she loved most. She and Roma were the same that way. It was their greatest flaw and their greatest strength at once, and she doubted that would ever change.

–No estoy dispuesto a permitir que te quieras tan poco, porque ser consciente de que eres tan injusta contigo misma hace que me hierva la sangre, porque saber que asesinas tus posibilidades una y otra vez me duele como si me arrancasen el corazón y lo estrujasen en directo.

Julien decía muchas cosas, algunas que podían perderse en el viento y otras que dejaban huella, el problema es que nunca sabías si lo que acababa de pronunciar correspondería a una u otra. El tiempo las colocaba en su lugar. Lo único que no podemos controlar es lo que lo acaba determinando todo.

You were teeny tiny like a baby tomato. But you've gotten so big! And you're going to keep growing until you're bigger and stronger and taller. So instead of thinking about dying, how about you think about how awesome it is to be alive? Dad can't run right now, but you can. Dad can't jump right now, but Roma can! Before you die you get to LIVE!

I love you. I still love you so much that I hate you for it. -Roma Montagov

Encontraremos a Cupido en todos los lugares de Roma, pues cortamos una de sus alas para forzarle a volar en círculos.

Why do you pause?" Juliette mimicked bitterly. Softly, she set him down, brushing his mussed hair out of his face. "Because even if you hate me, Roma Montagov, I still love you.

Because even if you hate me, Roma Montagov, I still love you

The Beatles were right. All you need is love. Love makes a family, not DNA or background. Love. Just love. Simply love.

many impressions to seize and hold, familiar loved façades, balconies, windows, water lapping the cellar steps of decaying palaces, the little red house where D’Annunzio lived, with its garden—our house, Laura called it, pretending it was theirs—and too soon the ferry would be turning left on the direct route to the Piazzale Roma, so missing the best of the Canal, the Rialto, the further palaces.

Las obsesiones dañan. Las metas imposibles también. Lo que Dana trataba de decir no era que teníamos que tirar la toalla a las primeras de cambio. Luchar con uñas y dientes era nuestra obligación. Parar de clavárnoslas en la piel cuando salía sangre también. Intentarlo hasta estar orgullosos de nosotros y, si aun así no lo lográbamos, no amargarnos, sino buscar ese arcoíris que solo sale cuando llueve.

Enough was enough. In this moment, Juliette decided she did not care. This was a war they had never asked to be a part of; this was a war that had dragged them in before they had the chance to leave. Roma and Juliette had been born into feuding families, into a feuding city, into a country already fractured beyond belief. She was washing her hands of it. She was not fighting for love. She was protecting her own, everyone else’s be damned.

Time brushed up against her cheek and asked her to take a breath, but she only held still, reveling in the swirl of emotion shaking through her ribs. Her heart turned itself inside out, read aloud the writing in red on her arteries and valves, told her pointedly that love was never wholly the grand battles and explosive deeds. Love, she thought, was kernel of warmth nestled deeper in her chest, glowing with a sense of comfort whenever Roma's eyes was on her - the same comfort she'd first found when they were fifteen, everlasting.

¿Sabes cuándo realmente me fallan las malditas rodillas y siento que tengo que hacer todo lo que esté en mi mano para merecerte? Cuando hablas, mierda, cuando lo haces. A veces pienso que no tendré vida suficiente para todas las conversaciones que quiero tener contigo. –Se pasó una mano por el pelo–. Y nunca he creído en Dios ni en la fuerza del universo, pero cuando veo cómo tratas a Jeremy, tu bondad, les doy gracias a ambos por haberte colocado en mi camino. Mierda, ¡si me lo pidieran hasta me pondría de rodillas! –Se detuvo–. ¡Y me siento impotente cuando me doy cuenta de que no te valoras, como si me matases sin piedad cada vez que te reprimes! Por eso me voy, porque hace tiempo que me prometí a mí mismo que me alejaría de cualquiera que te hiciese daño. Y esa persona ahora mismo eres tú.

ROMA 8.38. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, ROMA 8.39. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Le regalé mi arte. Le regalé mi pasión. Le regalé mi tiempo. Le regalé a Crysta. Y no me arrepentí. Da igual lo que vino después, da igual la persona en la que se transformó, da igual lo que el tiempo y el espacio provocaron. La vida son errores y aciertos. Entregarme a él fue de los segundos.

-Çünkü biraz teşvik edildiğinde, suskunluğundan sıyrılıp, insanın ağzını bir karış açık bırakarak, ince bir derin bilgiyle donanmış, Latin ve Yunan klasiklerini yalayıp yutmuş, Roma mimarlığından, barom resimden, atonal müzikten ve yeni romandan söz etmeyi ustalıkla kıvırabilen biri olduğunu koyuyordu ortaya. O zaman, kendisi, büyük bir özenin ve berraklığın egemen olduğu gizli bir bahçede tek başına ve hayran hayran dolaşırken, sizde, olayların akışı ile paranın ve gücün egemenliğine boyun eğerek benzerlerinizle birlikte kaba ve iğrenç bir dünyaya ait olduğunuz gibisinden dayanılmaz bir duygu yaratıyordu.- O, Theobald ya da Kusursuz Cinayet

Sen beni sevmiyorsun," dedi yavaşça ve sözcüklerle anlatılamayacak denli derin ve engin bir davet, giderek yavaşça büyüdü. "Öyle görünüyor ki, seni senin kavrayışının da ötesinde seviyorum ben," oldu karşılığım. "Seni sevmekten onur duyuyorum, çünkü biliyorum ki seni sevmeyi ve senin bana verebileceğin tüm sevgiyi hak ediyorum. Ama Roma benim üvey annem ve eğer ona ihanet edersem sana duyduğum aşkım onursuz ve değersiz hale gelirdi.

I want you, Bella. I want you in every way. I want to strip you down, with you standing naked before me. I want to look at you, your legs, your belly, your breasts, and your beautiful face. I want to see all of you.” His voice was harsh with lust. “I want to make love to you slowly, take you over and over all night, make you come, again and again until you beg me to stop. Then I want to ride you hard, make you scream as you come for me and beg me for more.

Mi hermano adoraba hacer cosas conmigo y a mí me encantaba que los dos estuviésemos juntos. Él me hacía sentir especial. Importante. Listo. Invencible. Todo el mundo debería tener a alguien en su vida que le pegue un empujón de ánimo para ascender al menos dos escalones más de la propia consideración que tiene de sí mismo. Pocas personas lo saben, pero a veces solo hace falta que una persona crea que eres único para que tú también te veas así. El efecto contagioso de la opinión ajena.

He toyed with her ear, catching the rim delicately between his teeth. “I’ll admit it wouldn’t be easy, being married to a Romany male. We’re possessive. Jealous. We prefer our wives never to touch another man. Nor would you have the right to refuse me your bed.” His lips covered hers in a molten kiss, his tongue exploring deeply. “But then,” he said, lifting his mouth, “you wouldn’t want to.” Another long, lazy kiss, and then Cam said against her mouth, “You’ll wear the look of a well-loved woman, monisha.” Amelia was forced to hold on to him for balance. “You would leave me, eventually.” “I swear to you, I wouldn’t. I’ve finally found my atchen tan.” “Your what?” “Stopping place.” “I didn’t know Romas had stopping places.” “Not all. Apparently I’m one of the few who do.” Shaking his head, Cam added in a disgruntled tone, “My back is sore after sleeping on the ground all night. My gadjo half has finally gotten the better of me.” Amelia ducked her head and pressed a shaky smile against the cool smoothness of his jerkin. “This is lunacy,” she muttered. Cam held her closer. “Marry me, Amelia. You’re what I want. You’re my fate.” One hand slid to the back of her head, gripping the braids and ribbons to keep her mouth upturned. “Say yes.” He nibbled at her lips, licked at them, opened them. He kissed her until she writhed in his arms, her pulse racing. “Say it, Amelia, and save me from ever having to spend a night with another woman. I’ll sleep indoors. I’ll get a haircut. God help me, I think I’d even carry a pocket watch if it pleased you.

Unfortunately, the purge hits too close to home for Scarlet Roma. When members of the Wolf gang terrorize her and the ones she loves with the backing of the government’s authority, she knows she must do something about it.

Como si de pequeña hubieses comenzado a flagelarte y ahora disfrutases enfermizamente haciéndolo. –Fui a hablar. Quería oponerme a lo que estaba diciendo. No me dejó–. ¿Que te falta un pie? Sí. Tú y yo lo sabemos y el resto del mundo también. ¿Y qué hay de lo demás? ¿Qué? ¿No importa? ¡Tienes la jodida cara de ángel más bonita que he visto y tu puta sonrisa podría servir de desfibrilador cuando una decena de corazones estuviesen parados!

Give me fire any day. Give me a raging argument if you disagree with me. Be braver than me. Be fucking smarter than me. I’ll only love you more for it.

What you need to acquire,” Win said gently, “is a wife. And I’m not saying that out of self-interest, Leo.” He smiled at her, this gentlest of sisters, who had fought so many personal battles for the sake of love. “You don’t possess a molecule of self-interest, Win. But as sound as your advice usually is, I’m not going to take it.” “You should. You need a family of your own.” “I have more than enough family to contend with. And there are things I would much rather do than marry.” “Such as?” “Oh, cut out my tongue and join the Trappist Monks … roll naked in treacle and nap on an anthill … Shall I go on?” “That won’t be necessary,” Win said, smiling. “However, you will marry someday, Leo. Both Cam and Merripen have said that you have a very distinct marriage line on your hand.” Bemused, Leo looked down at his palm. “That’s a crease from the way I hold my pen.” “It’s a marriage line. And it’s so long, it practically wraps around both sides of your hand. Which means you will someday marry a fated love.” Win raised her fair brows significantly, as if to say, What do you think of that? “Romas don’t really believe in palm reading,” Leo informed her. “It’s nonsense. They only do it to extract money from fools and drunkards.

Merito un po’ di paradiso. Giusto il tempo di ricaricare le batterie prima di quello che so attendermi a casa.

Sarei potuto restare a letto con lei altri cinque minuti o aspettare che si svegliasse, ma avrei peggiorato il ritorno alla realtà.

Come back to bed,” she whispered. “I need you to warm me.” Cam stripped away his shirt, and laughed quietly as he felt her hands plucking at the buttons of his trousers. “What happened to my prudish gadji?” “I’m afraid”—she reached into his open falls and stroked his aroused flesh—“ that continued association with you has made me shameless.” “Good, I was hoping for that.” His lashes lowered, and his voice turned slightly breathless at her touch. “Amelia, if we have children … will you mind that they’re part Roma?” “Not if you don’t mind that they’re part Hathaway.” He made a sound of amusement and finished undressing. “And I thought life on the road would be a challenge. You know, it would terrify a lesser man, trying to manage your family.” “You’re right. I can’t imagine why you’re willing to take us on.” He gave her naked body a frankly lascivious glance as he joined her beneath the covers. “Believe me, the compensations are well worth it.” “What about your freedom?” Amelia asked, snuggling close as he lay beside her. “Are you sorry to have lost it?” “No, love.” Cam reached to turn down the lamp, enfolding them in velvet darkness. “I’ve finally found it. Right here, with you.

I’ll admit it wouldn’t be easy, being married to a Romany male. We’re possessive. Jealous. We prefer our wives never to touch another man. Nor would you have the right to refuse me your bed.” His lips covered hers in a molten kiss, his tongue exploring deeply. “But then,” he said, lifting his mouth, “you wouldn’t want to.” Another long, lazy kiss, and then Cam said against her mouth, “You’ll wear the look of a well-loved woman, monisha.” Amelia was forced to hold on to him for balance. “You would leave me, eventually.” “I swear to you, I wouldn’t. I’ve finally found my atchen tan.” “Your what?” “Stopping place.” “I didn’t know Romas had stopping places.” “Not all. Apparently I’m one of the few who do.” Shaking his head, Cam added in a disgruntled tone, “My back is sore after sleeping on the ground all night. My gadjo half has finally gotten the better of me.” Amelia ducked her head and pressed a shaky smile against the cool smoothness of his jerkin. “This is lunacy,” she muttered. Cam held her closer. “Marry me, Amelia. You’re what I want. You’re my fate.” One hand slid to the back of her head, gripping the braids and ribbons to keep her mouth upturned. “Say yes.” He nibbled at her lips, licked at them, opened them. He kissed her until she writhed in his arms, her pulse racing. “Say it, Amelia, and save me from ever having to spend a night with another woman. I’ll sleep indoors. I’ll get a haircut. God help me, I think I’d even carry a pocket watch if it pleased you.

She's still very much a vital part of my life. You know, she adopted me. My own mother had passed away when I was just a little girl of 10, and Della's only daughter tragically passed away while we were working together. She took me in her arms, and she said, 'You know, baby, God is amazing. I always knew he brought you into my life because you needed a mama, I just didn't realize that he brought you into my life because I was going to need a baby girl.' She's been my mom ever since, and I just love her to pieces.

My dad used to sit me on his knee and read from the Bible to us. We were a praying family. Ours was a family of love and a family of prayer.

Before I left home for drama school in England, my father took me outside one night and told me that wherever I was, the moon would shine on both of us. Months later, walking in London, I'd look at the moon and feel his love. Now I've shared the ritual with my own kids.

¿Sabéis por qué hay personas que te repiten tanto que vales que consiguen que te lo creas? Yo sí. Las inseguridades, las decepciones y los temores nos quiebran y ellos, con sus palabras, nos curan, provocando que parte de su medicina, de su esencia, quede dentro.

I told Roma that even though her cells are dying, there were new ones being made every single second of the day. Isn't that what's happening to my arm? Cells are broken and dying but also trying to heal me. New cells every single second. So that means I will play again.

I will stare fear in the face,' Juliette promised quietly. 'I will dare to love you Roma Montagov, and if the city cuts me down for it, then so be it.

Milan-Roma games were especially tense. Roma fans loved to sing, to the tune of Il sole mio – ‘I have only one dream/Milan in flames’. Milan’s fans replied with irony: ‘Milan in flames? And where will you work?

Amelia, if we have children … will you mind that they’re part Roma?” “Not if you don’t mind that they’re part Hathaway.” He made a sound of amusement and finished undressing. “And I thought life on the road would be a challenge. You know, it would terrify a lesser man, trying to manage your family.” “You’re right. I can’t imagine why you’re willing to take us on.” He gave her naked body a frankly lascivious glance as he joined her beneath the covers. “Believe me, the compensations are well worth it.” “What about your freedom?” Amelia asked, snuggling close as he lay beside her. “Are you sorry to have lost it?” “No, love.” Cam reached to turn down the lamp, enfolding them in velvet darkness. “I’ve finally found it. Right here, with you.

I've played an angel on 'Touched by an Angel,' bringing the message of God's love. It was such a privilege for me as a person of faith to deliver the message.

If you can’t get up on your own that's where your community came in. Someone would help you up. Sometimes you were helped up with a laugh. Sometimes it took more effort. But I love the different ways that people find to cope and to triumph.

If you look at the course of my career, from 'Touched by an Angel,' to 'The Bible' series, you can see a thread of hope and inspiration. It's what I love to do and it's what I'm all about

[Della Reese] is still very much a vital part of my life. You know, she adopted me. My own mother had passed away when I was just a little girl of 10, and Della's only daughter tragically passed away while we were working together. She took me in her arms, and she said, 'You know, baby, God is amazing. I always knew he brought you into my life because you needed a mama, I just didn't realize that he brought you into my life because I was going to need a baby girl.' She's been my mom ever since, and I just love her to pieces.

*Sì, Allison, lo sto pensando.* Sto pensando al motivo per il quale non porti niente sotto, se ti stai bagnando rimuginando su di me, se quel deficiente ti ha avuta, se ti ha lasciato per lo meno il reggiseno - a giudicare dalla spalla scoperta, direi di no – se mi chiederai di fotterti anche stanotte. Le domande vorticano, confondendosi e distraendomi dalla serata.

Devia la mia mano, quando tento una carezza sulla sua guancia arrossata. «Poche regole, Allison.» Ricerco gli occhi con due dita sotto il mento. Evita di guardarmi solo per farmi ammattire, ormai lo so. «Pretendo che siano rispettate. Se scopro che spalanchi le gambe a quel figlio di papà, puoi dire addio a tutto.»

«Non è possibile.» «Ti prego.» La sua supplica ha un tono seducente, avvinghia a sé ogni nervo del mio corpo. Darei il locale per risentirlo mentre è in ginocchio e mi guida dentro la sua bocca. Fisso il punto in cui i nostri corpi si toccano, prima di trascinare gli occhi nei suoi. *Concentrati, stronzo. Ti ha posto una domanda.*

Did Paul hurt you?” Roma asked. He pulled away and ran his eyes over her to check for wounds, as if his own hands weren’t still running with blood. Juliette shook her head, and Roma sighed in relief. He glanced to the water, where Paul’s body floated in those green-gray waves. “He thought he loved you.” “It wasn’t love,” Juliette whispered. Roma pressed a kiss to her temple, closing his eyes against the dampness that stuck to her hair.

Juliette lurched away suddenly, scrambling to stand. Only then did Roma react. Only then did he reach out and grab her wrist, whispering, “Juliette.” “What?” she hissed back. “What, Roma? Do you wish to explain what this is between us, when you made it achingly clear four years ago where your heart stands? Shall I hold you at gunpoint until you have no choice but to admit you are once again playing me—” “I am not.” Juliette reached into her dress, tore out the gun she had hidden in its folds. With the hand she had free, she pulled the safety and pressed the barrel to the underside of his jaw—to the soft part where her mouth had been merely minutes before—and all Roma did was lift his chin so the gun would sink in further, until the muzzle was only another press of a kiss against his skin. “I cannot fathom it,” she breathed. “You destroy me and then you kiss me. You give me reason to hate you and then you give me reason to love you. Is this a lie or the truth? Is this a ploy or your heart reaching for me?

Then why?” Juliette asked. Her words came out a rasp. “Why did you do it?” “It was a compromise.” Roma scrubbed at his face harshly. His eyes slid to the mouth of the alleyway, checking for threats, checking that they were uninterrupted, unwatched. “My father wanted me to kill you outright, and I refused.” Juliette remembered the white flower lying on the path of her house, the note written from Lord Montagov. It had been dripping with mockery. “Why not?” A hard laugh. Roma shook his head. “Must you ask? I loved you.

Answer me something first,” she responded with a whisper. Roma seemed to brace. He knew. He knew what she was going to ask. “Do you still love me?” Roma’s eyes shuttered closed. A long second passed. It seemed that Juliette had misspoken, had come across a crevasse and misjudged her leap, spiriting down, down an endless dark rip— “Do you not listen to me when I speak?” he answered shakily, his lip quirking up. “I love you. I have always loved you.” Juliette had thought her heart hollow, but now it was encased with gold. And it seemed certain then that her heart remained functional after all, because now it was bursting, bursting— “Roma Montagov,” she said fiercely. Roma seemed to startle at her tone. His eyes grew wide, bordering on concerned. “What?” “I’m going to kiss you now.

Only then Roma leaned into the blade instead, until the metal was pressed right into his neck, one hairsbreadth away from breaking skin and drawing blood. “Then do it,” Roma hissed. He sounded angry. . . . He sounded pained. “Kill me.” Juliette did not move. She must have hesitated for a fraction too long, because Roma’s expression morphed into a sneer. “Why do you pause?” he taunted. The taste of blood was still pungent inside her mouth. In a blur, Juliette flipped the blade onto its blunt end and slammed the handle to Roma’s temple. He blinked and dropped like a rock, but Juliette threw the weapon away and lunged to break his fall. As soon as her hands slid around him, she let out a small exhale of relief, stopping Roma just before his head could hit the hard floor. Juliette sighed. In her arms, he felt so solid, more real than ever. His safety was an abstract concept when he was at a distance, far from the threats that her Scarlets posed to him. But here, with his pulse thudding through his chest and beating an even rhythm onto hers, he was just a boy, just a bloody, beating heart that could be cut out at any moment by any blade sharp enough. “Why do you pause?” Juliette mimicked bitterly. Softly, she set him down, brushing his mussed hair out of his face. “Because even if you hate me, Roma Montagov, I still love you.

Why do you pause?' Juliette mimicked bitterly. Softly, she set him down, brushing his hair out of his face. 'Because even if you hate me, Roma Montagov, I still love you.

Mi stava offrendo del sesso? E perché avrei dovuto fare sesso con uno sconosciuto? Mai mi ero prestata ad atti occasionali. Tuttavia, quella voce, sempre più bassa, sempre più seducente, mi stava catturando. Anzi, mi aveva già incantato.

For a sign that Juliette wasn’t entirely lost to him, Roma would pick a fight. In a moment of weakness to glimpse the Roma she loved, Juliette would entertain it. It was a volatile game. She needed to stop. She couldn’t keep doing this. If she had to turn cold, then so be it.

Enough was enough. In this moment, Juliette decided she did not care. This was a war they had never asked to be a part of; this was a war that had dragged them in before they had the chance to leave. Roma and Juliette had been born into feuding families, into a feuding city, into a country already fractured beyond belief. She was washing her hands of it. She was not fighting for love. She was protecting her own, everyone else’s be damned.

There was humor in this—it wasn’t lost on him, despite the utterly unhumorous situation. Once upon a time, before Roma met Juliette, before Roma rolled a marble at her feet and fell in love with her, he had been sent into Scarlet territory with another mission. He had been sent in for Rosalind. That was why his father had started to suspect him in the end. Rosalind Lang had become the talk of the town as the best dancer the Scarlet burlesque club had ever seen, and there had been plans for Roma to mingle into the Scarlet crowds, to get closer to Rosalind and obtain Scarlet information under the guise of a great, star-crossed love affair. Instead, Roma had heard rumors of Juliette Cai’s return to Shanghai and had switched gears while crossing onto Scarlet territory, wanting to see this terrible Scarlet heir for himself. He hadn’t stood a chance. The moment he saw Juliette Cai for the first time, saw that smile playing on her lips, standing there at the Bund, it was a done matter. That false star-crossed love affair pivoted and turned real. Roma would claim, in reporting back, he hadn’t had any luck with their plan, yet he kept slinking into Scarlet territory regardless. Of course his father caught on.

No,” Roma finally said. “Then we would not have met. Then I would have lived an ordinary life, pining for some great love I would never find, because ordinary things happen to ordinary people, and ordinary people settle for something that satisfies them, never knowing if there would have been greater happiness in another life.” His voice was rough, but it was certain. “I will fight this war to love you, Juliette Cai. I will fight this feud to have you, because it was this feud that gave you to me, twisted as it is, and now I will take you away from it.

In this life and the next,” Roma returned, “for however long our souls remain, mine will always find yours.” Juliette squeezed his hand. In that action, she tried to communicate everything she couldn’t put into words, everything that didn’t have a spoken form other than I love you. I love you. I love you.

Juliette remembered the white flower lying on the path of her house, the note written from Lord Montagov. It had been dripping with mockery. “Why not?” A hard laugh. Roma shook his head. “Must you ask? I loved you.

At one particular moment, with my eyes closed, I was crying and asking the question over and over aloud, „Does true love exist? Does true love exist in girls? Does true love exist? Does Sabrina love me? Does true love exist? Does true love exist?” - I had suddenly seen a flash. As if I was poking the Devil in the dark, staring too long into the darkness until it looked back at me as they say. I have never told anyone about this before. I try to describe what I had seen that night in that windowless, dark, and cold place deep inside under that big, old building, with my eyes closed. It made a half turn, flashing one of its eyes at me for a moment before disappearing again into the dark. As if it was nodding to me, I still get goosebumps years later when I try to describe it. As if it had been standing there all along, and just tried to reassure me that it had heard my question and would answer. Quite close. Just to make me be quiet finally. His eyes were yellow and red. I'm not actually sure if it had two eyes; I only saw one of them. One Evil Eye. Perhaps he had lost an eye, that's why I had seen the light of only one of them. His eye was malicious, but not particularly. It was more tired and angry yet understanding, as if he had heard this question over a billion times before from fools like me and I did not amuse him with my question and demand. As if he was about to show me a trick he had known for a long time. As if Satan had seen it all already. He knows all the tricks, he invented them, he inspired them all. As if he was bored of humanity already. (There is only One Evil Eye. The planet Saturn.) I was cuddling with Adam's cat, crying a lot, asking the darkness, about Love, and reflecting on Sabrina. Perhaps it was merely an optical illusion. I leave it up to the reader to decide what they believe about what I was facing and how I miraculously survived, as an atheist goy, as well as who truly supported me throughout the ordeal. If anyone or anything supported me in Spain at all. I had seen an advertisement somewhere saying that Miss Kittin would be playing on Saturday night, November 16th, 2013 in Barcelona at The Marhes. Satan. Saturn. Saturday. Coincidence? Maybe. So far. Perhaps. I knew I had to see her again after such a long time; she had been playing drum and bass in the early 2000s across the globe, and also in Budapest. I checked the map; The Marhes was next to Camp Nou, the FC Barcelona stadium. I thought of buying a bottle of champagne, which I didn't like, unless it’s Italian, but I wanted to celebrate, and I would walk along Avenida Roma to get there straight. I knew I'd get drunk; I didn't want to drive, I wanted to arrive intoxicated. I re-posted the Miss Kittin party’s flyer, on Instagram, writing underneath it : ‘All roads lead to Rome.

We are disturbed not by events, but by the views which we take of them.’ Is that not true, even of the death of loved ones?

inseparable, they were, not unlike the moon and the stars.

Su respuesta fue ambigua. Sus palabras no me desvelaron nada. Pero sí lo hizo el tono de su voz, que traspasó mi ropa, mis barreras y mi piel hasta acariciar aquellos puntos que ni yo misma era capaz de tocar. No sabía a qué se refería y tenía la carne de gallina. No sabía a qué se refería y noté un nudo en la garganta. No sabía a qué se refería y, aun así, desde ese momento cada día reí siempre con más fuerza y un poquito más alto. Bauticé mi sonrisa con su nombre.

Crysta se había roto. La armadura había desaparecido por completo. Y no lo había hecho por un regalo ni por el dinero que este costaba, sino porque alguien se preocupaba por ella, porque desde la sombra alguien se había detenido a observarla para darle aquello que ni siquiera sabía que anhelaba, porque los deseos que más importan son los que nunca se pronuncian en voz alta y, aun así, alguien te los concede.

Me enamoré de Julien tan lentamente que nunca seré capaz de definir el momento exacto. Fue como si poco a poco él invadiese mi sangre hasta circular con libertad dentro de mí. Pero sí sé en qué instante tomé la determinación de que tenía derecho a amarlo con toda mi alma. Ahí. Sin haberlo besado todavía, porque no puedes querer a nadie hasta que te quieres a ti misma

Equivocarse a la hora de proyectar el futuro y rehacer el camino no era malo del mismo modo que no era obligatorio dedicarnos a lo que nos gustaba, sino lograr que el lugar donde echásemos el ancla fuese lo más maravilloso posible, sin importar que el puerto no fuese el que habíamos seleccionado desde pequeños.

Sé que no lo hacían adrede. Joder, estaban allí para apoyarme. Sin embargo, no podían evitarlo y por primera vez experimenté lo que habían tenido que soportar Crysta y Julien toda su vida. La pena. La lástima, y era… una putada que te corroe y hace que todo se reduzca al pensamiento que circula por sus mentes: «pobre, creía que iba a triunfar, a ser alguien, y estamos los de siempre». El ser humano y su extraña afición a acentuar los gestos en las derrotas en lugar de en las victorias.

Far from it. Women who concede to everyone around them are the most boring creatures alive. Women who don’t have two brain cells to rub together are worse. Give me fire any day. Give me a raging argument if you disagree with me. Be braver than me. Be fucking smarter than me. I’ll only love you more for it.

Now, as then, anyone who wants to walk the holy paths must choose between Roma or Amor! Choose between the path of the world or that of love!

Madame Escoffier," he said. In his white apron, he was again the man she loved. The gentle man who only spoke in whispers. "I am sorry," she said. "I am not." He leaned over and kissed her. His lips tasted of tomatoes, sharp and floral. The moment, filled with the heat of a reckless summer, brought her back to the gardens they had grown together in Paris in a private courtyard behind Le Petit Moulin Rouge. Sweet Roma tomatoes, grassy licorice tarragon, thin purple eggplants and small crisp beans thrived in a series of old wine barrels that sat in the tiny square. There were also violets and roses that the 'confiseur' would make into jellies or sugar to grace the top of the 'petit-fours glacés,' which were baked every evening while the coal of the brick ovens cooled down for the night. "No one grows vegetables in the city of Paris," she said, laughing, when Escoffier first showed her his hidden garden, "except for Escoffier." He picked a ripe tomato, bit into it and then held it to her lips. "Pomme d'amour, perhaps this was fruit of Eden." The tomato was so ripe and lush, so filled with heat it brought tears to her eyes and he kissed her. "You are becoming very good at being a chef's wife." "I love you," she said and finally meant it. 'Pommes d'amour.' The kitchen was now overflowing with them.

The future spread before him in a great lifeless void. Thousands of nights without Amelia. He would hold and make love to other women, but none of them would ever be the one he truly wanted. He thought of Amelia living as a spinster. Or worse, reconciling with Frost, perhaps marrying him, but always living with the knowledge that Frost had betrayed her once and might again. She deserved so much more than that. She deserved passionate, heart-scalding, overwhelming, consuming love. She deserved … Oh, hell. He was thinking too much. Just like a gadjo. He forced himself to face the truth. The fact was, Amelia was his, whether he stayed or left, whether they walked the same path or not. They could live on opposite sides of the world, and she would still be his. The Roma half of him had seen that from the beginning. And it was that side of himself he would listen to.

He saw what no one else did: that a mantle of despair was settling like fine grey dust on the distant island, clogging the air, blotting out its brilliance and choking its people. And, as the dense rain-forests turned slowly into pockets of ruins, and the last remnants of peace began to vanish, it seemed to those who loved the place that the dazzling colours of paradise would never be seen again.