" Because if it was exceptional, it must be an exception, maybe even the exception that proved the rule. And the rule was that I would always be alone, and could never trust anyone. But my partnership with Dox didn’t fit comfortably with that rule. And my relationship with Delilah suggested that Midori hadn’t just been a one-off, either. So now, some wretched part of me was intent on turning Dox and Delilah into exceptions, too, so it could pat itself on the back and proclaim, “See? I told you so. "

― Barry Eisler , Extremis (John Rain, #5)