LN Cronan

One more thing to add in the ever-amusing Corrine bashing ...... how is Gideon going to react when Eva tells him every last gory detail of the stunt Corrine pulled the morning Eva showed up at her place? Including trying to for the second time trick Eva into believing she (Corrine) had a nooner with Gideon at the Crossfire that day?  Remember, at the end of Reflected, Gideon and Eva have barely had time to talk with one another. Gideon has yet to hear Eva's side of the story about the fight she picked with Corrine. Nor the fight she picked with his mother. Nor exactly what was said in Dr. Lucas' office just before Gideon showed up to fetch her.  Corrine knew, because she asked, Gideon had no idea Eva showed up at her apartment. Eva even conceded she knew Corrine would tell him. I'll bet Corrine picked up the phone immediately after she slammed her door. And in her oh-so-sweet way probably cried and fed him all sorts of lies about what a crazy woman his ex girlfriend is. Betting the farm that Eva wouldn't call Gideon too.  Gideon got mad when Magdalene said nasty things to Eva that nearly short-circuited the start of his relationship with Eva. Can you imagine how he'll react when he finds out the other face of two-faced Corrine, the woman who has been ruthlessly trying to exploit Eva's insecurity and jealousy in order to drive Eva out of Gideon's life forever.  Sparing sweet Corrine's little feelings might not be a priority anymore, not when behind his back she's been trying to destroy Eva's love for him.

Throwing out another thing we can have found bouncing around theories: What About Cary? As in What Are Gideon and Eva Going to Do About Seeing One Another Secretly? Eva's Got A Roommate. Â This could be a real problem. Cary's always had mixed feelings about Gideon as Eva's boyfriend -- and Cary is 100% right to feel this way. Cary knows how violent Gideon's nightmares get. Cary knows that the stress started triggering Eva's nightmares about Nathan too. And Cary has been witness to sooooo many Eva crying jags over Gideon. Â Sure, Cary has often pushed Eva to talk to Gideon about issues. But Cary also has been subtly making trouble in the Brett department. Never told Eva, before she went to the concert, that Six-Ninths was the new name of Brett's band. Let her get blindsided by that -- she's at a concert with Gideon and her ex lover is up there on the stage. Cary was seriously amused the day Eva took Brett to lunch to rattle Gideon's cage. And let's not forget it was Cary who told Eva he saw an interview online where Brett said he wants another shot at her. Â Cary can't be trusted with a secret this high risk. Cary's a flake with his own set of serious issues. And Gideon has witnessed some outrageous Cary behavior too (like he'd been in the middle of having group sex when Eva came home early and Gideon came running in behind her.) Â So, how are Gideon and Eva going to keep their secret love secret from even her best friend and roommate? And what happens if, during the incredible make-up sex Gideon and Eva have at her place when Entwined opens, Cary arrives home?

Hi GiGi!!!  I think that if Gideon had to, he would ruthlessly break Corrine's heart behind closed doors, if that's what it took to make her publicly kick him to the curb so that he can fool the world into thinking "Things didn't work out with Corrine. She rejected me again, just like she did years ago."  Then the existing Corrine-Gideon-Eva love triangle shifts again, with Eva no longer on the short end. Gideon set up that triangle in order to fool the world he wasn't so crazy-in-love with Eva that he would even kill to protect her. Nope, she was just the new girlfriend. Then the old fiancee' left her husband and moved back. So he dropped Eva in favor of Corrine. Ultimately, if he's going to bring the act to completion, things have to end with Corrine so he could publicly go give Eva another shot.  Ruthless? Oh yes. Gideon can be ruthless. If it meant Gideon can be together with Eva forever, he would privately destroy every hope Corrine has and drive her away. But let her publicly walk away with her dignity. The act works better if she's the one to break up with Gideon. Because it would make sense it was history repeating itself.  It's all theories on my part, just like you've got your Stanton-and-Monica-Did-It. That's what's making this site sooooooo much fun to engage other with.  P.S. As for Brett, I see him showing up at the Crossfire unannounced, asking for Eva, as soon as the concert tour wraps up. It worked great the first. He showed up in the lobby, Eva came right down, and she took him out to lunch. If it worked so well before, it stands to reason he'd try it again. Can you imagine Gideon steaming mad up there on the top floor finding out Brett Klein is down in the lobby?  There's another way Brett could track down Eva in New York too - through Cary. Brett knew in San Diego years ago that Cary was Eva's best friend even then. He also knows, because Eva told him at lunch, Cary's her roommate. How did he find out where Eva works? Via the Internet, finding her name on the staff of the advertising agency. How could he find out where to get a hold of Cary through work? Find out online which modeling agency represents Cary. Then call the folks up as "Hi, this is Brett Klein and I want to reach Cary Taylor." His agency would fall over themselves handing out Cary's phone numbers. If Brett played it right by showing up in person, he might even be able to weedle out of someone where Cary lives. And then go show up on Eva's doorstep.

New Snippet today!!! Number 9 !!!! Happy dance!!!! And as usual, the site goes down as hordes of rabid fans rush to see the page and overwhelm the server. So below I am pasting the text for you ladies, my new literary friends here. I'm pretty certain this snippet is what happens next from the official book excerpt.  Remember, the book excerpt is Gideon and Eva in her bedroom. He's sneaked into the building disguised to see her an hour after he found out the cops spilled the beans about the Nathan murder. That excerpt ends with Eva telling Gideon she needs him. This may be what goes on next as they sink to the floor or the bed. Get some tissues ready, because it's serious tear-jerker: they're both crying.   â€œSay it,†I coaxed, needing the words he swore were inadequate. He pushed up and looked down at me, gently brushing my hair back from my forehead. He swallowed hard. Rearing, I caught his beautifully etched mouth. “I’ll say it first: I love you.†He closed his eyes and quivered. Wrapping his arms around me, Gideon squeezed so tight I almost couldn’t breathe. “I love you,†he whispered. “Too much.†His fervent declaration reverberated through me. I buried my face in his shoulder and cried. “Angel.†His fist clenched in my hair. Lifting my head, I took his mouth, our kiss flavored with the salt of my tears. My lips moved desperately over his, as if he’d be gone at any second and I had no time to get my fill of him. “Eva. Let me . . .†He cupped my face, licking deep into my mouth. “Let me love you.†“Please,†I whispered, my fingers linking behind his neck to capture him. â€œDon’t stop.†“Never. I can’t.â€

 I'm thinking (hoping actually) Magdalene is an Eva ally now. Certainly, the night Corrine crashed the fundraiser, and the very next morning, Magdalene was helping Eva. But I am still leaving open the door that Magdalene might have simply done that at the time because "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." Plus at the time, Eva was still Gideon's girlfriend/lover, and Corrine was simply the ex chasing Gideon. To be catty to Eva at the time would be to risk totally alienating Gideon as an old family friend.  Things have changed since then. A lot. Far as Magdalene and everyone else knows, Gideon threw Eva onto the discard pile. So if Magdalene wants to engage in some catty "I told you so" retaliation against Eva, she's nothing to lose now.  Remember, too, in Magdalene's eyes, Gideon always viewed Corrine as "the one who got away." Remember, Corrine left him. And ever since then, he'd (publicly) dated only brunette women. Eva was an aberration, but one that lasted only a few weeks. Magdalene believes (wrongly) Gideon never, ever got over Corrine leaving him. Magdalene does not have an inkling of the real truth -- Gideon was relieved Corrine broke the engagement. Because he couldn't marry Corrine. That would involve sharing a home. Sharing a bed. Not possible for him, not with the nightmares he doesn't want anyone else to ever know about.

 Dr. Lucas' opinion of Gideon is seriously colored by what Gideon did to him in order to seek revenge for whatever it had been to make Gideon hate Lucas. Seduce Lucas' wife of 20 years. Manipulate her into falling in love with him. Then break her heart and send her back to her husband. Not Gideon's finest moment. And afterward, he felt a sense of remorse he made Anne Lucas collateral damage.  Just because he did something to one woman that a narcissist would do, doesn't make him one -- make him a man who goes around deliberately hurting every woman he gets involved with. Any more than his killing one man in cold blood makes him a serial killer.  But what Gideon did do to Anne Lucas does show to me how deep the damage to Gideon is, and how little he has dealt with it yet. Underneath that man who can be stone-cold at times is an angry child, and underneath that angry child is an incredibly hurt little boy. (Crying for him now.) Also, what he did to Anne Lucas raises a huge red flag to me about just how deep his anger at Dr. Lucas is. What did that man do as a young pediatrician to so hurt Gideon and his connection to his own family that years later, Gideon sought to destroy Lucas' family (i.e. his marriage.) Sylvia has said Lucas is NOT the sexual abuser. But whatever Lucas was, it's gotta be dark.  Maybe in retaliation, Lucas has been going around trying to poison the mind of every one of Gideon's women he can get near socially. I'll bet Lucas' approaching Eva at that dinner isn't the first time Lucas has done that. he's probably tried it on other women Gideon has escorted socially to these big society charity events.

Also, Nathalia, I'm glad your brought up Magdalene. I hope she's in Entwined too. Because I believe Magdalene really, finally, has given up on becoming Mrs. Gideon Cross some day. She might have given up the day Gideon showed her the secret video of her and Christopher having sex. If not then, well Magdalene definitely threw in the towel when Corrine moved back to New York.  So now, Magdalene is free to mess with Corrine, Eva, or both. She's got nothing to lose.  1. Get even with Eva by doing something nasty. Even for Eva having tattled to Gideon about the cat fight Magdalene picked with Eva. Eva turned around and told Gideon word for word. He got icy and promised Eva he's "take care" of it. Then there's the whole sex-in-the-library thing. It hurt Magdalene a lot to walk in on that. She was so upset she went crying to Christopher (who was more than willing to "comfort" her, the creep.) For a little while, Eva got to be what Magdalene never was: a woman Gideon took out in public to high-profile events AND Gideon had sex with. Seriously hot sex. If Magdalene now wanted to make Eva feel even worse for being just another one of Gideon's discards, well she can go after Eva. Gideon won't care anymore, anyway. Magdalene can pick all the fights she wants. She's an old friend of the family. Eva was just someone Gideon f****** for a few weeks and took out on a few dates.  2. Get even with Corrine by making Corrine feel insecure. After all, she and Corrine know one another, probably have for a very long time. And they move in the same social circles. So Magdalene has access to Corrine, and can start playing mind games. Tell Corrine in graphic detail what happened in the library. Tell Corrine about how crazy over Eva Gideon had acted in the weeks they had been a couple. Remember, when Magdalene was crying to Christopher, she said Gideon was acting differently with Eva -- that maybe he was in love. Remind Corrine of the night Gideon ran out of the fundraiser (including ran off on Corrine sitting there at the table). Tell Corrine that in all the years she was overseas, Gideon never, ever, ran after a woman before. Besides, a part of Corrine has got to be still feeling really insecure about her tenuous position with Gideon. She probably thinks Gideon dumped Eva because of Eva's crazy jealousy -- not because he got tired of the sex. Because the sex between those two was really hot. And Corrine's not getting any.  I'm hoping it's number two. I think Magdalene would do anything to mess up Corrine getting Gideon back. Even if that meant Gideon possibly going back to Eva. Magdalene would rather see Eva than Corrine. Probably would rather see any other woman but Corrine become Mrs. Gideon Cross.  Certainly, the night that Magdalene had Eva and Corrine in the same room together, she took Eva's side against Corrine. While Gideon and Corrine's backs were turned, Magdalene was the one who let the cat out of the bag for Eva. And the next morning, Magdalene called up Eva at work to take Gideon's side against Corrine (Gideon had been trying to "manage" Corrine from upsetting Eva, not ignoring Eva.)

Hi Nathalia:  You're right, it IS going to hurt Eva if in Entwined, Eva has to continue to put up sight of tabloid pictures: "Gideon and Corrine, Back Together Again!!!" And put up wit the whole world still believing Gideon left her for Corrine.  Near the end of Reflected, it still hurt Eva that people firmly believed Gideon got back together with Corrine. Even after Eva finally knew for CERTAIN Gideon wasn't sleeping with Corrine. Eva knew, because she had confronted Corrine, and Corrine blew it. Corrine tried her dirtiest trick, and Eva saw right through it. And Corrine lost her cool enough to give herself away.  Here's an important scene between Eva and Gideon's half-brother (who hates Gideon and has been coming on to Eva from day one.) This exchange is after Eva caught Corrine in her lies and after Gideon promised Eva that for whatever mysterious reason he left, he would come back to Eva as soon as he could. But this is BEFORE Eva knew the real truth about why Gideon made the world believe he went back to Corrine. From page 326:     "I'm stoked you called me," he (Christopher Vidal Jr.) said. "But I have to admit, I'm curious about why. I'm wondering if it has anything to do with Gideon getting back together with Corrine."    "That hurt. Terribly. I had to suck in a deep breath, then release my tension with it. I knew better. I had no doubts. But I was honest enough to admit that I wanted ownership of Gideon. I wanted to claim him, possess him, have everyone know that he was mine.  Eva knows for certain Gideon isn't sexually attracted to Corrine, and no matter how hard Corrine tries, Gideon won't ever sleep with her. Even still, the idea of Gideon with Corrine hurts. "Terribly."  NOW ..... maybe in Entwined?  Put Brett into the picture. Brett tries really hard to get Eva back. A part of Eva IS sexually attracted to Brett - Gideon saw that with his own eyes. And the argument he had with Eva immediately afterward did NOT put that matter to rest. Because Eva subsequently took Brett to lunch. For the same reason she kissed Brett. Because Eva felt insecure, and it drove her make Gideon see how much it hurts to be jealous.  Eva will promise Gideon she doesn't ever want sleep with Brett again, no matter how hard Brett tries. But Gideon's going to have doubt eating away at him. Now he's GOT to learn to trust her. Or else it will be HIS insecurity and jealousy this time that threatens to tear them apart.  The shoe's on the other foot now, Gideon. You get to feel how terrible it is to be jealous and insecure -- and most important, you've got to also learn how to trust. You asked Eva to trust. Now you gotta trust in return.

Gideon's got to come up with a reason people would believe -- that especially the cops would have to find plausible -- for regretting he dumped Eva. Brett coming back to New York to pursue Eva would be a "Golden" opportunity. (I couldn't resist the pun.) How? It would create a second love triangle (Brett-Eva-Gideon) to suddenly and seriously change the dynamic of the first love triangle (Corrine-Gideon-Eva). Again, I was to emphasize I don't think Eva would ever lie to Brett nor use him. Unlike Gideon, she doesn't have the capacity to ruthlessly use people. But the tabloids could do all the lying she (and Gideon) need. Especially now that Gideon and Eva have to "wing it" if they're going to be able to get to a place where it finally will be safe for them to openly get back together. Follow along with my theories here ......  Gideon created the (false) public image of the Corrine-Gideon-Eva love triangle to show the cops there's no way he loved Eva so much he had motive to kill for her. He sought to fool the cops by making the world believe: In recent weeks, he was caught between his new girlfriend (Eva) and the suddenly available "one who got away" years ago (Corrine) who came back to New York. Even before Nathan died, Corrine -- who'd left Gideon all those years ago -- started going out with him again. So Gideon seized the chance to get back together with the great love of his life, the woman he'd once wanted to marry. His new girlfriend, Eva, came out on the losing side of the triangle.  I think Gideon's original plan would have continued to unfold like this: The cops would decide he didn't have motive to kill. Combine that with the fact he had an alibi for the night of the murder (he took Corrine as his date to a very public work function) would make the cops quickly eliminate him as a suspect. Privately, Eva would believe he was working Corrine out of his system. But this would NOT sleeping include with Corrine, because sexually, Gideon wanted Eva and Eva alone. Eva would trust him. And she'd wait. Because recently, Eva had finally quit pulling runners. Gideon would privately make Corrine quit chasing him and give up forever any hopes he'd take her back. Publicly, it would appear things "didn't work out." Corrine would reject him for the second time. She'd already done it years ago, really done it: she broke their engagement and married another man. Gideon would go back to Eva, convince her he'd finally gotten Corrine out of his system for good. Happily ever after.  Things worked great right on up to the night Nathan died. Next day, Friday, everything started going wrong: Gideon had to go through with the meet-her-Dad dinner Friday night at Eva's (Sylvia told us he knew Eva would never forgive him for bailing.) Cops showed up while he was there. In front of Eva (and her Dad) asked him where he had been Thursday. He couldn't say in front of Eva, so he walked the cops downstairs, presumably answering the question. (It would be to his benefit to offer his alibi) But upstairs, Eva's now knows he's got something to hide, and suspects that something is Corrine. Eva found out Saturday about the Nathan pictures (Gideon never planned on that happening). Guessed (rightly) he'd seen them. Assumed (wrongly) he saw them that week and that's why he pulled away. He could no longer could bear to look at her body, and so their sexual relationship was over forever. Gideon had tried one last time to make love to her, Wednesday, but did so in the pitch dark. Then decided it was over with Eva and began sleeping with Corrine again. Thursday, he was partying with her at the f*** pad hotel. Eva called him Saturday at the worst possible time, while he was at the police station. Accused him of being a coward by sleeping with Corrine without having the decency to end things with her (Eva) first. Forgave Gideon for not being able to handle those Nathan pictures because of his own mysterious sexual past (oh how that must have hurt him to hear). Cries (shred him). Then ends it. He feels like something died. It's written all over his face. In front of the cops.  Now Gideon is stuck and has got to come up with another plan. It's not safe to contact Eva in any way, even though she's heartbroken and believing awful things. It's too dangerous. In the middle of this, Brett Klein gives an interview confirming he reconnected with Eva (what happened at lunch - Gideon never got to get answers) and he wants another shot (oh God, now time is urgent - a part of her is still sexually attracted to Brett, and Brett's got an open shot.) Gideon risks contacting Eva to beg her to "wait." Eva goes on her crusade to tell off people she suspects (probably guessing right) who failed Gideon as a sexually abused child. His mother. Dr. Lucas. And Eva picks a fight with Corrine (who probably called him up with some lies - but Gideon hasn't heard Eva's side yet.) Gideon, encouraged, sees Eva. Then finds out something awful. Despite her crusade, she's decided to live her life without him. Because he never let her in. He's lost her. Desperate, he immediately lets her in on something very important: a part of the sexual abuse he suffered as a child. She agrees to wait. She doesn't understand why he's been acting the way he has the last few weeks. But she'll wait for him to come back.  Then something he REALLY never counted on happens: Detective Graves spills the bean why the cops believe he murdered Nathan. Tells Eva they're dropping the case. He comes home to find Eva outside his apartment door. She says the cops told her they're dropping the case. His first reaction is desolation -- now she knows the worst secret of all, he's a killer. But she hugs him and assures him whatever comes next, they'll be together. Cue (temporary) happy ending music.  From the Entwined snippets plus the official excerpt of the coming Entwined novel, we know: Gideon and Eva are seeing one another secretly, because it's "dangerous" for them to see one another openly. There could be only one of two reasons: they either fear the coast isn't clear yet -- or -- they know for certain the cops have set a trap for them. So Eva's out partying with the girls, dancing with men. In other words, either behaving like she "gets it" she came out on the short end of the Corrine-Gideon-Eva triangle. Or trying to "get back" at Gideon.  With all this in mind, here's different theories I've got on how Brett Klein showing up in New York trying to win Eva back, and the tabloids finding out could work to Gideon and Eva's advantage as a situation even the cops would buy that he tries to win Eva back. Now we have a Brett-Eva-Gideon triangle. With Gideon on the short end. He's got reason to get jealous. She kissed Brett. Gideon physically attacked Brett in front of witnesses: Gideon's old friend Arnoldo, Eva's new friend Shawna, and some members of Brett's own rock band. A couple of days later, Gideon ran to Corrine. Brett left town to continue the concert tour. But now Brett's come running to Eva. And his band members could gossip about how hot things were between Brett and Eva four years ago. She used to even f*** him between sets at concerts. Cary is another person who could gossip. He's already been trying to get Eva to go back to Brett. Billionaire that he is, Gideon could reasonably be jealous of a rock star. Most especially a rock star Eva used to f*** Gideon reconsiders his decision to dump Eva. Around this same time, the public is fooled into believing Corrine kicked Gideon to the curb, like she did years ago. Gideon goes after Eva. Wins her back. Happy ending.

Last tidbit for tonight ..... As much as it would probably really bother Eva to sit at home while Gideon is out at some big public fundraiser, Corrine on his arm smiling as they walk the press gauntlet .... Eva would thrilled to be sitting at Gideon's home waiting for him to get back. Soon as the fundraiser is over, Corrine is getting dropped off at her apartment with, if she's lucky, a hug and peck on the cheek. Then Gideon comes home and makes love to Eva all night long. She's now sure of Gideon's love, and knows someday they'll be together again. But a price to pay for that someday is Corrine for now.

OK, here's my Brett/Eva theories, GiGi:  Eva would never use Brett. If (when) he came back to New York to try seriously wooing her, she'd be as honest as she was the day they had lunch. It could never work out between them because she's jealous and insecure and would drive him crazy. She's already told him that once.  But Brett didn't take NO for an answer that day. When she told Brett he hasn't got a chance, he said "Prove it." So now she's going to have to prove it, actually prove it, when he makes a concerted effort to get her back. The only thing stopping him right now, I think, is he's out on tour. If he hadn't had to leave New York right after he saw Eva, he'd have kept chasing Eva beyond that first lunch. I mean, come on -- she kissed him outside the concert. Then when he showed up at her office building, she took him out on a lunch date. It's the old: she's saying one thing but doing another.  For Gideon, Brett could be a huge problem AND a great opportunity for Gideon to grow by learning to trust. Because if Brett is buzzing around Eva, the only thing Mr. Control Freak Cross can do is trust Eva. The only thing. Gideon cannot go after his rival, Brett. Gideon can't go try to beat up Brett. Can't plant photographers to get pictures proving he (Gideon) not Brett is the "significant man" in Eva's life. And would have to just sit on his hands if the paparazzi catches wind of the fact Eva Trammell is Golden Girl.  I mean, can you see this: Page Six with side-by-side stories: Brett and Eva!!!! Gideon and Corrine!!!! Man, would Gideon feel publicly powerless for probably the first time in his life. But he'll get through it because he and Eva secretly will be together as often as they can. So trust Eva -- and be forced to keep his mouth shut.  One more thing I've thought of as a possibility: Gideon eventually is going to need some sort of plausible reason for dumping Corrine in order to win back Eva. What if that plausible reason is Brett Kline buzzing around Eva? There's not too many men who can be a plausible rival to a hot billionaire, but a hot rock star is one.  And deep down inside, Gideon IS still insecure and threatened by Brett. Gideon doesn't see himself as incredibly attractive. Gideon's money: well, he's built his fortune out of insecurity, so he'll stay insecure no matter how many billions he's got. And we've seen a tiny glimpse into Gideon's mind: Eva can have any man she wants, and he cannot for the life of God figure out why she picked him.

I think Corrine already believes she HAS got Gideon back. He belongs to her now!!!!!! And no one is going to try to steal him away by using sex to get him (i.e. Eva).  Her delusion;  Gideon may be saying "friend" but that's for decorum's sake. He's treating her as THE girlfriend. Soon as the divorce goes through, they'll become lovers -- and this time they'll stay together all night. No more hotel quickies. Who knows? Maybe Gideon's excuse to Corrine putting off sex for right now is he wouldn't feel right while technically she's still married. Gideon does know Corrine's estranged husband and thinks he's a nice guy (Gideon told Eva about Giroux during the Corrine talk they had near the very end of Bared To You. )  Corrine's delusion - her whole grand plan has worked beautifully up until now. She left Giroux,  went back to New York, and successfully chased Gideon down (again). Next she'll get him into bed with her (again.) Ask him to marry her (again). And this time make SURE wedding happens.  Corrine's plan has been going soooooooo well that it took her only a couple of weeks to run off her only rival, that sexy but crazy Eva Trammell. Made Eva jealous, and stood back sweetly while Eva totally blew it with Gideon.  So I could only imagine Corrine going postal upon finding out Gideon is carrying on an affair with Eva. Especially if Magdalene had filled Corrine's head with stories about how hot Gideon was for Eva's body, so hot he "did" Eva in his parents' library right in the middle of a huge party. Now Corrine finds out Eva is using her body to try to steal the man Corrine's going to marry!!!!!

Corrine as stalker ..... now there's an interesting idea, GiGi. How about this crazy scenario: Â Cops seriously up the heat on trying to trap Eva and Gideon. They know it for sure and they're really worried. But they're still determined to see one another secrety. Gideon seriously ups the ante on the public lie he is living with Corrine. She really starts to believe that as soon as her divorce goes through, he'll make them (him and Corrine) official? (Yes, I know this is ruthless .... but .... everything is riding on it. And Gideon can be ruthless with women. Ask Dr. Lucas' wife. Ask Eva herself right after Gideon caught her kissing Brett.) Gideon continues to sneak around to have his stolen moments with Eva. Corrine gets suspicious and starts stalking him. Corrine finds out about Eva and decides Gideon is "cheating" on her (Corrine). Corrine gets furious and turns vicious. Now she's the threat that could blow the secret Eva and Gideon are involved.

Change of pace from the Corrine bashing. Let's discuss Brett Kline. Sylvia has hinted Eva's rock star ex-lover is going to show up in Entwined. And this story line could tie into the Snippets 6 and 7 about the playfulness between Gideon and Eva. Eva being a "bad girl" out partying who Gideon gets to "punish" (So hot!!!) Background: As far as Gideon/Eva goes, Brett caused the worst fight the pair of them ever had. The fight was over Gideon catching her red-handed in a passionate kiss with Brett in an alley outside a concert venue. Brett initiated the kiss, and she, realizing there was chemistry still there, responded by really kissing back. Gideon came out the stage door at the wrong time. He had a serious fistfight with Brett in the alley followed by a long sex-fueled argument with Eva in the back of his limo. He was the coldest he'd ever been with her,during which he was at his coldest, punishing her with sex. When she accused him of punishing her, he said "You've earned it." She even accused him of treating her like a w**** (which he was). A desolate look came into his eyes, but he tested her by pointing out she could safeword him at any time to stop how he was treating her.  So the punishment went on until he finally got out of her the real reason the Brett kiss happened was because of Eva's insecurities prompting her to make Gideon feel how bad it is to feel jealous. So the fight ended settled, and they went to North Carolina for the weekend for what turned out to be the last happy time they would have in Reflected. Next week was the one where everything went bad - the week Nathan was murdered.  The concert/kiss/fight was Friday night. Eva took Brett out to lunch the following Tuesday. The lunch date was to get even with Gideon for being photographed having dinner with Corrine the night before. Gideon (rightly) accused her of spite in a nasty but short argument they had as soon as Eva got back to the Crossfire. But he never did get to find out what went on between Eva and Brett at lunch. He was in no position to demand answers of Eva when he wouldn't (couldn't) offer any explanations about being out with Corrine the night before.  So at the end of Reflected, Eva is starting to trust Gideon, but they haven't yet had a frank talk about what's been going on recently with Corrine -- and where Eva stands with Brett. But it is safe to assume Gideon read about an interview Brett gave just days before Reflected ends, an interview where Brett said he had recently reconnected with Eva -- and he hoped for another shot with her. I'm basing the assumption Gideon saw that on the fact that the very next day that interview hit the Internet, Gideon broke eight days of absolutely zero contact with Eva by approaching her in front of co-workers in an elevator. And he'd all of a sudden changed his tune from asking her to "trust me." Now he was begging her to "wait." Here's what we know about the Brett/Eva connection. This is based on them talking in the alley (starts page 160) and having lunch (starts page 225.) Added to the conversations are some descriptive stuff near those two scenes: The physical description we have: he's tall and more muscular than Gideon. His hair has bleached platinum tips, his eyes are emerald green, and his smile has a dimple that drives women crazy. His arms sport sleeves of black and gray tattoos on his arms. Eva knew him four years ago in San Diego. Back then, the band's name was Captive Soul, not Six-Ninths. (So she didn't know before he took the stage at the concert where she and Gideon were in the audience that she was going to be seeing Brett perform.) She spent six months being groupie who had sex with Brett. On her side, she "debased" herself, sleeping with him every chance she got, desperate for any scraps he'd throw her way. But finally she decided she deserved better than to be just one of many women he had sex with in places like "a bathroom stall between sets." On his side, six months was the longest he'd been sleeping with any woman. He thought they were going somewhere, and he'd been trying to get her to stick around him more. One night, he even brought her along with him when he went to a pool hall with friends. He thought that would send a message to the guys he was getting serious about her. But that's the night he blew it. Coming back from the bathroom, she overheard him talking about -- and laughing about -- her to the band's drummer. She pulled a runner. He never saw her again. Around this time (four years ago) was also when Eva was starting to get her head straightened out. While in San Diego, her Dad put her into group therapy with Dr. Travis. Brett never forgot Eva. Eventually, he wrote the song "Golden" about her. The lyrics are on page 155-156. That single got them signed with Vidal Records. And Brett dreamed of meeting her again someday, fantasizing maybe she'd show up at a concert. The concert was Friday night at some New York area club venue. The band played the Meadowlands on Monday. Tuesday morning, he stayed behind in New York for the day while the band traveled, so he could go see Eva. He'd looked Eva up on line, found out where she worked, and showed up at the Crossfire unannounced midday. His timing turned out to be perfect because upstairs, Eva had just gotten really mad at Gideon. She had spotted online pictures showing Gideon had dinner with Corrine the night before and captions saying stuff like "former fiancee!". So when she suddenly found out Brett was downstairs in the lobby asking for her, she decided to get even. She met Brett downstairs and took him out to lunch. She even picked the restaurant in the hopes maybe some paparazzi might catch them there. Some photographer had once caught Cary and Eva there. But none were around during the Eva/Brett lunch. He grilled her at lunch about Gideon, asking if it's serious. "Sometimes it seems that way," was her answer (Oh yeah, that's crystal clear. Uh huh.) He told her he wants another shot. She refused, telling him because of her insecurities and jealousy, and the fact she was in love with Gideon. Brett told her he didn't believe she loved Gideon. She told Brett he had no chance with her. "Prove it" were his last words as she walked away from the table to leave. A couple of weeks later, while out on tour, he gave an interview to a Florida radio station. The next day, (a Sunday) Cary saw a transcript on the Internet and told Eva about it, that Brett confirmed there really was an Eva out there, they'd recently reconnected, and he wanted another chance with her.  OK ladies ..... the discussions starts now ...............  Brett coming back to town while Eva's going around being a party girl and acting like she never loved Gideon? Who also is acting like he threw Eva away days after Brett kissed her? Cary, who knows about Brett and is on "Team Brett, Forget Gideon" letting the cat out of the bag to some gossip site? Christopher Vidal Jr. finding out, doing some serious digging about Eva four years ago, and then twisting Gideon's tail about how Eva used to be a groupie for some star on the Vidal Records label?  Throw out some more possibilities? And let's discuss .......

I know I've been stirring up the anti-Corrine sentiment the past day or so. What really burns me is I think Corrine is very two-faced. So sweet to the world (and in front of Gideon.) How sweet she was to Eva the night they met, even while she was dropping little bombs into the conversation. But she's openly nasty when he's not around and she's messing with any woman trying to lay claim to him.  At least Magdalene is openly catty.You always know where you stand with her. She'll corner you in a ladies room and let you have it. Or call you up at work to gossip about your mutual rival for the man you all want. Makes me wonder whether Corrine did any messing with Magdalene as well that night Corrine showed up unannounced at the fundraiser where Gideon, Eva and Magdalene all were in attendance. Certainly, Magdalene was really miserable, so miserable she actually was decent to Eva. I wonder what Sylvia thinks about all this anti-Corrine sentiment: Corrine is down deep a good person who'd desperate, and those readers are so mean. She should be pitied, not hated. Certainly, Eva told Corrine she pities her. They see right through the sweet facade Corrine presented in Bared To You. Just like Eva did. The readers know, because they paid attention, that the REAL Corrine came out in Reflected In You.  Only Entwined will tell ..... we hope. If not ..... Book Four? Personally, I can't STAND Corrine, because I'm 100% on Eva's side. There are two people who set out to come between Eva and Gideon forever. One is that sicko Nathan. The other is that supposedly sweet and good person Corrine. Gideon took care of Nathan. I'd love to see Eva take care of Corrine. Actually, on one level, Eva did already take care of Corrine by winning the fight she (Eva) picked in the hallway outside Corrine's apartment.  But somehow I can't see Corrine taking Eva's advice to simply be a friend to Gideon while he's hurting. I can see Corrine turning truly evil at the mere possibility Eva hasn't disappeared for good. And Eva's pity will evaporate when Corrine starts pulling truly dirty stunts in a desperate (and doomed) effort to keep Gideon and Eva apart forever.

 I think you're right on this, fsumom. Maybe she called him that night from France (where it would have been the wee hours of the morning) looking for help. He told her where he was at the time -- and he was with Eva. He promises to call her back in a little bit, after he can slip away. Goes to Eva to tell her he's got to leave and to make sure she's got a ride.  Then Corrine calls up again very soon after, within minutes, all crying, not waiting for Gideon to call back when he said he would. Can't stand the thought of him with Eva another second, so let's move this along, terminate the date as fast as Corrine can. Just happens to call back while Gideon is trying to say good-bye to a justifiably angry Eva. (Not angry about Corrine - Eva had no clue Corrine even existed. Angry because Gideon on his post-sex headtrip had treated her badly the entire evening. The sex had been great, but the rest of the night was a disaster.)  Now here's something I wonder. If Gideon was the one who arranged to get Corrine settled in New York, who picked the location of her apartment right around the corner from his? Did he? Or did she? (I'll bet she did.) Also, who is paying the rent? Even if Corrine has money of her own, divorce proceedings could tie up all the assets: her's, her estranged husband's, and everything they have jointly. Because it all needs to be settled in divorce court. If Corrine doesn't have a lot of money of her own, and her rich estranged husband won't pay her rent, is Gideon doing it? For him, rent would be pocket change. And it's just the sort of thing he'd do for an old friend, especially because he feels guilty.

Now, here's the big thing I wonder --- did Gideon sleep only with brunettes prior to Eva? Or is the exact opposite true? Â We know he publicly dated only brunettes. Is this a red herring making us think it's his "Corrine" issue. Or is it a red flag about something much darker coming up: a "Mommy" issue. Because his mother also is a beautiful black-haired blue-eyed woman, just like Corrine. And his mother let him down in the most awful way. So was Gideon trying to find a brunette he could count on staying by his side? But then his trust issues kicked in and so that woman never has a shot? Every brunette since Corrine was lather-rinse-repeat? So, if EVERY one of his bed partners was NOT brunette too, were NONE of them (after Corrine) brunette? Did he sleep with ONLY blondes and redheads? This might explain why he tried so quickly and aggressively to get Eva into bed. He was h***** at the time. She crossed his path at the right moment. She wasn't a brunette. He wanted to get laid, and he spotted hot Eva, and that's it. Meanwhile, if he needed arm candy in public, Magdalene was on stand-by. Â I've got this fantasy of the ever-catty Magdalene telling Eva right to her face the only reason Gideon f***** Eva was because she wasn't brunette. Eva never had a real shot, because she was just another blonde that Gideon slept with. Now that Gideon has to the world discarded Eva, Magdalene can be as vicious as she likes without any fear of reprisal from Gideon. The first time she had been nasty, in the ladies room, Gideon found out, because Eva later complained. Told him word for word what Magdalene said, and Gideon promised Eva he'd deal with it. But now? Gideon won't care, Magdalene might think. So it's open season to get revenge on Eva. Â Magdalene saying something along the lines of this to Eva's face "I told you so -- once he stuck his d*** in you, he was done. He stayed with you a little longer than the others. But he never loved you. Look what happened when Corrine came back. You were history. In the end, I was right."Â And Eva secretly saying in her own mind "If you only knew how much he loves me and I love him back. Some day, we will be together forever for all the world to see. You never had him. Corrine will never have him back. It's me and only me he wants."

Hi AMC! Yes, it is confusing: how frequently did Gideon have sex before Eva. Because he gives one answer directly to Eva in Bared To You on page 279:  "I've had as much sex since I met you as I've had in the last two years combined." and a seriously different answer when asked point-blank by Dr. Petersen in front of Eva how frequently: "Twice a week -- on average."  Sylvia answered a spoiler question about this discrepancy with the enigmatic Gideon-does-everything-for-a-reason.  So it's a "red herring" -- the opposite of "red flags" that are important clues to where the story is leading. Red herrings are the clever literary device a writer uses to mislead readers into thinking something else. Then bam!!!! comes a sharp twist in the plot. Sylvia is especially good at red herrings, which is why we go so crazy trying to figure out what every little thing means.  I'm hoping we're going to get the straight answer in Entwined. Snippet 1 hints of a coming conversation in which Gideon is finally being totally open with Eva about his romantic past. That she's asking questions point blank and he's answering instead of shutting her out.  Because the final crisis point in Reflected -- Eva telling Gideon point-blank she was now living a life that would not include him -- was the worst crisis of all for Gideon. She told him she was done because he never let her in. He knew she meant it. And he knew if he had really lost her now, he had nothing. He got so desperate that he immediately let her in to one of his darkest places he'd shut her out of for so long: the sexual abuse he suffered as a child.  So in the meantime, there's a couple possibilities At first, Gideon lied to Eva about how frequently he had sex (what Gideon lie, not him -- Mr. Dark and Deceptive!) He was inflating things to try to re-assure her, but then when face to face with a therapist, told the truth. When Gideon was sleeping with some woman, he had sex with that woman on average twice per week. But he wasn't constantly sleeping with women, going straight from one woman to the next, having sex every week. He probably seduced some woman only once every few months, slept  with her twice a week until he'd s****** her out of his system literally, then gone back to his busy life. Let me throw out a random number: Gideon had sex maybe 10-12 times per year tops. Only had a few lovers the whole year, and only slept with each of them a few times before discarding her. I think # 2 is the more likely. Only every once in a while did Gideon take a lover, and when he did, he just penciled her into his busy schedule to see her a couple of times of week for some action at the hotel. Sex was just something he got out of his system every so often. But he never stayed with these women. Remember Magdalene's catty comment about once Gideon stuck his d*** in a woman, he was done with her. Yet here is with Eva, having sex with her morning, noon and night every day and night. That'd quickly add up.

"You Lost Me" by Christina Aguliera. Very sad song for the day Gideon lost Eva, almost forever.

So GiGi, I'm thinking if history repeats itself, Entwined is going to have Corrine and Eva pitched against one another for the third (better be final) time. Only twice have Eva and Corrine ever spoken directly to one another thus far, once in each book.  The first time is near the end of Bared, where Corrine shows up unannounced in public to blindside Eva that she (Corrine) exists and proceeds to mess with Eva's mind and insecurities. And acts so sickly sweet and kind while doing so. Round one goes to Corrine. Knock down.  The second time is near the end of Reflected, where Eva shows up unannounced in private at Corrine's apartment building to confront her. Corrine tries to mess with Eva's mind again, and because they're in private and Corrine knows (she asked) Gideon has no idea Eva's there, Corrine turns ugly. Eva sees right through it, calls Corrine on it, and the fight ends with an angry Corrine slamming her door. Round two goes to Eva. Lands a solid hit right to the gut.  Time three? Oooooooo we can only wait until June 4. But I'd love it if Gideon is there for the showdown and tells Corrine he wants Eva, only Eva, and plans to spend the rest of his life with her.

Hi AMC! Know something else that really ticked me off about Corrine's messing with Eva's mind the night they met. It was something Corrine slipped into the conversation that caused Eva to figure out Gideon had bailed on her the night of their first date to go help Corrine. From page 313: Â "I interrupted him at some charity event he was giving a speech at, poor guy, to tell him I was on my way and to ask for his help in getting settled." (Presumably, but I'm not sure, this was her coming back to New York for good.) Â Gideon most definitely was not himself that night. Over Eva. And because thus far, Gideon had been telling Corrine lots of things about how special Eva was, he might have shared the fact he and Eva had sex for the first time that night. And it scared him. And he ended up really messing up the date, maybe even blown everything. Â Think about it. Prior to that night, the only place Gideon has ever had sex with any woman, Corrine included, was at the hotel. And he always was the one in control, the "top." Â But hours earlier, Eva seduced him in the back of his limo, and she topped him. While they were doing it, Gideon's world was being rocked. He didn't think it was possible for him. But soon as it was over, he went on a major head trip, pulled away from Eva and retreated into his cold shell. Â The rest of the date went badly at the advocacy center fundraiser. And Eva's last words to Gideon as he was saying good-bye to leave early without her, was to slam him. "You gave a wonderful speech, Gideon. It was the highlight of my evening." Â Gideon flinched, and then tried a little tenderness right then and there. But his phone rang. Corrine!! Again!!! He'd taken other calls earlier, including presumably her, because he already knew he was leaving early. He had been asking Eva how she was going to get home, when Corrine called again, and he immediately had to leave now. Â Â I'll bet that whatever Gideon talked about with Corrine a little later, it would have included the terrible remorse he felt for treating Eva the way he did on their date. At the time, he and Corrine are supposedly old friends. He's been talking to her about Eva. She's been leaning on him about the divorce. She's been pumping him for Eva info to figure out how ruin the brand-new relationship. Â So think about it. It's now weeks later, and Corrine showed up unannounced at another fundraiser where Gideon and Eva were. Eva didn't even know Corrine existed until she got blindsided. But Corrine knew a lot about Eva, including probably a lot about the first date Gideon and Eva had. So Corrine in a manipulative little passive-aggressive ploy, drops a bombshell on Eva that when Gideon bailed on Eva the night of the first date, it was because Corrine called him up in the middle of the date, and Gideon went running. Â Wench!!!! I'm starting to think that when Sylvia told a fan Corrine was a good person, back when Bared was the only book out, that it was a "red herring." Sure, Corrine's a good person (NOT). When Reflected came out, we found out what a desperate schemer Corrine is. Well Eva got Corrine the day Eva blindsided Corrine showing up at Corrine's apartment and letting Corrine know she (Eva) was onto her.

The vodka party definitely was at the %$#! pad hotel. He took Eva herself there after work the day she agreed to become his girlfriend. She knew the name, she knew the place. Gideon himself later told Eva that's the only place he'd ever had consensual sex prior to her.  And the online article she read about the party the following Saturday morning told where the party had been. From page 284 ...  I went numb when I saw the mixer had been Thursday from six to nine, at one of Gideon's properties -- one I knew all too well. He'd f***** me there, just as he'd f***** dozens of women there. Gideon has stood me up for our appointment with Dr. Petersen to take Corrine to his %$#! pad hotel.

With the whole Corrine backstory list above, here's my theory about the whole Corrine Comes Out Of Crossfire Looking Like She Had a Nooner incident, from Corrine's point of view.  Corrine first started chasing Gideon again by phone. Called him daily. He regularly called back. But all of a sudden, he's not calling back regularly. He's got a new, serious girlfriend. Corrine ups the ante by chasing Gideon in person. Shows up in town suddenly and convinces him to go pick her up. On a Saturday night when there's a major fundraiser he'd certainly attend with his girlfriend. Corrine calls him up at the fundraiser and gets him to leave early (and alone) to come get her. Short-circuits the date he's on. Works great. Corrine next ups the ante by showing up in person unannounced at another fundraiser Gideon was bound to be at, with his girlfriend. Counts on it causing trouble by catching them offguard. Works beautifully. Girlfriend gets really upset and takes off. But something Corrine did NOT count on happening: Gideon goes tearing out of the fundraiser to chase his girlfriend. MAYBE Magdalene, catty as ever, tells Corrine at the dinner she's never, in all the years Corrine has been living overseas, EVER seen Gideon Cross chase a woman. Because the next morning, Magdalene phones Eva. Gossips that over the years, other women have tried drama stunts that never worked. Gideon simply made sure Angus drove the women home. Gideon has never gone running after someone before. Now Corrine's worried. So the next day, she chases Gideon in person again, this time by showing up at the Crossfire. Shows up around lunchtime, figuring that's her best shot of getting in unannounced. Angus is parked outside waiting for Gideon, who is supposed to be going to a meeting somewhere. From Angus, she learns he'll be down soon. Corrine hangs out inside the lobby, hoping to catch Gideon heading through the lobby to his car. But Gideon doesn't come down to leave for the meeting. Because he just got an unannounced visit from Nathan. He's upstairs dealing with the sicko. Corrine waits and waits and waits. And then ..... cue dramatic music .... Through the glass walls of the lobby, Corrine spots Eva across the street, heading back from lunch to work. Corrine smears her bright red lipstick, messes up her beautiful hair, and strolls out of the building. Angus has by then figured out Gideon isn't coming down. So when Corrine asks him for a ride, Angus takes her. It was a impulsive trick to mess with the insecure and jealous Eva. Works absolutely beautifully. And as a two-fer, figuring correctly Eva will confront Gideon, Corrine counts on it getting back to Gideon that she (Corrine) just walked out of his building looking like she just had a nooner with someone else in the building. (Counting on the ghost of Gideon's possessiveness kicking in.) Gideon, who'd spent all of dinner last night trying to manage Corrine into not upsetting his girlfriend, now has his girlfriend freaking out. So Gideon calls Corrine to ask what the heck and tell her to not be showing up unannounced at Crossfire, where his girlfriend works too. But something Corrine did NOT count on is Gideon isn't upset that Corrine looks like she just got laid. Gideon is upset that Corrine caused trouble with his girlfriend. As a P.S. to this weeks later, when Gideon's now ex-girlfriend shows up unannounced at Corrine's apartment, Corrine comes to the door looking like she just spent at least the last 20 minutes (maybe longer) having morning sex with Gideon. Corrine figures if the Crossfire incident worked so well, repeating the same trick in an even nastier way will keep Eva from ever wanting to see Gideon again.  But something Corrine doesn't count on is the ex-girlfriend can see Corrine is lying and picks a fight in which Corrine gives herself away. And points out the fact that ex or not, Gideon is in love with her (Eva). And it must have made Corrine really uneasy that the ex is going around stirring up trouble. Meaning she's coming around Gideon again.  Sylvia once, in response to a spoiler question about Bared to You (and before Reflected came out) said Corrine is a good person. But because only Bared was out, the answer would apply to the character as she was in Bared, not Reflected.  In Reflected, Corrine does not behave like a good person. She's even cattier than Magdalene. So, has the Corrine character changed now into a nasty schemer who will do anything to keep Gideon and Eva apart? Or has Corrine simply turned into a pathetic desperate creature who will keep throwing herself at Gideon?  Only Entwined will tell ........

Bearing all the above facts in mind, here is my theories about what Corrine is up to:  It's history repeating itself. Corrine is chasing Gideon all over again, just like she did a decade ago in college. Short-term goal is to get him into bed. Long term goal is to get him to marry her. She blew it years ago. Now she's trying to fix it. She'll be patient for however long it takes. She may have been the one to seduce Gideon first all those years ago, but we know he's a dominant in bed. That stems from his control issues. The smart thing to do this time, given he's a dom, is to wait for him to seduce her.  She'll likely have learned from Magdalene that Gideon has never been as serious about another woman as he is about Eva. What if Magdalene (catty as she is) even talks about having walked in on Gideon making love to Eva in the library of his parents' home? That in fact, between the time Corrine left and the time he met Eva, Gideon's women fell strictly into one category or the other: there's women he took out socially and there's women he slept with. It was always one or the other. Corrine and Eva are the only two exceptions. And Magdalene ought to know. She's known Gideon for years, and she's always been stuck in category one: Gideon saw her socially more than any other woman, but he never did sleep with her.  Corrine may be deluding herself into thinking Gideon tried and failed to get past her (Corrine) by trying to break his own pattern. Seeing a blonde, not a brunette. Socializing and sleeping with Eva. And sleeping with Eva on the rebound to boot. Keep in mind the timing - right around the time Corrine was quitting her marriage, Gideon had just met Eva and very quickly got serious. Maybe Gideon was having such a headtrip about Corrine becoming available, he reacted by making Eva his girlfriend. Maybe at the time, Eva happened to be the woman Gideon was sleeping with. So he promotes her to full-fledged sleeping-with girlfriend.  If Corrine is thinking along these lines I'm guessing, something Corrine is deluding herself into thinking - that Eva and Gideon did not work out for two reasons: 1. Eva blew it because of her own insecurities - she pulled one runner too many and Gideon quit chasing. 2. The reason Gideon didn't run after Eva is because subconsciously all these years later, he finally is running after Corrine. It took years for him to realize he blew it when he let Corrine end the engagement. Now she's suddenly available -- and available to him.  I think Corrine's whole plan now (dumb as it is) is this: Thus far by manipulating his guilt, Corrine has managed to get him to talk with her often as a friend. Now more recently, she's succeeded into graduating to a woman Gideon sees publicly. The tabloids are onto this, and he's not denying it publicly. If she's only patient enough, she'll advance to lover next, and ultimately wife. Eva is the only serious threat to her plan. Thus far, by manipulating Eva's insecurity (especially jealousy: Gideon warned Corrine about that) she's caused trouble. The permanent solution to the Eva problem is to keep Eva away by making Eva jealous. How could Corrine NOT read something more into Gideon taking her, not Eva, to a public party at the hotel where she and Gideon always slept together. Jealous Eva must have freaked over photos of Gideon out in public with Crroine "that" week. Especially the one with Gideon with his arm around Corrine's waist at the party. Right now, Eva is out of Gideon's life. Or at least out of his bed. Corrine knows he's not sleeping with Eva right now (i.e. where we stand at the end of Reflected.) I'll bet Corrine thinks the tabloid photos prompted Eva to run away for good now.  Add on top of all this my theory is that just like Gideon lied by omission to Eva what they (Eva/Gideon) had is over for good, he's lying by omission to Corrine that the two of them (Corrine/Gideon) were never over. He's letting Corrine believe falsely he regrets Corrine broke their engagement, is secretly happy she's getting a divorce, and whether or not he knows it, subconsciously but he wants to correct his own mistake they didn't get married all those years ago. Even if he's saying to her face "just friends" he's acting like "I want you back."  From a Gideon cover-story plot, he's got Corrine in a perfect place. She'll take any scraps she can get, go around trying to fool people Gideon is sleeping with her, go around fooling herself he wants to marry her (so she'll tell anyone if asked directly.) And Corrine won't pressure him for sex. She'll wait for however long it takes.  Big problem for Corrine came up around 36 hours before Reflected ended. Eva saw through her dirty tricks and called her on it. And told Corrine Gideon is in love with her (Eva) not Corrine. So Gideon won't ever be more than Corrine's friend. Eva's NOT gone for good. Eva might chase after Gideon too.  Corrine will grasp at straws in Entwined. If Gideon continues to see her socially (as I'm sure he will short-term fearing the coast is not clear). Corrine will do it. And she'll try any trick she can into fooling people into thinking she and Gideon are lovers again. If she has to, she'll get even nastier with Eva -- anything to keep Eva away from Gideon for good.  So Gideon and Eva can secretly love one another. Gideon can continue to use Corrine publicly to fool the cops. Eva will now start to publicly fool the cops too by changing into Ms. Single Party Girl. Maybe even (oh this is yummy) turn into Golden Girl that Sixth Ninths lead singer won back years after she left him. I'm NOT saying Eva will use Brett (unlike Gideon, she's never ruthlessly used someone). But Eva might let the tabloids find out about the Eva/Brett connection. Or if someone else lets the cat out of the bag (Cary, Christopher Vidal Jr., Brett himself) she won't stop the rumors running rampant.

Morning, GiGi! To get into my Corrine theories, I'll start with another list of known facts. Again, keeping in mind this isn't the whole story -- only what Eva knows, and thus we readers know.  There's a lot of crucial information toward the end of Bared to You and near the beginning of Reflected in You. This includes three crucial scenes in which Eva (and thus we readers) are directly told things by Gideon, Corrine, and Magdalene.  Bared to You, starting on page 309, is when Eva is blindsided by the existence of Corrine. She and Gideon are at a fundraiser dinner. Corrine shows up unannounced. Magdalene, who know Corrine, is at the dinner too. Bared to You starting on page 324. Eva pulled one of her "runners" by walking out on the dinner. Gideon has chased Eva to her apartment. He has a serious talk with Eva about Corrine. (IMHO this is one of the times Gideon has been most forthcoming about something in his past.) Reflected, starting on page 23. The next morning, Magdalene phones Eva at work. For whatever scheming motive Magdalene has, she gossips to Eva about Corrine.  These three scenes together plus additional tidbits throughout both books are the source of the stuff below:  Here's the basics about Corrine: She is an exquisitely beautiful brunette, and one of her most noticeable features is waist-length black hair. She and Gideon met at college when he was a freshman. She chased him. He let himself be caught. She becomes his first lover. The only place they've had sex is the hotel Gideon throughout the years later used as a $%#! pad to sleep with other women. She was the one to ask Gideon to marry her, not the other way around, and she's the one who broke the engagement. She claims she did it because of his possessiveness scaring her, but in hindsight she realized it had been a sign he cared so deeply. Gideon later claims he thinks Corrine asked him to marry him to move their relationship to a new level (he thins Corrine hoped he'd start spending whole nights with her, not simply having hotel sex) When that didn't work, a year later she broke off the engagement. Gideon thinks it was an effort to make him work hard to keep her. It backfired. He was relieved, because he could never share a bedroom with Corrine (the nightmares she knew nothing about and he didn't want her ever finding out.) After she ended the engagement, she married a rich Frenchman and moved to Europe. Now she's divorcing him. She's been back and forth between France and New York very recently. She just moved back for good. Corrine confesses to Eva (while Gideon's off getting drinks) she still loves Gideon and thinks the biggest mistake of her life was walking away. Gideon admits to Eva he knows Corrine still loves her and feels guilty, especially because he suspects the reason the marriage didn't work is Corrine never got over him. Corrine did know about Eva before the dinner. Gideon's been talking to her on the phone about how much Eva means to him. Corrine's been calling him daily. Eva obviously didn't know about Corrine - got blindsided. Gideon goes off with Corrine immediately in order to make sure she keeps her mouth shut so he, not Corrine, is the one who tells Eva about their shared past. While Gideon's off doing this, Magdalene is left with Eva, and she lets the cat out of the bag. The night of Gideon and Eva's first date weeks before, which ended badly over Gideon's headtrip about the sex he had with Eva, Gideon left Eva to go see Corrine, who was in town. Corrine sits next to Gideon and Eva during the meal, and he talks with Corrine the whole time. Magdalene eavesdrops, but Eva doesn't listen to the Gideon/Corrine conversation. When monopolizing Gideon at dinner, Corrine suggests lots of places he could take Eva to see (Eva's still new to town.) Magdalene claims to Eva Corrine's motive was playing the old "remember when" game. The places Corrine was suggesting Gideon take Eva were places that held memories for Corrine and Gideon is what Magdalene accused Corrine of. Magdalene claims that Gideon's side of the conversation was trying to "manage" Corrine from upsetting Eva. Additional points worth noting: Gideon's is famous for having dated only brunettes (prior to Eva, who is blonde) Magdalene, who has known Gideon a long time (their families know one another and their mothers are best friends) obviously knows a lot about the Gideon/Corrine history. Magdalene even grew her own black hair waist length in the hopes it would help make Gideon desire her. Now that "the one who got away" is back, Magdalene has thrown in the towel, and even cut her hair. For Gideon, it was only about the sex with Corrine. He didn't love her but was willing to settle because who would love him if not her. Eva believes Corrine is using guilt to manipulate Gideon. He feels it would be cruel to cut her off as a friend while she's in crisis (i.e. the divorce). Eva tells him to stow the guilt and start weaning Corrine off -- nip her hopes in the bud.