LN Cronan

BTW ladies, I've loved the personal accounts of real-life love stories -- real happily ever afters. SQUEEEEE!!!!!

 Plus what Lucas says in Chapter 14 when he finds Eva in the hospital well outside the visiting hours, learns she's there because her roommate is hospitalized, and guesses correctly that Gideon threw his influence around to make it possible for her to be there. Some of the things Lucas says:  "So Gideon Cross threw his money around and made arrangements for you .... and you're grateful. But what will it cost you? .... He uses his money to seduce women, then despises them for being shallow enough to find his wealth attractive. He uses sex for control ...."  Which begs the following questions: Is Lucas deluding himself into thinking it was Gideon's money, not his sexual magnetism, that made Lucas' wife have an affair with Gideon and even decide to leave him (Lucas) for Gideon? Is this Lucas' wounded pride speaking -- and like Christopher, insane jealousy over Gideon's wealth? Lucas is very hung up on money. Was he bribed by Gideon's stepfather as part of the cover-up of the sexual abuse allegations? Two pediatricians examined Gideon, his mother told Eva. Lucas "alienated" Gideon from his family, Gideon told Eva. Lucas is a pediatrician. Doing the math on his age and how long he'd been married, he would have been practically fresh out of medical school and already married around the time Gideon was victimized - probably saddled with a crushing amount of student load debt and maybe with a wife hung up on wealth. If Lucas was bribed, does Gideon know -- and thus Lucas fears that weapon? Because if Lucas did indeed participate in a private investigation and then kept his mouth shut, Lucas broke medical ethics that could cost him his medical license and actually broke the law too. Ethics and the law required Lucas to report the mere allegations of sexual abuse to child protective services. Gideon was branded a disturbed liar as a young teen. Now he's a very powerful man. Is it in Lucas' best interests to paint Gideon as a disturbed manipulator in order to protect himself (Lucas) -- that if it ever came out, Lucas could claim the very investigation itself was one big lie - never happened?

 Love the British history lesson!  In the United States, the nearest equivalent we have to your bank holidays are "Federal holidays" -- holidays that are observed in all 50 states. Government offices, including state and local government offices, are closed, as are the banks. For most the most important Federal holidays, the financial markets (stock exchanges) also are closed, as are schools and many offices.  Memorial Day (last Monday in May -- today) is a Federal holiday, one of the biggest. Officially, it is to remember members of the military who died in war. Observances include parades and/or ceremonies at war memorials and/or cemeteries. Unofficially, it is considered the start of the summer recreational season, with cookouts being an especially popular way to observe the day.  Some states and even individual cities have local holidays, where they will close state offices and schools, but the banks will remain open, as will most offices.  I grew up in Massachusetts, where the civil unrest that led to the American Revolution got started, and where Massachusetts became the first British colony to cross the line from unrest to actual open war. There are two local holidays linked to that part of history. The first is Patriots Day, observed statewide the third Monday in April, to commemorate the day the Revolutionary War itself began. In modern times, that day is noted for an internationally-known sports event - the Boston Marathon. The other local holiday, only in the city of Boston itself, is officially called "Evacuation Day" -- the date on which General George Washington's military forces finally succeeded in capturing Boston from the British, forcing the British military to evacuate the city via its naval ships. But it happened on March 17, so Evacuation Day is really a thinly-disguised way to make St. Patrick's Day a legal holiday in one of the most Irish cities in America.

 Cary keeps going back and forth on Brett (has kept going back and forth on Gideon, too, for that matter.)  Trey, I think, put it best in the hospital corridor talking to Eva, "He wants me, then he doesn't. He's committed, then he isn't." (page 218)  Cary's done the same thing on the Brett-Eva-Gideon situation:  Friday before the concert: pro-Brett, anti-Gideon. Earlier that week, Cary had been trying to convince Eva for the sake of her recovery as a rape victim to end things Gideon, because for the second time, Gideon had attacked her in her own bed during one of this sexually violent nightmares. Now seeing Eva for the first time in days (Friday lunch) and discovering Eva would be in the same building as Brett and Gideon that night, Cary chose to not warn her. I think he hoped that her seeing Brett in concert (she was seriously hot for the guy's voice) might help her break free of Gideon.  Monday in the hospital: pro-Gideon, anti-Brett. Cary admitted he didn't want to see Eva go down the same dark hole as she had been before, unable to handle being a rock singer's girlfriend, because her issues would drive her (and Brett) insane. Plus, Cary saw how good to Eva Gideon was being during the crisis, from arranging her being able to stay at the hospital around the clock to him taking time out of his insanely busy work life to see her that Monday morning.  Tuesday early afternoon: Mixed feelings on both. Suddenly the Brett-Eva-Gideon triangle had become appealing again, because Brett actually wanted a committed relationship with Eva. The triangle probably continued to get even more appealing by Tuesday night, with Eva sobbing in Cary's room that Gideon was (so she believed) seeing Corrine for the second night in a row. If Gideon was going to see his ex, then Eva ought to see her ex.  Fast forward to the final Monday of Reflected: Pro-Brett, anti-Gideon: Cary knew what a s*** Gideon had been to Eva, even with his own eyes seeing him coldly detached while Eva all but fainted upon learning Nathan was in town. Cary saw his best friend's heart shattered when she learned for certain Gideon had been cheating (so everyone would believe, even Eva). While online that day, Cary found the interview transcript that proved Brett meant what he'd said to Eva -- Brett wanted another shot and wasn't going to give up. Then Eva comes home from work all confused because Gideon -- after two weeks of mistreating her and then utterly ignoring her -- had given her back that ring. So Cary told her about what Brett said and firmly planted the idea of Brett as Rebound Guy. And Cary deliberately did not show Eva the article itself.

 I think, too, he couldn't bear to look in her eyes, too fearful of what he might see there -- tears, despair, maybe anger.  That final time they made love, the night before he killed Nathan, they did so in the dark - my guess is Gideon deliberately left the lights off, knowing Eva would start crying and him unable to bear the sight. Same reason why he left her before dawn, while she was asleep, so he didn't have to look her in the face -- lest he lose his courage to kill Nathan that coming evening.

 That's a man - size of the hands and the size of what appears to be a watch on the left wrist. And yes, that definitely appears to be a wedding band on the left hand. The pose makes me think the word "despair."  Geoffrey Cross?  We know Geoffrey blew his own head off. I wonder whether he did it at home. Gideon was 5 at the time, too young to be attending full-time grade school yet. Was Gideon home at the time of the suicide, if that's in fact where it happened?  Geoffrey wanted wealth -- he went too far to get it. Waaaaay too far. A Ponzi scheme on a massive scale is about the worst financial crime someone can commit.

 All the records are now an open book to investigators. Some of the records, like his juvie criminal record, wouldn't become public documents (i.e. anyone could simply ask to see them at the court clerk's office) -- BUT -- with so many people pulling the records now and copies floating around, it could only be a matter of time before someone leaks the information to a reporter.  The reason Stanton had paid all that money years ago to tighten the seals was to prevent people who originally knew about the situation from possibly leaking anything. In a perfectly legal manner, he paid them money in return for their signatures on "non-disclosure agreements" that are legally-binding agreements to keep quiet about what happened years ago.  But now a whole new set of people are involved -- new investigators connected to the murder case, not just the original investigators  involved in the rape case. None of these new investigators are bound by non-disclosure agreements paid for by Stanton. Any of them capable of bending or even breaking laws by leaking the information to reporters who would promise to keep secret who leaked the information.  Graves herself has already bent the law -- perhaps even broken the law -- by leaking to Eva secret information about an active murder investigation. And Eva herself, as a cops' daughter, knew about leaks " .... what kind of information could be leaked from the police, and how easily and often it was done. My father, Victor Reyes, was a cop, and I'd heard plenty on the subject." (Entwined Chapter 1).  As long as what a news organization reports is true information, they can run it without legal repercussion. Even confidential documents. In the United States, the constitution protects freedom of the press -- and this means no laws can be passed forbidding the media from reporting facts as long as they are true. Print lies, well yes, that's illegal -- it's known as libel, and a civil lawsuit can ruin a news organization. But a news organization that runs true information does not break any laws, because those laws can't even really exist; they'd be unconstitutional.  It is true that most news organizations have policies against routinely reporting the names of sexual assault victims, and many news organizations also have policies about running the names of child crime victims. But those policies are voluntary -- NOT because some law says they cannot run the names.  Such laws do not exist in the U.S.  People who do leak confidential information do, however, sometimes break laws by giving the information to a journalist. On some very rare occasions, someone -- usually a government official -- will try to get a journalist to turn over the identify of a source. Usually, the courts side with the journalists and their constitutional rights. On some very -- very -- rare occasions, some judge will instead come down on the other side and order a journalist to reveal a source. It doesn't work, though, because journalists will willingly go to jail for contempt of court and sit there while appeals invariably get the journalist released.

I see Gideon's shell cracking open in Entwined -- and the book ending with him finally convinced Eva isn't ever going to leave. Â Books Four and Five will be Gideon's road to recovery, now that he's finally hauled his skeletons out of his closet.

 Look at how wonderful two days hiding from the rest of the world (the North Carolina weekend) brought them so close together and got Gideon to start opening up more than he ever had previously.  Let's say they manage to spend almost every night of the coming two weeks together alone, just the two of them hiding from everyone, how much closer they can become, and how much more Gideon can open up.  We've been told the book will go to dark places and Gideon will struggle -- but Eva will now be in a good place and will be the anchor of the relationship. I think the darkness will involve Gideon's shell finally cracking wide open and all the hurt/pain stored up for 17-plus years will finally spill out.  Plus, I think he's really going to struggle hard over the fact Brett has an unobstructed shot at trying everything he can to win back Eva. Not that Brett has a chance of doing so. But he's going to try as hard as he can. And Gideon, haunted by the image of Eva kissing Brett, is going to freaking out as much as Eva used to over Corrine.

I really think Gideon's dark past is what Deanna is digging into -- NOT Eva's. I don't think Deanna even knows about Nathan. Â Deanna wanted to get Eva to talk about Gideon, not herself (Eva). And it seems like Deanna is hoping the so-called "pillow talk" Eva would have heard possibly contains some juicy stuff. That, or Deanna is looking for confirmation of ways that Gideon (mis)treats women. Â Deanna was trying to use as her "in" the belief that Eva got used and would probably seize on an opportunity to get even by helping to hurt Gideon somehow.

Gideon simply dumping Eva for Corrine isn't newsworthy. Whatever Deanna is working on, it's bigger than that -- some dirt to try to seriously damage Gideon's public image. Â If my theory is right that Lucas is the one behind Deanna, then the dirt likely is something to try to paint Gideon as what Lucas firmly believes Gideon is - a sick b***** who gets off on emotionally abusing women by building them up and then breaking them. Â The real person Lucas would be aiming at, actually, would be Corrine -- to scare her away from Gideon and thereby ruin Gideon's chances with the only woman Gideon ever really wanted as a wife (again, this fallacy is what Lucas would believe to be true.) Â So where does Eva come in handy. This is what Lucas would hope is true: Gideon has a history of seducing women, then immediately tiring of them as soon as he's gotten them into bed - onto the reject pile they go. Eva just happened to be a sex partner that lasted longer than the others -- about a week and a half, rather than just one night, judging by the press photos (starting with the red carpet at the advocacy center fundraiser and ending with the red carpet at the Waldorf dinner the following week.) What was unusual about Eva was there were a couple of candid photos (sidewalk kiss, kiss-and-make-up in Bryant Park) that showed Gideon was hot for Eva. However, Lucas himself saw what happened as soon as Gideon laid eyes on Corrine at the Waldorf dinner. And Lucas jumped at the chance to cause a scene. Corrine's return that night coincided with Eva vanishing from Gideon's side (in public). Lucas would assume the worst -- Eva was nothing more that a serious case of l.u.s.t but as soon as Corrine came back, Gideon started wooing Corrine. When Lucas ran into Eva at the hospital, he could see she was a wreck. He guessed correctly Gideon was to blame -- and he jumped at the chance to poison her against Gideon. Lucas probably hopes that Eva has now gotten past sad and is now mad -- and might be ripe to be milked for info for whatever expose Deanna is working on. Eva would have been privy to some "pillow talk" -- one of the few sex partners Gideon actually was really into.

Funny how Victor, who would have had his pick of days of gossip stories about the shocking development in Gideon's love life, chose something that didn't have a screaming story about Corrine's place in his life -- but -- had the absolutely worst photo.  The Page Six blurb reads like a press release about Kingsman Vodka - where and when the public relations event was held. For Victor, it simply proved Gideon had reason to avoid saying in front of Eva where he (Gideon) had been Thursday. For Eva, her Dad had no way of knowing she'd recognize the name of the hotel where the party happened and the news would be the last straw that shattered her heart. For Gideon, obviously, the blurb about when and where the party was constituted Gideon's alibi. Nowhere in the story nor caption is there screaming speculation Gideon and Corrine are back together.  BUT ....  Victor had been looking for photos all the time, not stories. He'd told Eva he'd seen some photos of her and Gideon that had looked promising -- but -- then he lowered the boom with the party photo. Victor had his choice between the party photo and the photos of Gideon having dinner with Corrine on Monday. The party picture was a thousand times worse.  In the most incriminating of the dinner photos Eva saw online, Corrine had " .... her hand resting intimately on his forearm. ..." and in some other photos from the restaurant "He was smiling in a few of them, looking remarkably content ...." (page 224). The next day, Eva studied every photo she could find online. Then she sent all of them to Gideon's email and immediately left for lunch -- with Brett.  Compare those restaurant photos to something far more devastating, the party photo her father chose to show her. From pages 283-284) "He had his arm around her waist, and their body language was familiar and intimate. He was very close to her, his lips nearly touching her temple. She had a drink in her hand and was laughing."  Makes me still want to give Gideon the character a swift kick in the b***. Knowing Eva had been upset by those Monday night pictures of him merely sitting at a restaurant table with Corrine, how could he pose with Corrine in a way that showed he obviously had grabbed hold of her and his lips were close enough to her face to kiss her? How was Corrine NOT supposed to assume, given that picture, that Gideon still desired her?

On Facebook (and Twitter), Sylvia is having some fun with the fact today's New York Post mentioned Entwined in You among recommended summer books. Â Today's edition of the @NYPost calls Gideon "smolderingly sexy." I couldn't agree more! I wonder if there's a Page Six mention of Christopher... Â HAH! Â From page 99-100 of Bared to You, when Christopher introduced himself to Eva, and she recalled reading something about him: Â He laughed. "I'm flattered you remembered it. Just don't tell me it was in Page Six. Â For our international audience, Page Six is an in-real-life thing that Sylvia incorporates into both Crossfire novels thus far. It is a gossip column in a daily tabloid newspaper, the New York Post - one of the Post's most popular features. Celebrities and New York high society members are frequent fodder for the gossip column. The column runs on page 6 of the newspaper (thus the name Page Six). Â Page Six comes up in Reflected in You - the party photo of Gideon and Corrine looking intimate ran on Page Six. Eva's father showed it to her - to show her the picture - after Victor spent time online looking into where Gideon had been Thursday, obviously discovering news about Gideon being seen with his former fiancee -- and figuring out why Gideon sidestepped the police question in front of Eva where he'd been Thursday.

 At an impressionable age with own mother struggling under baggage (a difficult pregnancy) revelations that he was sexually assault caused his mother to "abandon" him . She didn't believe him. And he believed, as he told Eva in North Carolina, his mother didn't love him enough.  The damaged person inside is probably still terrified the secrets will cost him Eva's love. This, I think is the obstacle standing between him and recovery -- one he will overcome.

 I think that Lucas contacted Deanna.  The trigger for Lucas was seeing Gideon with Corrine at that dinner -- what Lucas saw would have led Lucas to believe Gideon's biggest wish had just come true, the woman "who got away" had come back. Then Lucas (and the rest of the world) saw that Gideon and Corrine had "gotten back together."  Lucas must have honestly believed that Gideon did use Eva for the sole purpose of making Corrine jealous enough to come back to him. Counting on the fact that Eva would figure this out and possibly be willing to be used against Gideon is what, I think, made Lucas sic Deanna on Eva.

 Gideon's biggest mistake with Eva was his keeping secrets, shutting her out. Corrine wasn't the true dealbreaker -- Corrine was simply the final straw.  Mistake: The first time Eva walked out on Gideon was because he tried to lie to her about the nightmare she's just witnessed. His reaction to her walking out was to cut her off. But then he learned he's made a mistake ... he hadn't really equated the cutting off with full-fledged breakout, but Eva most certainly had. He'd have lost Eva for good had he not broken down by day four of that break-up and gone running after her. Change because of it: He arranged for couples therapy plus individual treatment for himself (the latter for the nightmares.)  Mistake: Gideon demanded in North Carolina that Eva spill her guts about her past history with Brett. But she pushed back "I'm tired of being an open book for you while you hoard all your secrets" .... and when he gave as his excuse "How much s*** can I pile on you before you run like h***" to which she then hit him with "Okay then, we'll just be f*** buddies who b**** to a therapist once a week. Good to know." Change because of it: He immediately spilled one secret - about his having used Anne Lucas to get revenge against Dr. Lucas for his (Lucas) having come between Gideon and his own family. (Agh, though -- Gideon refused to specify the family part of it.  Mistake: the first time they really talked since Eva ended things, Gideon tried yet again to ask her to trust him. She told him no, because he wouldn't talk to her. Again, he asked her to be patient. She told him no, not any more. Finally, she explained that the only way he'd ever opened to her was sexually. Now that it was gone, his promises were not enough -- because still, she did not have him on the inside. "You never let me in." Change because of it: finally, out of desperation he started to tell her about what caused his nightmares.

 Interesting connection between the Oscar Night Snippet and the possibility Eva is going to go after Deanna Johnson, because Deanna is after Gideon.  First line of the snippet: “Shut up, caveman. I’m not into that ‘me Cross, you Cross little woman’ bulls***,†I snapped. “In case you’ve forgotten already, we made a trade. You got me, and I got you. I protect what’s mine.† Possibly related text from Entwined Chapter 1:  "I'd be d****** if I would sit back while someone took aim at Gideon. If she was determined to be a threat to him, I was determined to head her off at the pass."  My thoughts: " ... forgotten already ... " refers to a new "deal" they've agreed upon. Gideon and his need to control things, agh! First he'd wanted to lay down the terms of sex-without-expectations deal. Then he agreed to Eva's friends with benefits - but no dating deal. Then it became his boyfriend-girlfriend deal with the absolute condition of sexual monogamy. And so on ......  So now they've got a new deal agreeing to be equal partners together now in what happens moving forward. No more keeping Eva in the dark. That was her absolute condition, the "trade" -- she'll protect him (from the police) like he protected her (from Nathan.)  But Eva is taking that beyond the cops gunning for Gideon -- she'll go up against anyone gunning for Gideon. Deanna most certainly is -- and like the cops, Deanna went to Eva, not the other way around (i.e. like Eva went after Gideon's mother and went after Dr. Lucas.)   Snippet wording: “Eva, don’t fight my battles for me. I can take care of myself.† Thoughts: Gideon has either very deliberately cultivated his cool public image -- or -- more recently, deliberately manipulated the media (first with the truth he's serious about Eva then the lie he'd gotten back together with Corrine.) Other than that, Gideon has let most of the gossip just roll off his back. So he'll deal with Deanna like he has with other media - either manipulate or refuse to engage. This also can refer to him bouncing the Deanna matter over to his legal defense team. In any case, he's tried to order Eva to stay out of it (yeah, good luck with ever ordering Eva around again outside of the bedroom, Gideon!)  Snippet wording: “I know that. You’ve been doing it your whole life. Now, you’ve got me. I can handle this one.† Possibly related text from Entwined Chapter 1: " .... I intended to keep tabs on (Deanna) ....If Detective Graves hadn't been able to pin anything on Gideon, a nosy freelance reporters wasn't going to do better."  Thoughts: Eva's first reaction to Deanna was to wonder whether Deanna is digging into Nathan's death. But a possible Dr. Lucas connection also occurred to Eva. Whatever it is, Eva is bound to figure it out as part of their new "trade" of her protecting him. Because if a homicide detective can't nail Gideon for something, then maybe a reporter cannot nail him for something either.  Throwing out a theory - what if it's NOT Nathan's death Deanna is looking into, but rather, Gideon's sexual history? That Dr. Lucas is manipulating Deanna behind the scenes, because Gideon broke his (Lucas') wife? Lucas is probably convinced Gideon plans to marry Corrine, and so Lucas wants to break that? Thus far, Eva has been the target of attack by women in Gideon's past (Corrine, Magdalene.) Now that Corrine appears to be on top, wouldn't it be ironic if Corrine is now the one under attack -- from one of Gideon's reject-pile brunettes, Deanna?

 Haven't a clue either, but don't worry, whatever it's for, it's not for forgetting to asterisk certain words. If you forget to asterisk something that the naughty-word filter has flagged, the site will replace the word with a string of ##### characters.  I still can't figure out what the deal is with the four-letter word that is the opposite of heaven. The "h, e, double toothpick" word. For some strange reason, it's on the verbotten list. Strange. Also, the site seems to be flagged mostly, if not all, for the American version of the English dialect. The word a** won't fly, but the British dialect version, arse, does.

 I loved the part on page 204 where Eva described that Sunday of kissing and touching as "It was the most perfect day of my life."

 It may have been the hour-long interview with Booktalk Nation on May 14 (the link to the whole interview is here in the forum under the thread specifically devoted to that interview) or it may have been sometime in recent weeks in social media.  The tidbit details are coming to fast and furious now that it's been hard to keep up with what's where, so I'm not 100% certain on exactly where and when that tidbit came, other than to know for certain it was in recent weeks. The revelation recently generated hot discussion about the whole Stanton/Monica/Gideon/Nathan connection.  If you haven't had the time yet, watch the Booktalk Nation interview, as she does give some excellent Crossfire stuff in it, starting about 20 minutes into the interview.  If anyone else here remembers when it was we found that Nathan is what Monica talked with Gideon at the hospital, jump in  And welcome to the forum, Rogue!

Chapter 11 of Reflected in You - The Readers Guide  This chapter starts Saturday morning (day 26) and continues through the weekend (day 27)  Key plot developments The calm before the storm chapter, this covered the weekend Eva and Gideon spent together in a rented home on the shore of the North Carolina Outer Banks. Gideon opened up a little about his past, specifically about his mother, and we learned why he's estranged from her.  Gideon confessed a recent sexual secret - that he'd used Dr. Lucas' wife to hurt him.  New characters Anne Lucas - mentioned in passing in Chapter 2, her name and relationship to Gideon is revealed in this chapter.  What's eating away at Eva - the things Gideon won't tell her Eva realized she hurt Gideon because of the resentment eating away at her -- and because she starting to realize she cannot settle for having his body but being shut out of all his secrets. Defending himself, Gideon said, "I'm wide open for you, Eva! You're making it sound like you don't know me ... that all we have is sex ... when you know me better than anyone else." (page 184) Without either one of them realizing it at the time, Gideon actually confirmed the real dealbreaker issue for Eva, the thing that was about to tear them apart. Her insecurities have her convinced the sex IS ALL they have. And he has kept himself closed off to her -- closed off to everyone. Yes, she does know him better than anyone else, but she barely knows what's inside, because he's hoarded his secrets even from her. To prove her point, Eva fired off a series of questions Gideon has refused to answer. From page 184: Why do you own so much of Vidal Records? Why do you hate your family home? Why are you estranged from your parents? What's between you and Dr. Terrence Lucas? Where'd you go the other night when I had that nightmare? What's behind your nightmares?  What's between Gideon and Dr. Lucas Gideon said Dr. Lucas "alienated me from my family" -- though what that entailed, Gideon did not say. He did, however, confess to having taken revenge - by getting Lucas' wife, Anne, to cheat on him. Anne came on to Gideon, and when he found out whose wife she was, Gideon jumped at chance, because he knew it would " ... kill Lucas to know I'd banged her ..." Then Gideon decided to go for more than just a one-night stand, because " ... it would hurt him more to know she couldn't get enough ..." He let the affair continue until Anne was ready to leave her husband for Gideon -- then he dumped her. Broken, she went back to her husband. Gideon was ashamed of her having become collateral damage. He'd never made Anne any promises, and consciously he'd never have deliberately made her fall in love with him. "It didn't matter how long I showered after I'd been with Anne, it was never long enough to feel clean," he confessed (page 187).  What was between Eva and Brett "No guy wanted a recovering s*** for his girlfriend," Eva thought to herself as she honestly answered Gideon's insistent demand to know what had been the true nature of her past relationship with Brett. Eva had had a crush on him and the way he sang. She had been with Brett during a phase in her life when having sex with a man was the only way she knew to feel like she was loved. She was convinced that to Brett, she was nothing more than a convenient f*** -- a belief she still clung to despite the recent knowledge Brett wrote a love song about her. "I wish I could make it go away .... I don't like remembering the girl I was then," Eva confessed. (page 187).  How Gideon felt about having seen her passionately kissing Brett The sight of her in Brett's arms devastated him. He beat up Brett as a form of self-defense of his own heart, because it would kill him (Gideon) if Eva ever cheated on him. As bad as a mere kiss made Gideon feel, on one level he was glad it happened, because it finally made him understand just how much pain Eva was going through over Corrine. Before his wake-up call, Gideon had thought Eva just wasn't handling the Corrine situation well. Now he realized he hadn't a clue how bad of a problem Corrine was to Eva. He was disgusted with himself for having not understood sooner, and now he got it that Eva hated Corrine's guts.  One more piece to the puzzle of Gideon's past Still unwilling to talk about the root of his sexually violent nightmares, Gideon did reveal that his mother had been told what happened -- and that his mother refused to believe him. He tried to claim it doesn't matter anymore that his mother didn't "love him enough." But he understood that Eva, having slept in the same bed as him, does believe something happened. And Eva took the conversation as the opportunity to expressly tells Gideon "I believe you." (page 198).

A Chapter A Day Re-Read Project - Today is Chapter 12 of Reflected in You  This chapter starts very late Sunday (day 27) and continues through Monday morning (day 28 - one month to the day since Eva and Gideon met, and three weeks to the day since they became a couple.)  Key plot developments As soon as Gideon and Eva arrived home from North Carolina, they learn Cary is in the hospital. Someone -- Cary had no idea who -- jumped him on Friday night, beating him with a bat, inflicting a skull fracture, concussion, three cracked ribs and a broken arm. We'd learn in the final chapter Nathan had been the one who assaulted Cary, and in recent spoiler information, we'd learn Monica knew it and told Gideon (but kept it from Eva and apparently Cary as well.) Eva and Cary discuss his current status with estranged boyfriend Trey -- and they discuss what happened with Brett. Trey comes to visit Cary in the hospital.  After each of us has re-read Chapter 12, Sylvia would like to know a favorite quote or paragraph.

 Cary came from some sort of impoverished background -- the picture hints of poverty too.

 Therapy is the word that jumped to mind. Throwing out thoughts:  Cary and Eva both met in group therapy. In terms of sexual self-esteem, Cary is still struggling more than Eva. Gideon was sexually abused during the course of mental health treatment as a child. The biggest mistake of Elizabeth Vidal's past was to fail to believe her child. In Reflected, she still was in denial. Gideon desperately needs to continue treatment for the atypical sexual parasomnia - but he cannot tell Dr. Petersen the truth about Nathan. As a couple, Gideon and Eva desperately need to continue couples therapy, but the same obstacle applies re: too dangerous to tell Dr. Petersen the truth about Nathan. Monica is in treatment for her obsessions, including obsessions about keeping Nathan a secret. What happens when Victor finds out the truth about Nathan raping Eva, as Victor is almost certain to learn? How will Monica's fragility hold up?

We're nearly as frustrated as Gideon had been that first week he'd met Eva .......  ..... we've never wanted something as badly  ....  .... in a long time as we want this book! Â