The book's lead character is both an 'object of' desire and an 'object of' pity. [=the lead character is both desired and pitied by other characters in the book]
When they take a vacation, 'money is no object'. [=they don't worry about how much something costs] They always stay at the most expensive places.
If 'cost was/were no object' [=if cost did not matter; if we had enough money] we'd buy a new car instead of fixing the old one.
(..) After all, as you once said so memorably, "It's all just a business." Right? So go do business. - Go! - Lara... Lara, this is a unique object. Only one of the dials is working. It glows, like the eye. Lesser, but it seems to be getting brighter. And it's also running backwards. (..)2001 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider