LN Cronan

 The party was at the hotel where he used to keep his f*** pad room, but it wasn't in the room itself. There is a restaurant downstairs, and I imagine it must have some function rooms. However, in the press release gave the hours and location of the party (thus documentation of where and when Gideon was that evening). Eva recognized the address -- and she naturally assumed that after Gideon and Corrine finished partying, they'd go upstairs and screw their brains out.  Gideon had sidestepped the cops' question about where he'd been Thursday, sidestepped in front of both Eva and her father, offering to walk the cops downstairs when Victor told them to leave. After Eva shut herself in her room, Victor went on line and found out about Gideon and Corrine -- and found out that Gideon had been with Corrine. He showed Eva the picture incriminating picture (staged to make them look like more than just friends) to Eva. She read the brief story, recognized the address -- and snapped. Went back into her room, called his cell phone and ended things with him.

   On the audiobook, that phone call is even more awful.  Poor Gideon didn't keep it together - by the time Eva had said her piece, he looked like someone had just died. In a way, something had, because Eva's heart was in a million pieces.  And he was at the police station at a time when the detectives would have been keeping him (and his lawyers) cooling their heels. In order to watch him, watch for "tells" -- body language and eye movements, signs of degrees of nervousness, signs of openness versus evasion.  Detective Graves watched him take that call, a hunch telling her it might have been Eva. From there, it would have been easy to subpoena copies of his various phone records as part of the investigation. The records would document the fact the call to his cell phone came from Eva's home landline.  Going to Eva's for dinner the night before had been a huge mistake, because the police ended up catching him with her after he'd supposedly already gone back to Corrine. Answering that phone call, instead of letting it go to voice mail, was an even bigger mistake. I think that once Graves was able to confirm her suspicion, via checking phone records, the call that devastated him had in fact come from Eva, then Graves saw right through the Corrine lie and Gideon shot right to the top of the suspect list. My theory is this was why Graves began hammering away at the alibi, seeing if she could break it -- which she did.

 Yes, yes we are entitled to include the opening of Entwined   .....  especially because the snapshot/snippet combo for later on in Chapter 2 indicates they're going to wake up happy together in her bed the next morning, like it's Christmas morning ....  Gideon's " ... back adorned with scratches and crescent marks from my nails. I’d gripped his Arse, too, insanely turned on by the feel of it clenching and releasing as he f***** me tirelessly, stroking his long, thick c*** deep inside me. Again and again… "  So after that tear-filled desperate first time in weeks .... it's going to be make up sex making up for a couple of weeks of abstinence. All. Night. Long.   And I can't wait for him to pin her to the wall of that nightclub, her knowing he's going to be rough.  (fanning myself just thinking about it!)

  Do we have to pick just one? How about .... a top three?  In order of appearance, rather than #1 ... #2 ... #3 ...  Limo sex, the first time In the library And yes, the ride to North Carolina ... dark and dangerous though most of that scene is, it's really hot too.

The first time he pushed Eva away (because of his nightmares) he spent the four days figuring that it wasn't really over, because she would come back. By day four, he found himself having to run after her. When he got her back, he gave her a promise ring.  The second time he put temporary distance between the pair of them (after he'd attacked her in his sleep for the second time) she was the one to bridge the gulf, did it immediately, including using the key he'd given her to his apartment, literally chasing him home. It was a major turning point in the relationship for him, finally easing his fears that every time things turned bad, she'd run.  He forgotten though the warning she'd once given him that he had the ability to push her away. He found that out the hard way when his plan to put some safe distance between them went too far, and she left him by ending their relationship. She pulled the ultimate runner -- not "I'm leaving (his apartment because they fought, the fundraiser because of how he behaved with Corrine) but rather "I'm done."  So the third time was an anguished telephone call where she, not he, was the one. Her last tear-filled words were to tell him she was done, to attempt to wish that he would find happiness ... to not be able to even get the words out to wish he'd be happy with Corrine ... then to say, "Never mind. Good-bye."  It was the ultimate runner, and five nights later, she proved she'd meant in by wordlessly dropping off her key to his apartment and the ring he'd given her, leaving both in an envelope at the front desk of his apartment building. That particular night happened to be  Thursday, the night on which they used to meet with Dr. Petersen in order to do everything they could to make their relationship work.  I can only imagine his anguish and terror upon opening that envelope. And worse was to come that weekend, when Eva finally crawled out of the shell she'd gone into after the break-up, emerging with a sexy new appearance, going out dancing -- and Brett Kline telling the media he'd reconnected with Eva and intended to win her back.

Favorite quote from the re-read of Chapter 10 yesterday .... well, favorite is not the right word, because this was a very dark chapter, but something Gideon said that I feel is key to understanding how he could so coldly hurt Eva emotionally later yet still delude himself into thinking he'd never really lose her. From page 180: Â "If you wanted (Brett), it wouldn't be enough for me to let you go. I want you too much. I want you with me, in my life, in my bed. If I can have that, nothing else matters. I'm not too proud to take what I can get." Â Couple that with something in the anguished email Eva sent him the following Wednesday, the fourth night in a row she's gone without him. He's quit seeing her, quit calling her -- and he took Corrine out for all the world to see two nights earlier, while Eva has spent every night at the side of her badly injured best friend. From page 246 Â "Even knowing you've been with her, I want to crawl on my knees for you and beg for scraps. A touch. A kiss. One tender word. You've made me that weak." Â When Gideon got that email, the final 24 hours of Nathan's life was ticking down, and Gideon's plan would involve him taking Corrine out in public again, this time posing for a picture in a way that would make everyone assume he and Corrine could be publicly intimate again. Â Had Gideon's plan gone totally according to plan, the cops would use that Corrine picture to eliminate him from having motive to kill Nathan, and the accompanying press release for the party would provide him with an alibi the cops would accept at face value rather than bother to check out. The investigation into Nathan's death would head toward "unsolved" limbo status. Â My theory is he thought Eva would be waiting for him, having held a torch the whole time (why not -- Corrine held a torch and had been willing to settle, therefore Eva would be too, because Eva was in love with him.) He could prove to Eva that now she had all of him, forever, not just scraps. Â But his plan blew up in his face, because: She found out about the Nathan pictures and concluded he (Gideon) would never sexually desire her again. All along, her insecurities had whispered to her the only hold she (Eva) had over Gideon was sexual -- that all along Corrine held a much deeper hold, one he could not break free from. The location he's picked for the party was strategically located near Nathan's hotel and was a place Gideon could move around in unfettered, including being able to sneak in and out of. But it also was the f*** pad hotel, where he had conducted all his prior sexual relationships, including three years with Corrine. Him taking Corrine there that night made Eva believe beyond any doubt he'd gone back to Corrine. Rather than being willing to settle for scraps, a strong part of Eva deep inside kicked in and made her realize she was going to have to be the one to actually formally end the (so she believed) already finished relationship -- she had to do it because Gideon was too much of a coward to be able to cut the cord himself. When Eva did end it, Gideon had been painted into a corner of his own making -- he was high on the suspect list (and would soon become chief suspect) and so he was powerless to deny every awful accusation Eva threw at him, powerless to comfort her, powerless to even communicate with her in any way. When Eva handed him his walking papers, his inability to contact her came across as his having been glad she'd done what he couldn't do.

 Then there's the option of going to the sex scenes -- including the final part of the Chapter 10 Reflected scene, when that encounter shifts from Gideon revenge f****** Eva to hurt her and shifts to making love to her.

Gideon started opening up at the end of Reflected, when he finally understood the real dealbreaker for Eva was his inability to trust -- his shutting her out.

Chapter 10 of Reflected in You - The Readers Guide  This chapter starts Friday night (day 25) and goes through Saturday morning (day 26)  Key plot developments Gideon had two big fights in this chapter - one literal and one figurative The literal fight was a serious brawl with Brett, whom Gideon attacked after catching Eva and Brett passionately kissing. Physically a match for one another, both men fought hard, and the coming days would reveal both sported serious bruises as a result. The figurative fight was with Eva afterward, when he used sex to punish her for having given in to desire for Brett.  New characters Darrin, Six-Ninths drummer (minor) Unnamed additional members of Six-Ninths (minor)  Fight #1 - Gideon versus Brett Gideon, who studied mixed martial arts with a trainer, was a formidable fighter, but Brett, also in top physical shape, had barroom brawler fight skills, so the men were a match for one another. As the two men went at it in the private parking area near the band's buses, a crowd began to form, including Brett's bandmates, who pour out of the backstage area. The sight of Brett fighting with the man who financially controls their record label held them back from jumping into the brawl, though. Nor did Gideon's bodyguard, Angus, stop the fight, despite tearful pleas from Eva begging him to intervene. "He knows when to stop, Eva." Angus told her (page 165) At the time, Angus had been trying to make her get into the limo and she had been refusing to go. At Angus' request, Arnoldo threw her over his shoulder, and as she screamed in frustration, he loaded her into the car. Arnoldo climbed in right behind her, as did Shawna. The last the witnesses to the still-in-progress fight saw of Eva was her being forcibly put into the limo and then the car being driven away.  Fight #2 - Arnoldo versus Eva The lyrics of the song Golden included her first name, Eva, and so in the back of the limo, Shawna figured out Eva was the girl in the song, and Shawna said so. Arnoldo then made the connection -- and guessed that Gideon knew it too. Eva defended herself that her relationship with Brett had been a long time ago, but Arnoldo shot back with "Not long enough, apparently." (page 165) Angus' first stop was to take Shawna home. The second stop was to return Arnoldo to where they'd picked him up when the night started, his restaurant. Arnoldo, angry at Eva for having hurt Gideon, scolded her, "Be gentle with him .... I have never seen him the way he is with you. I can't say you are worthy of him, but you can make him happy. I saw that myself. Do it or walk. Don't f*** with his head." (page 167) Now alone with Angus, Eva pleaded to know where Gideon was -- that she needed to talk to Gideon. Angus replied that Gideon had called and he (Angus) was going to take her back. They returned to the amphitheater, and Gideon climbed into the back of the car.  Fight #3 Gideon versus Eva It was a coldly furious Gideon that Eva faced, one who rebuffed her tearful attempt to apologize. He demanded to know what Brett is to her -- and does she want Brett. Eva responded Brett was a mistake, past and present, and told Gideon, "I only want you. I love you, Gideon. So much it hurts." (page 168) Still sick with jealousy, Gideon speculated the reason Eva had climaxed during the concert wasn't because Gideon had his fingers inside of her - it was because Brett sang a love song to her. And the part of the lyrics about Eva having been down on her knees made Gideon envision her going down on Brett. Trying to bridge the gulf sexually, Eva began to perform oral sex on Gideon. Then Gideon began to order her around sexually, and as the f****** went on and on, Gideon kept demanding an answer "Why did you kiss him?" Every time, Eva answered she didn't know, the sex continued, with Gideon ordering her to keep pleasuring him but denying her pleasure in return. "I watched him as I teased us both, looking for any signs of the passionate lover I adored. He wasn't there. A furious stranger glared back at me, daring me, taunting me with his detachment." (page 172) Things got so bad that Eva pleaded with Gideon to stop treating her like a w**** - his answer to that was to remind her she could use her safeword to end the sexual encounter. But Eva, sensing Gideon was testing her, decided to keep going, to let him continue to use her. Soon Gideon changed tactics, using o***** denial to control her, bringing her to the brink but preventing her from being able to come. All the time, he kept demanding to know why she'd kissed Brett, and also continuing to hurl jealous accusations that Eva was fantasizing about Brett. Finally, her own fury brought to the surface her subconscious reason for why she had done what she had, kissed Brett knowing in the back of her mind that Gideon would soon come looking for her. "Because you deserved it! Because you should know what it feels like! How bad it hurts, you self-centered a******!" (page 176) Eva's deep-seated insecurities had driven her to punish Gideon for how much Corrine had hurt her, hurt the relationship between Eva and Gideon. When the realization washed over both of them, Gideon's angry spell was broken, and the revenge f***** punishment turned to lovemaking.  North Carolina Eva awoke the next morning in the back of the limo to learn they'd ridden ten hours through the night to arrive at where Gideon had planned (making those plans earlier that week) to take her for the weekend. It was a rental house on the ocean, the white bedroom filled with white flowers almost as if the room was a bridal suite. "For the next two days, we're going to be hermits together," he promised (page 179). The next two days would be the happiest of their new relationship - and without knowing it, would be the last peace they would enjoy together between then and the coming weeks.

A Chapter A Day Re-Read Project - Today is Chapter 11 of Reflected in You  This chapter starts Saturday morning (day 26) and continues through the weekend (day 27)  Key plot developments The calm before the storm chapter, this covers the weekend Eva and Gideon spent together in a rented home on the shore of the North Carolina Outer Banks. Gideon opens up a little about his past, specifically about his mother, and we learn the reason why Gideon is estranged from her.  After each of us has re-read Chapter 11, Sylvia would like to know a favorite quote or paragraph.

And maybe in Chapter 10 we'll find out why Angus was the one person from his youth that Gideon did trust. My theory is that Angus took the law into his own hands to stop the pedophile. If Chapter 10 looks back into time about how Elizabeth Vidal failed Gideon, then the chapter may also tell us how Angus may have saved Gideon. Â I certainly hope so. Angus definitely is one of the good guys!

 Here's the watch in Snapshot #10 - a woman's watch and obviously very luxurious   This also is a woman's watch - though not luxurious, possibly simply a handy "prop" the agency creating the images had.  Caption: can you trust everyone around you?  Theory: Chapter 10 has something to do with Elizabeth Vidal, as it relates to Gideon's history.  Teen-aged Gideon finished growing up around a family that thought he was a liar, because Elizabeth accepted the word of others (pediatricians her rich husband paid for) over her own child. The watch symbolically stands for "time" as the story takes us back in time.

Are we going to have to create a Norwegian Spoiler thread?

 Yes, yes they do need some laughs after that bad night culminating with that sex-fueled fight. Fortunately, this weekend we get to read the North Carolina chapter (#11) that's IMHO the best part of the whole book.  Sylvia said Gideon and Eva will spend more "alone time" together in Entwined -- let's hope they get to steal away for another weekend to hide from the world.

 And one more picture (because Kirsten just taught me now to do this - can't resist trying the trick again!)  Since we're mentally envisioning Gideon on TV, let's put Eva up here too. This is actress Scarlett Johansson -- Sylvia mentioned in that video interview she'd like to see Johansson considered for the role.

 It worked! Excellent!

 OK, trying this with another Henry Cavill yummy picture, because it's Friday and we're feeling frisky!

Tech question, Kirsten -- how do you get the photos to paste into a post box?

LN Cronan, on 24 May 2013 - 08:16 AM, said:  I  Before -- definitely before. Cary having very serious reservations about Gideon is how things stand as we head into Entwined. Below I've got some "after" Cary finds out theories.  "Before" as we head into Entwined Both of the violent nightmares where Gideon turned aggressor on Eva happened at Eva's place. After the second one, Cary flat out urged Eva to end things with Gideon for her own recovery. Eva chose to continue to work through the problems with Gideon, so Cary dropped the subject. But less than one week later was when Gideon started hurting Eva by taking Corrine out. Cary, now bedridden, watched Eva suffer. Then Cary saw that Eva finally had enough, and she did dump Gideon (though for "cheating" not the nightmares) Two days before Entwined started, Eva finally had a little contact with Gideon. Meanwhile, Cary planted the Brett Rebound Guy idea.  Possible "after" I'll bet Cary already suspects someone hired a hitman to kill Nathan over those pictures - probably Stanton but can't rule out Gideon. The motive for the killing would be to make sure those photos never get out. Even Eva herself (based just on the photos before she learned the scarier stuff) wondered in passing whether Gideon might have been involved. Sooner or later, Cary is bound to find out Nathan was the one who almost killed him -- and that Nathan had been stalking both him and Eva. I think when Cary finds that out, he'll also figure out the real motive for wanting Nathan dead. It wasn't the pictures, it was the danger to Eva's life. Once Cary connects those dots, then he'll likely guess (correctly) Gideon, not Stanton, was responsible for Nathan's death. Couple that with Cary probably finding out Gideon is quietly seeing Eva again  .... Cary might then smell a "rat" (in a good way) about why all of a sudden Gideon had pulled away from Eva as soon as he (Cary) ended up so badly injured. I don't think Cary will ever find out the whole truth -- but he'll know enough to know Gideon probably saved Eva's life. That'll be good enough for Cary to change his mind about Gideon. Even with his faults, if Gideon saved Cary's "Baby Girl" how can the guy be bad for Eva?

 When Eva's insecurity and jealousy buttons trigger, her default setting is to get angry and act out.  I wonder whether Gideon's default setting when seriously triggered is to get angry but shut down.  Because here, Gideon's worst fear of all -- that Eva was going to abandon him -- had just been triggered. Triggered every bit as much, if not more, than Eva triggered at the sight of Corrine looking just f******. Gideon actually caught Eva in the arms of an ex, an ex who had written her a love song for all the world to hear. Gideon fears that Eva can have any guy she wants, and his own self esteem is so low he doubts that he's worth having. Here was Eva with a man that other women screamed for, that other women wanted -- that she herself used to want and apparently still did.

While Eva was kissing Brett, she recognized inside that she was doing so " ..... because the attraction was still there and it soothed something hurting inside me to think I might've been more than a convenient piece of a**." (page 162) Â I think what really was hurting inside her was the fear that her true status with Gideon was piece of a** -- that the only reason Gideon was still with her, now that Corrine had come back, was because the sex between her (Eva) and Gideon was doing it for him. Her only hold on Gideon was sexual -- but Corrine had some sort of much deeper hold on him and he couldn't break free of it. Â The consequences of his mishandling the Corrine situation from day one was this awful triggering of Eva's deepest insecurities, her lowest self-esteem. Â In hindsight, what he ought to have done when he saw Corrine at that fundraiser was leave with Eva instead of insisting on staying. All the bad that brought Eva to this terribly triggered place came from his mistaken belief he could control the situation by controlling both of the women involved. He vastly underestimated how much of a crisis to their relationship the Corrine situation was -- especially because he vastly underestimated Corrine's ruthlessness.

   Ditto -- very good point. Because with Monica, when love comes up against money, money wins -- every single time. Look at what that choice "cost" her, cost Eva -- and will cost Victor when he finds out. It's going to break his heart, really break it now.

 Angus wouldn't have been able to see nor hear anything going on in the back once Gideon raised the privacy glass that seals off the back of the limo from the front of it. Once the privacy glass is up, the only thing Angus would hear from the back of the car would be if Gideon hit the intercom button to talk to him.  Gideon did this the very first time he had Eva in the back of the limo -- as soon as they settled in the back, Gideon raised the privacy glass and then pulled Eva into his lap. Within minutes, Gideon decided to let her go ahead and seduce him right there in the car, and so he hit the intercom to instruct Angus to keep driving around until he (Gideon) said otherwise.  ===============  That said, yes, this particular scene does have some disturbing aspects of it. When the sex starts out, it is not lovemaking -- it is one sided f******* with Gideon demanding Eva pleasure him. There are some real BDSM elements to it -- it's one of the reasons I've recently developed a theory that the real sexual dealbreaker issue years ago with Corrine was much deeper than Gideon's refusal to stay the night with her.  Both Gideon and Eva are flawed in some ways. This scene is where we saw his dark side. Twice, we've seen a dark side of Eva when she has erupted in violence. Twice when furious with Gideon, her wound-and-run pattern has involved slapping him across the face very hard, hard enough to make his head snap. The first time is Bared page 225 as she's trying to storm away from him at his parents mansion. The second time is Reflected page 38 in Gideon's office as Eva is going postal over her belief Gideon had barely finished f****** Corrine there.  Just like I felt for Eva as she told Gideon to stop treating her like a w****, I felt for Gideon in his office as he told Eva to not hit him.

 We love frisky, but risque might not fly. On her site, Sylvia explained the title of Reflected in You was changed because the original was possibly too suggestive for stores:  Deeper in You was the original title of Reflected in You, but it was changed because some merchants felt the title was too suggestive and they hesitated to put the book out for their customers. The publisher didn’t want to risk the book not being available in some stores, so the title was changed.

 http://www.omnivoracious.com/2013/05/sylvia-day-entwined-with-you.html  A key sentence is about halfway down, where Sylvia talked about how Eva is now in a good place but Gideon will struggle harder:  Gideon, however--what he’s done, there’s a lot of ramifications. Not just externally, but internally.