LN Cronan

 I once had the real-life professional satisfaction of backing a state police homicide squad into a corner on a yes/no question about the identity of a murder suspect. The suspect had been arrested just an hour before after a high-speed chase, and though he had not yet been charged with the murder, I knew he would be within the next 24 hours. I scrambled and worked harder and faster than I ever had to nail down the name. I was 110% certain I was right, and I was the the only reporter, period, who had the information. And we were right on deadline. In fact, we were holding up the presses.  The cops kept trying to stonewall me with the big "No Comment." Essentially they were hoping, because they had not yet officially put out the name in a press release authorized by a prosecutor, that we'd hold off on running the accused's name itself as part of the story we would publish in the next edition. Meanwhile, we had a huge scoop ready to roll (to boot, the murder victim was very prominent in the community, so it was a high profile case.) We weren't taking no comment for an answer.  So I sicced my managing editor onto the guy in charge of the homicide detectives, and my editor told him (actually, she all but yelled at the guy) "Listen, we're going to run the story you just arrested so-and-so for the murder. If that's not true, you tell me RIGHT NOW. Because unless you tell us it's not true, it's going on page one." It painted that commander into a corner where if he said "no, that's not the name" he would have flat out lied to a high-ranking editor. Very bad career move, most especially if doing so s***** a news organization out of a scoop. The commander couldn't say "you're wrong about the guy's name and that we're about to charge him with murder." So that meant "yes" we were right.

One of the best things about an audiobook is you miss nothing (provided, of course, you carefully listen to the book, not half-listen while doing something else). You hear every word. And if a very good performer is doing the reading, you pick up much more emotional inflection. Â The drawback is that listening to an audiobook is a huge time commitment -- not something that can be done in one sitting.

 I agree that long term, the attack will be good for his career. But in the meantime, it'll be at least another month, and probably longer, before he's back into shape to be photographed again.  Meanwhile, he's sitting around -- and having to take narcotics for pain, a very dangerous thing for a recovering drug addict. I fear Cary is in for a rough ride in Entwined before he gets to his own happily ever after at the end.

 At least Brett isn't a conniver like Corrine or a real snake in the grass like Christopher Jr.  I sorta like Brett.  Near the end of lunch (page 230) Brett swore he learned from his mistake and he wasn't going to give up trying to get Eva back. She told him point blank he didn't have a shot. "Prove it" is what he said in return. I think he honestly will give up, and do so in a classy way, when Eva actually proves to him he does not have a shot.

 Aside from the fact I'm a bit of a fan (who, me?) I'm actually a natural speed reader. With novels, I usually read at a rate of 75 pages an hour. Entwined is supposed to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 330 pages (same length as Bared and Reflected.) So it'd take me less than five hours.  I read Bared in chunks of around an hour and a half each spread over several evenings. I read Reflected cover to cover on a Sunday afternoon.

The morning after the orgy, when Eva told Cary she was taking him to Las Vegas for the weekend, Cary immediately assumed the trip was Eva's way of announcing she was moving in with Gideon. Â So yeah, I can see Cary relieved on some level Eva dumped Gideon. And would just as soon see Eva seeing other guys, like Brett, while he and Eva continue to room together in New York City. Â But I also see great personal growth potential for Cary. He's starting to establish a promising career as a model, and as long as he doesn't blow it, soon he'll be able to support himself, including being able to afford a fabulous apartment on his own. Â In the meantime, though -- right now Cary temporarily is out of work and will be for weeks. He's still got a broken arm in a cast, so he can't go on any photo shoots.Â

I'm going to read the book start to finish in one sitting. Then I'm going to "re-read" by listening to it as an audiobook in chunks over the course of the rest of the week.

The morning of June 5. I'm planning to start a thread called Entwined in You *** spoiler thread *** if Sylvia herself already hasn't done so (she's the one who started this Reflected in You **** spoiler thread ****) Â I'm also thinking of starting an I-Told-You-So *** spoiler thread *** where every one of us regulars who got passionate about particular theories and correctly guessed something important gets to say "I was right." For example, GiGi is convinced Monica killed Nathan. I'm convinced Detective Graves deliberately set a trap for Gideon with Eva as the bait. Â We can have lots of fun there. Especially because many of us regulars have each carefully developed certain theories based on stuff that was in Bared and Reflected. So it would be a hoot to go diving back into Reflected and Bared and point out little facts that actually were big red flags and other things that actually had been major red herrings (the clever way an author misleads a reader in one direction in order to suddenly twist the plot into a second direction.)Â Â The I-Told-You thread would be a great place to really give a victory lap to Sylvia for having been so clever with the real and misleading clues any excellent writer scatters when a story is told over a series of novels.

I'm convinced, Shaz, that Eva and Gideon are conspiring to make sure the story about the fight gets out. It was bound to get out sooner or later anyway, but the story can be be a huge help in getting the cops to back off. Eva is NOT going to actively use Brett like Gideon did with Corrine, but she is going to allow Gideon, master of media manipulation, to let pieces of the supposed Brett-Eva story slip out. Â If the tabloids start screaming that Eva "cheated" on Gideon with her old lover, Brett the rock star who wrote a hit love song about Eva, that would have given Gideon an excellent reason to have dumped Eva. Dumped her almost a week before "someone else" Â killed Nathan. So why would Gideon kill Nathan over a cheating now-ex girlfriend? Â Not only does this help solve the cop problem, it makes it less necessary for Gideon to keep maintaining the first cover story -- he dumped Eva because Corrine came running back to him and begged him for another shot -- a chance he decided to give Corrine.

 We are guaranteed some sort of happy ending -- it is a romance novel.  Bared ended happily with Gideon and Eva resolving (at least for that night) their big fight over Corrine, and Eva delightedly finding out that all along, Gideon had kept a key to her (Eva's) apartment.  Reflected ended happily with Eva finding out the real reason Gideon had acted the way he had the prior three weeks. And that Gideon found Eva on his doorstep, then found out the cops blabbed to her that he killed Nathan, and yet her response was to kiss his face and wrap her arms around him and say that whatever comes next, they'll be together.

 Excellent point, Shaz. Ireland most certainly would be on Team Eva. Here's my theory of events that immediately came before this snippet:  Ireland's father and or brother Christopher brought her to this event in Times Square, where Vidal Records happens to have a tent. Gideon probably knew ahead of time Brett Kline would be there (it is, after all, a PR-type of event, which are very carefully planned in advance.) Because Brett would be there, Gideon couldn't help himself from going -- if anything just to keep an eye on the guy from a distance. Eva may or may not have known beforehand Brett would be there. I get the impression though, she was caught by surprise, and the only reason she had even gone to this event was Cary talked her into it. It wouldn't be the first time Cary "forgot" to warn her Brett was gonna be somewhere (remember the concert.) She also may have assumed Gideon wouldn't be in the Vidal Records tent (because Gideon avoids his family whenever possible.) As soon as Ireland spotted Gideon, she latched onto him. As soon as Brett spotted Eva, he latched onto her. Then Ireland spotted Eva and Cary, and decided to talk Gideon into going over to talk to Eva. The last time Ireland saw Gideon and Eva together was the night before they broke up. Now Ireland, idealistic teenager she is, has decided to jump at a chance to get maybe Gideon to talk to Eva. So  Ireland immediately started pestering Gideon "let's go talk to Eva and Cary." Gideon probably carefully watched from a distance as Brett buzzed around Eva and Cary, not yet daring to approach. Kept saying "no" to Ireland, who continued to pester him instead of taking "no" for an answer. Soon as Brett stepped away, Gideon acted like he "gave in" to Ireland and agreed to allow himself to be dragged over to see Eva and Cary with her.  All of the assumptions below are are based on my guess that at this exact moment of the story (the snippet) three things are still secret: 1. Gideon and Eva are sneaking around 2. Folks don't yet know Eva is "Golden" (but I bet the secret's about to get out.) 3. No one knows yet about the Brett-Eva kiss, Brett-Gideon fight yet (another secret that might get out before this PR event is over.) If all three facts are true, then: It would have been dangerous for Gideon to approach Eva on his own and be seen talking to her on his own, even with Cary standing there. It's especially dangerous because photographers lurk at PR events. In any case, it would have been really risky for Gideon to go anywhere near Eva when Brett was standing right next to her, (given what happened the last time the three of them were in immediate proximity.) But Ireland being the one to approach Eva, with Gideon going along but then hanging back to let Ireland chat with both Eva and Cary would be OK. Just as long as Gideon is careful to make sure he doesn't get too close and there aren't any photographers near Eva nor following him. Gideon could stand there off to the side looking distant but simply indulging Ireland, nothing more. Ireland is still only a teenager, so Gideon could convincingly argue that if Ireland insisted on wanting to go see Eva and Cary, it was only proper for Gideon to walk her over there. Meanwhile, Gideon could eavesdrop on the whole Eva-Ireland-Cary discussion. As an added bonus, when Brett came walking back toward Eva, if he saw Gideon nearby, he might do the smart thing by staying back. Brett too would be smart enough to realize it'd be risky (bad career move) to be within the proverbial 100 feet of Gideon Cross, especially with Eva there.

 This is a good counter-argument, because Elizabeth would be running a risk trying to get close to Corrine. I think in Corrine's case, though, she'd risk it. She had to have had some contact with Corrine during the year-long engagement between Corrine and Gideon. Elizabeth probably assumes (incorrectly) Gideon is going to marry Corrine, because Corrine came running back to him, openly chasing him a society function where Gideon paid lots of attention to Corrine, ignoring Eva. Then a few weeks later, Gideon started seeing Corrine again.  Elizabeth has no clue how important Eva was (still is) to Gideon. Quite to opposite. Elizabeth met Eva only once, and Gideon was in his iciest mode at the time. For a couple of weeks at the start of the summer, Eva became simply the latest socialite photographed on Gideon's arm. Then nothing, nada, zip -- Eva vanished as quickly as she came (the real reason was as soon as Nathan showed up, Gideon immediately began avoiding any photo opps, posed or candid, with Eva.)  A couple of weeks after Eva vanished, Corrine emerged as the sole woman Gideon was socially escorting anywhere. And in order to protect himself from the cops, Gideon has been walking around acting like he doesn't give a d*** about Eva, now long gone from the public eye. Plus, Gideon most certainly wouldn't be denying any of the tabloid speculation he's back with his former fiancee. The whole point of those rumors is to protect himself from being charged with murder.

 ^^^^ THIS is exactly why I think Corrine is messed up. She got messed up by becoming deeply involved with a partner who himself is messed up. She lost herself in Gideon. Eva herself feared at times she would lose her own self in Gideon. Corrine actually did.  And this is why I believe Corrine would stay in the dysfunctional cycle, desperately chasing him, instead of growing a pair and walking away.

One more point to consider is Elizabeth Vidal could do the exact same thing as Christopher Jr. -- take the initiative to reach out to Corrine first. Elizabeth might not want to wait until the point where Corrine and Gideon marry (as Elizabeth surely hopes - hah!) in order to get to know Corrine.  Elizabeth could invite Corrine out to lunch, for coffee, spa days, shopping, all sorts of things that rich women of leisure do spending time with female peers. Especially in order to bring Ireland along so Ireland can get to know Gideon's "good" girlfriend Corrine. Ireland had gotten to know Eva just a little bit and in that short time got to really like Eva. But now Eva is just some crazed ex of Gideon's who got into Elizabeth's face and made wild accusations about old abuse claims that had been fat lies. All the more reason for Elizabeth to take the initiative on her own to reach out first and get to know Corrine better. Elizabeth would be making an ally of Corrine against Crazy Eva The Ex.  P.S. If Elizabeth were to spend "Ladies Who Lunch" time with Corrine, surely this would include Elizabeth's best friend, Mrs. Perez, who could bring along her daughter, Magdalene. Wouldn't that be a hoot!!! Two-faced Corrine being oh-so-sweet to poor dejected Magdalene, who never really had a shot at Gideon. Magdalene, with nothing to lose by being catty, pushing Corrine's buttons about the hot passion Gideon had shown for Eva. Hah!!!

If anything, Corrine might latch onto Christopher efforts to "bond" with her as a means for Corrine to ingratiate herself into the Vidal family. She'll probably try anything to tie herself to Gideon, and becoming close to his family would be yet another way to forge a connection (she'd foolishly think) Â Especially because Corrine's goal is to marry Gideon -- and so she'd be marrying into the Vidal family. He might not like his family, but the estrangement is not absolute. He does have some contact, even though he refuses to step foot into the family home. But they are still his close blood kin, and Corrine has no clue his past history with them is actually so ugly it would be reasonable for him to disown his family (except maybe Ireland), blood kin or no. Â Back in the day when she'd been Gideon's girlfriend and then fiancee, Christopher was just some kid in his early to mid teens. There wouldn't have been much reason for Corrine to spend one-on-one time with him. However, now he is a grown man, perfectly capable of on his own developing an adult tie with his possible future sister-in-law.(Hah!) Â He could take Corrine out to lunch, meet her for coffee, or for a quick drink. It's just the sort of thing he'd do -- twice he jumped at the chance to have lunch with Eva.

 I'm basing my theory on something Eva knows (and thus we readers know) -- Christopher has had a habit of taking every opportunity he can to approach Eva, from the advocacy dinner that was her first date with Gideon to the supper club she was at post-Gideon break-up. On his own, Christopher got Eva to attend that garden party, knowing full well Gideon would never show up (hah! - wrong about that!). Twice, he's jumped at the chance to go to lunch with Eva.  Too, judging by the fact Christopher had successfully seduced Magdalene, who to the world appeared to be Gideon's most serious girlfriend before Eva arrived on scene, it's safe to say he had been relentless in his pursuit of her. I can't see Magdalene as having started out chasing Christopher -- it must have been the other way around, with Christopher looking for vulnerabilities to exploit.  Why wouldn't he try similar techniques with Corrine , approaching her every chance he could, inviting her places, like he had with Eva (and obviously did with Magdalene as early steps to seducing her)?  Christopher is very charming, and it would be child's play to manipulate Corrine into thinking she ought to get to know him (Christopher) better -- after all, some day he'll be her brother-in-law (hah!)  As for Gideon's repeated warnings to avoid Christopher, at first Eva herself repeatedly disregarded Gideon's order. Gideon never revealed any good reason why she should stay away. Because he refused to talk about family dirt period. Eva found out on her own, thanks to Cary's video tape, the "real" Christopher is a creep.  So why should Corrine automatically blindly accept Gideon's order "stay away from Christopher." Gideon isn't going to give her any actual reasons why. Corrine might simply think it's Gideon being his usual possessive self, nothing more. Even Eva herself guessed (wrongly) Gideon's stay-away-from-Christopher was possessiveness -- Gideon just not liking the fact Eva danced with the guy and accepted a party invitation from him.

 Of course, in Eva's case there was irrefutable proof that she'd been raped repeatedly. But the point is Monica did not stay with her husband, something some women would have done. After all, Nathan was the animal here, not his father. Some women would have settled for Nathan being removed from the household (especially if he were sent to juvie detention.)  Monica could have stayed with her husband for financial security, settling for a strict condition Nathan never be allowed to step foot under the roof again. In other words, having just Nathan himself thrown out of Eva's world. Monica took a more courageous step of throwing all Nathan ties out of her child's life, a crucial one being Nathan's blood next of kin, his father. Even though the guy had been all too willing to disinherit Nathan. Not good enough, because it wouldn't change the fact they're close blood kin.  Elizabeth and Monica are both the same in that they've turned to rich men to support them (and in Elizabeth's case, a rich man to rescue her.) Monica had the courage to divorce her husband. I doubt Elizabeth does.

 But in the snippet, Cary expresses an opinion Brett has changed for the better -- is more settled down.

 Ireland's father and or brother, Christopher Jr., would have brought her along to a Vidal Records event, not Gideon. As a rule, he went out of his way to avoid family functions, which is one of the reasons he barely knew Ireland. My guess is Gideon showed up on his own, possibly knowing ahead of time Brett Kline would be in attendance. Gideon latched onto Ireland (or more likely she latched onto him) after he arrived.  But it's a pretty safe bet Gideon didn't bring Corrine along. Eva's insecurities about Corrine is what had been driving Eva into Brett's arms in the past (from the kiss at the concert to taking Brett to lunch in direct retaliation for Gideon having taken Corrine to dinner.) Even though Eva appears to have finally moved past her raging insecurity/jealousy issue about Corrine, Gideon wouldn't have taken any chances. Because he's got insecurity/jealousy issues about Brett for good reason -- a part of Eva does want to jump Brett's bones.

 Trust me -- and this is coming from 12 years of having been a reporter who covered cops & court, including murder cases from bodies being found to killers being sentences -- the cops almost never publicly name suspects prior to making an arrest. Probably the only exception to the rule is in domestic killings, where they might indicate a spouse/partner is under suspicion.  In fact, the cops say as little as possible to the media about the circumstances of the death itself. For very good reason too. If a person (be it the suspect himself/herself trying to cover tracks, or a witness) knows facts that were never made public, that's proof the person has actual knowledge about what happened.  Honest to God, prior to any arrest being made, it was like pulling teeth to get the cops to release any sort of details beyond the name of the deceased, how/when the body was discovered, and the official cause of death (and with that last one, most of the time they made us reporters wait until after the autopsy was done.)  Why do you think when the cops showed up at Eva's, Gideon cleverly side-stepped the question about knowing who Nathan was. The main reason was if he said "no" he'd be caught in a lie. But equally important -- the cops had not yet even said Nathan was dead, let alone murdered. So Gideon played dumb about why the cops would even be asking about Nathan.

Yes, yes, I know it doesn't make business sense for Gideon to destroy Vidal Records. This wouldn't be about business -- it'd be personal. And Gideon can easily afford to take a loss if the stock price of Vidal Records tanked to the point where the company went bankrupt. Gideon's got a massive financial empire of other entertainment companies and considerable real estate holdings. Gideon can easily afford to lose one company he's invested in. The Vidals cannot -- that company is the very foundation of their wealth. Â This is one way Gideon could kill the company fast ..... If Gideon were to suddenly dump all his shares onto the market at once, the stock price would tank. Badly. Worse, Gideon would spark a chain reaction -- a shareholder sell-off where other investors would start dumping their shares too -- if entertainment industry titan Gideon Cross is getting out of Vidal Records, other shareholders would run for the door too. Run fast. Â Gideon's a financial genius -- and -- he's a member of the Vidal family. If he's suddenly dumping all his shares, people would think the stock is poison. Â With a panic sell-off underway, there's no way would Christopher Sr. be able to afford to buy all the shares suddenly dumped onto the market, even with a badly damaged price. He'd have to use up every last bit of cash he has to buy shares -- and still it wouldn't be enough. Because there would still be more shares left hanging for sale after Christopher has gone through all his own cash and cannot buy anymore. No other investors would buy the shares still out there if they believed the stock was poison. Â A share of stock is worth only the price of what investors are willing to buy it for. When no one will buy a stock at any price, the stock goes into a death spiral where the bottom is zero, That's when the stock became worthless -- and the company ceases to exist. Earlier this decade, when many of those big banks failed and ceased to exist, that was the very reason -- their stock price kept falling to the point where it became worthless.

Holding onto the majority ownership of Vidal Records is definitely, I think, Gideon's form of revenge against his stepfather. His stepfather had all the money and the utter power over the family (from Elizabeth on down to Gideon's half-siblings) when Gideon was a confused little boy, a raped pre-adolescent, and probably an emotionally shut-down teenager. Someone covered up the sexual abuse -- that someone had to have been Christopher Sr. And from around age 5 to when he was 18 and able to leave for college, Gideon woke up every morning to the mercy of his stepfather.  Maybe the fact Ireland is still a teenager (17 years old right now) is the only thing stopping Gideon from using his power to destroy Vidal Records. Because if the Vidals lost the mansion, Ireland would lose the only home she's ever known. Perhaps Gideon is just patiently waiting for Ireland to finish growing up, complete college, and start living independently before he strips his stepfather of Vidal Records. Ireland herself would never have to worry about her own financial security, because Gideon most certainly make sure Ireland is never left wanting (money wise) for the rest of Ireland's life. Ireland's probably the only family member included in Gideon's will.  Perhaps Gideon does not have any intention of actually using the financial weapon he holds over his stepfather's head. The mere possibility Gideon destroy Vidal Records on a whim has to have Christopher Sr. living in a constant state of anxiety -- and that would be the best revenge of all.

 How much you want to bet Corrine's delusion thinking is going to interpret Gideon's apparent lack of concern Brett's buzzing around Eva as further proof Corrine succeeded in driving Eva right out of Gideon's life. Now more than ever, Corrine might continue to chase Gideon, thinking that at last she (Corrine) has no competition for his heart.  Magdalene is gonna be wicked jealous, no doubt about it. But she's already given up on Gideon anyway.

And please, I know some people get upset  if I even suggest Cary wants Eva to get rid of Gideon for good. That's not the case -- Cary is not Corrine, for heaven's sake.  But Cary himself saw Gideon almost rape Eva during one of his (Gideon's) violent nightmares. Cary knows Eva's demons better than anyone else, Gideon included, because Cary sat through years of group therapy alongside Eva and so has heard every last awful detail. Cary would have seen with his own eyes too Eva when she was still seriously effed up before Dr. Travis worked wonders on Eva (and Cary too.)  I think Cary does see Eva growing stronger in some ways as a result of her rocky relationship with Gideon. But Cary's probably just as much, if not more, worried about how hard things have been for Eva as well. And Cary might be placing too much blame on Gideon, when in fact Eva's issues and how she mishandled them was just as much to blame for the relationship being rocky. Maybe even more.  So while Cary wishes for a Happily Ever After for Eva, he's probably harboring some doubts whether Gideon is the guy Eva should be with. I get the distinct feeling that Cary has been trying to nudge Eva in Brett's direction for a while now, presenting Brett as a viable alternative to Gideon. This latest snippet makes me feel even stronger that for right now, Cary is on Team Brett. Not forever -- but for right now.

I'm glad this scene shows a chance for Ireland to interact with Eva -- because honestly, among the ways Eva's love is changing Gideon for the better, Eva will be the reason Ireland finally gets to know the big brother she hero worships from afar but has never gotten to know.  Because the very sad reality is that it looks like Gideon never bonded with Ireland -- never bonded because of the horror of what happened to him shortly before Ireland was born. It was the problem pregnancy that resulted in the shrinks being brought in for Gideon, then he got shuffled off to the side when the main shrink instead started paying attention to Elizabeth, not Gideon. By the time Ireland was born, Gideon was a pre-teen who had been raped and then labelled a liar by his own family.  I picture him as having spent his teens in a shell, and the baby girl was inexorably linked to the horror that befell him, so he'd never love that baby, nor open up to the little girl Ireland grew into. She would have been barely grade school age when Gideon was 18 and left home (probably to move into the dorms when he started attending Columbia University.)  Ireland herself told Eva she didn't know Gideon well because he moved out when she was still pretty young. Given that Gideon would have visited home only reluctantly at best back when he was college age and early 20s, he would have rarely seen Ireland. The fact that in recent years he refused to step foot in the Vidal mansion means he probably never saw Ireland period (not unless the reason Elizabeth was visiting Gideon's penthouse was to bring his teenaged sister along.)  When he did crash that Vidal garden party to fetch Eva, the first time he'd been at the manstion in what must have been years, Eva was the one who made him talk to Ireland. Eva was the one who invited Ireland along to the meet-my-Dad dinner (that ended so badly, alas). I'll bet Ireland really liked Eva, even though Gideon "dumped" her, and Ireland would still welcome the chance to see Eva.  Maybe even Ireland is the "safe cover" for Gideon to approach Eva in this snippet. The excuse "Ireland saw Eva and wanted to go over to say "hi" and so dragged Gideon along to go with her to see Eva." I'll bet maybe Gideon, seeing Brett buzzing around Eva, was trying to desperately figure out some plausible way to approach Eva -- and Ireland turned out to be a godsend.