Lighthouse

 Gideon "counted cards" playing black jack. It's how he got his start, getting money and making business connections while gambling. Technically it's not against the law to count cards, but casinos consider it cheating and are brutal about clamping down on it. One technique card counters have is to keep changing their physical appearance. So I could envision Gideon wearing various disguises to make himself look older and also have fake IDs to show his age at 21 or older. The nearest major casinos to New York City are in Atlantic City, a little over two hours away by car, so it's somewhere Gideon could easily get to, unlike Las Vegas, which is thousands of miles away. There are a couple of casinos north of New York City as well in the state of Connecticut, another relatively easy drive by car.  Some things I wonder about the hotel: How frequently did he use it when he was with Corrine? When did he permanently start renting a room there (instead of getting a room for the night?)  On a related question, did his permanently getting a room coincide with him picking up women on average about twice per week? When did he buy the property?

 I take those words to mean some degree of kink that he thought she could handle. Probably restraints and light domination.  It's occurred to me that in one way, sex with Corrine was never vanilla, because from the start, it was fetish-based. Hugh evilly hard-wired into Gideon a fetish for women similar to his mother by showing the then-young Gideon sexually explicit images of women resembling his mother while forcing him into a state of physical sexual arousal. So I think his physical attraction to Corrine was purely and unconsciously based on his deeper issues.  OK, now don't hate me for saying something nice about Corrine, the Character We All Love to Hate. But she set Gideon down the road of the normalcy of consensual sex between two adults who had loving feelings for one another and entered into a committed relationship. She ultimately prepared him for Eva. Gideon could have gone down the darker road of becoming a pedophile himself. Instead, he tried a committed adult relationship, got something out of it and along the way learned that sharing a bed with a woman permanently wouldn't work for him (or so he believed pre-Eva.) Afterward, he avoided love and strictly segregated sexual encounters to controlled and unemotional (on his side) encounters.  Then came Eva, who gave him something no other woman could: making love. OK, so making love that also was at times really kinky-hawt.  The various reactions to the word vanilla in connection with Corrine surprise me. I wonder whether some people think that Gideon getting adventurous with Corrine somehow makes what they had for sex more meaningful. I think the opposite is true. Look at what he had with Anne Lucas. A very high kink level there, but it was depraved, and it also involved issues of physical appearance (Anne's resemblance to Hugh.)  Gideon got gifted at making his one-night-stands "come a thousands ways." Him driving Corrine wild would have been just more of the same. I can see him introducing kink into their relationship just to make it possible for him to continue to be able to get it up for her. Every other one of the hundreds of women he's sexually fooled around with, starting with Corrine, were only about physical release.  The key thing I see is that Corrine never drove him wild in return. No other woman but Eva ever has.

 I remember reading somewhere that the first two and a half books were about Eva overcoming her issues, and the reason Crossfire is a five book series is because Gideon has more work to do on himself than could be wrapped up in a trio. Getting his POV has been great. I see OWY as him finally breaking free of the past. Which means he first has to face it. It makes sense that women who were huge in his past, especially his mother and Corrine, will be parts of the storyline.  Different ways to get info on his past sex life: what Dr. Petersen can coax out of him, what he'll tell Eva and/or recall as he faces the women (like the stuff we got from his faceoff with Anne.) And that book of Corrine's. No way was the sex vanilla. He was too much of a hot mess, and she is more than willing to try things in order to keep a hold on him.  Something just clicked: if Corrine writes about their sex life, she'll mention the hotel. Lancorp owns that property now. Uh oh.

 That's hilarious!

 I don't think he can forgive her: for leaving him, publicly throwing herself at Gideon, causing the death of their unborn child. The baby was unintended, but that doesn't make it any less horrifying. She left him earlier in the summer, but I wonder whether the second time, he was the one who did the leaving. After she got out of the hospital, he told her he doesn't want her back anymore?

 She's not interested in his money. She had Gideon before he was a gazzillionaire. She had him when he was just some college kid -- but even then was the incredible person he is inside. Nope, it's him and only him she wants. She threw her wealthy husband away.  I think Anne Lucas is her shrink and is encouraging Corrine, making her believe it's not pathetic to chase Gideon. I worry that Anne might be setting Corrine up to attack Eva somehow.

 Gideon told Brett about the marriage, because he wanted Brett to quit pursuing Eva. So now Brett's an outsider who knows. What if Brett shoots his mouth off to Christopher Jr., who then tells his mother, who then tells Corrine. That could get interesting. Especially if Elizabeth thinks the rumor that GidEva got married is false (gee, it wouldn't be the first time Elizabeth refused to believe something about her son.)  Another possibility here: Brett tells Christopher Jr., who then tells Deana. And what will she do? Think that Gideon's promise of exclusive photos was a false promise to manipulate her? Run with the story? Run with her own expose of Gideon?  I still don't trust Deana, and Detective Graves still worries me, and Corrine is nuts, and Anne Lucas is evil. Am I forgetting anyone? Oh yeah, the receptionist. She's up to something no good as well. I trust Magdalene now, and I hope I'm not wrong on that.

 The man's always got something up his sleeve .. and something up down in his pants. RAWR .....

Here's another idea about why Gideon let Corrine into his office and frosted the glass ... Corrine was there to show him old pictures of the two of them together. Was Gideon about to bring out the pictures of him and Eva marrying? Show Corrine the marriage certificate? He showed that stuff to Brett in his office. Does Gideon keep those copies in his desk? Maybe he was ready to hit Corrine with proof of the marriage, but by chance Eva's arrival interrupted him. Eva was there, so he instantly dropped everything to greet her, touch her, had eyes for only her and all but forgot there was anyone else present. Â The first time I read the excerpt, I practically wanted to smack Gideon, like Eva did that day when she barged into his office thinking he'd just finished a nooner with Corrine. But reading it again and thinking about it, I recalled Gideon has a reason for everything he does. Corrine's trying to hurt Eva. He'll do anything to stop anyone from hurting Eva. So he had a reason for admitting his ex to the inner sanctum of his office, and whatever he planned to do, he was going to do without witnesses being able to see through the glass. He kicked Nathan's you know what in his office the day that monster showed up unannounced planning to hurt Eva with pictures.

An Eva line from the excerpt: “I’ve got a wedding to plan.†And some loose ends to tie up. But we’d get to those later.  Loose ends being her mother's grand plans? Is Eva thinking of finally pushing back against her mother, for once and for all quit coddling Monica? Eva's quit enabling Gideon's efforts to deny his past. She just quit her job on her own terms. So I can see Eva pushing up the timeline of the (second) wedding. Is Eva about to have another mother-daughter session with Dr. Petersen? About to tell Monica the truth she's already married and has decided she does not want to go through some elaborate public charade?

 I thought the same thing, Georgette, that GidEva finally are taking the advice Dr. Petersen gave them way back in RIY during their first couples counseling session: some abstinence. When he first suggested it, the reason was all GidEva's interactions led to sex, including their fights, and they weren't resolving their fights. Since then, the good doctor has figured out there are some sex-related problems far deeper than them trying to settle fights by f ing.  "Staying out of his bed was going to kill me, but it had to be done." That's what's in Eva's mind in the excerpt. I think they're fighting to create a future where they can share a bed. Gideon has to reach a point where he's not terrified he'll mentally traumatize Eva during one of his violent nightmares. That means therapy has to work. And for couples therapy to work, they have to learn how to resolve their fights outside of bed.  I think he is finally no longer afraid he'll physically harm Eva. Thanks to Krav Maga, she's not physically helpless against someone violent: she's got the self-defense skills to fend someone off, even a strong man like Gideon.  I enjoy the recurring fan fantasy here about Eva finally going all Krav Maga on someone, with Corrine being top of the list. But I honestly don't see Eva using her fight skills offensively to beat someone up. She definitely can use them defensively. If she's under physical attack, then sure, kick the living you know what out of her assailant. Anne Lucas might be a candidate there. She comes across evil enough to resort to violence.  This is not to say I wouldn't immensely enjoy an Eva-Corrine cat fight. But what I'd relish would be Eva grabbing hold of that waist-length curtain of Corrine's hair, her crowning glory, and give it a hard pull.

 Corrine bears a physical resemblance to Gideon's mother, especially in their coloring, but I don't think Magdalene does, because Maggie and Corrine are different races. Maggie is Latina, and Corrine is Caucasian (as is Gideon's mother). If anything, Maggie has more in common with Eva, who is half Latina and half Caucasian. Eva's physical appearance blends both races. The most striking thing about Corrine's looks is her beautiful hair, which she wears waist length flowing down her back. Maggie used to wear her dark hair waist length because she hoped Gideon would like it. Good for Maggie finally figuring out the hair style didn't work, and so she gave up the long hair when she gave up on Gideon.Â

 Ooo, you've an interesting area to speculate about some Gideon family history -- some past connection between Gideon's parents and Hugh. We do know that Hugh (and his evil sister Anne) come from a family of shrinks. What if there was some sort of social-circle connection and/or some professional connection between the Crosses or the Vidals?  We don't know how it was that Elizabeth and Chris Sr. chose who to turn to for professional help for Gideon. I can picture Elizabeth quietly looking around people she knew in her society circles who happened to be doctors and therapists. I can see her discretely choosing a doctor for young Gideon. So it makes sense she might pick out people she already knew. That there could be the old link between Hugh's family and Gideon's family.  This also raises present-day social and/or professional connections between Terry and Anne Lucas and Gideon's mother. We know she had Terry examine Gideon as a child. Did Elizabeth ever meet Terry's wife, Anne? Do they know one another socially now? We also know Elizabeth is in some sort of cahoots with Corrine. When Corrine got to New York in crisis, did she turn to Elizabeth? And so did Elizabeth suggest she go see Anne for help with her depression?

 That makes total sense! Magdalene used to imitate Corrine, hoping that doing so would make her more attractive to Gideon. Now Corrine's trying the same pathetic thing.  If Corrine cuts off her waist-length black hair, dyes it blonde and gets a boob job, it'll prove once and for all to the entire world she's nuts.  Seriously, though, the first time I read the excerpt I wanted to scream at Gideon. W - T - F was he even doing meeting with Corrine yet again!!! Then I thought it through some more, and I realized why he did it. That scheming bee-yotch finally has got his attention, because she is trying to hurt Eva. We readers saw the lengths Gideon went through to stop that sex tape from getting out and hurting Eva. I think he's just as determined to fight nasty to stop Corrine from publishing the book.  Add to my fantasies of Eva going all Krav Maga on Corrine a fantasy of Gideon going after Corrine with Arash alongside him. A no-holds-barred legal showdown. And afterward, Arash kicking back with Arnoldo and telling him about the real Corrine behind the mask. Of course, there's a lot Arash could not say (client-attorney privilege). But what he could say to Arnoldo and the other guys is bad enough.  I think there's one sure-fire way to stop Corrine, and I hope it happens in OWY. Gideon tells Corrine he's already married Eva. Shows Corrine pictures of the wedding on the beach. Has the exact same sort of showdown with her that he did with Brett. Corrine wants to end the GidEva engagement. Well, Gideon can tell her the engagement is already over - because he's married.

 Great list Seattle! This could be great fun! Some to add:  Relationship between Gideon and Christopher Jr.? Relationship between Elizabeth and Chris Sr.? Has Christopher been Deanna's source (existence of sex tape, accurate account of the Gideon/Brett brawl)? Relationship between Gideon and Angus - how was it that Angus earned Gideon's utter trust? Is Corrine a patient of Anne Lucas? Is Anne going to go after Eva?

"She wore a red strapless dress, showing off skin that was like rich pale cream," is something that jumped out at me in the excerpt. RED dress. Corrine also wore a red dress to Tableau One when Gideon met with her about the book. CBY describes " ... plunging neckline of her red dress." So I wonder -- did Corrine wear a lot of red years ago when she was with Gideon, and many of these pictures she has of them as a couple shows it? Is she trying to remind Gideon of that by wearing sexy red dresses now? Â The first time Corrine "saw" Eva almost certainly would have been in photos on tabloid websites of the first time Gideon and Eva appeared in public as a couple. Which was walking into the Advocacy Center event. Eva was wearing a sexy red gown. Â The color red has very special meaning for Gideon and Eva. What if Corrine succeeds in making Eva paranoid that Gideon's preference for red is just like Gideon's preference for brunettes? Tries to ruin for Eva the specialness of red. Eva thinks Gideon's past pattern of attraction to brunettes is because of Corrine. Before Eva, the only non-brunette she knows for certain Gideon slept with had red hair. Â Eva doesn't know the true, dark secret that Hugh calculatedly instilled into Gideon a sexual fetish involving women with the same coloring as his (Gideon's) mother. And a twisted reason Gideon managed to get it up for Anne was because of her physical resemblance to Hugh, that Gideon was punishing Hugh symbolically by being depraved, not respectful, with Anne. Â Of course it's possible that red dresses have nothing to do with Corrine and Gideon's past. Corrine has started wearing them when she plans to see Gideon as part of another deluded attempt to try to make herself attractive to Gideon. Her more sedate/refined dressing had not worked. It's only since this book thing has come up that twice now we readers have seen Corrine in red dresses.

 Scott announced over Gideon's intercom, "Miss Tramell is here for you, Mr. Cross" and Gideon hit the button to open the door -- so Corrine knew Eva was about to walk in. So it's possible Corrine suddenly moved close to Gideon and shoved the picture into his hand. Hoping to give Eva the wrong impression Gideon was having an intimate conversation with her (Corrine) and Eva would "catch them redhanded" together, so to speak. A Corrine stunt like that would be along the same lines as the incident in EWY-- Corrine with Gideon in the downstairs lobby of the Crossfire, Corrine sees Eva standing there looking at the pair of them, Corrine tries to kiss Gideon right in front of Eva.  Didn't work in CBY and didn't work in this latest incident. Gideon wordlessly walked away from Corrine and straight up to Eva.

 The excerpt states that Eva plans on having a word with Corrine. And Eva knows where Corrine lives. She's already gone there once and had a verbal catfight that she (Eva) won. Maybe this second time, we fans will get the physical cat fight we've been hoping for for quite some time now. Of course, I wouldn't put it past Corrine to press assault charges. But it would be sooooooo worth it.

I loved how Scott acted when Eva showed up. His eyes sparkled. Â Scott has never seen his boss happier than Gideon has been with Eva. And he's never seen the man more miserable than when he was each time Gideon and Eva were apart. Â Scott was very, very happy to see Eva show up. And Scott understands that Corrine means nothing anymore to Gideon.

 I think the redheaded receptionist has been the person getting Corrine into Gideon's office. The excerpt solves (I hope) a mystery that's been bugging me since Captivated, which is how did Corrine get into the reception area of Gideon's office in the Crossfire soon after she got out of the hospital?  Bear with me as I lay out this theory:  In RIY, Corrine showed up unannounced at the Crossfire at lunchtime the day after the fundraiser at the Waldorf. She never made it past security in the main building lobby, and Gideon hadn't known she had even been on the premises until Eva barged into his office. Toward the end of RIY, Eva sees Gideon leave the Crossfire with Corrine just after work. We're led to assume Corrine been up in his office, but now I'm thinking she was lurking in the lobby and ambushed him when he was leaving the building. To avoid causing a scene, he took her out to his waiting car.  In EWY, Corrine was practically stalking Gideon who was now avoiding her. She showed up at the Crossfire, and he went down into the lobby to confront her there. She wasn't allowed past the main building lobby  So how did she get as far as his inner office lobby early in CBY? Someone had to authorize her getting past lobby security and getting past the elevator lobby on Gideon's floor. Who controls that inner lobby door? The redhead. Who probably is someone building security calls up to regularly to alert them that business visitors expected on Gideon's floor have arrived in the building and are on their way up. so in reverse, the redhead would be someone authorized to call down to security to say someone (here, Corrine) is due to arrive soon and "is expected."  So if it is the redhead letting Corrine into Gideon's offices to ambush him, what's her motive? I'm throwing out two:  1. My big conspiracy theory. She's somehow related to Anne and Hugh and she's spying on Gideon. 2. She's just a bee-yotch bitter that she got nowhere with Gideon, resents Eva to the point of despising her, and so is enjoying causing trouble by letting Corrine onto the floor. Maybe she's not taking seriously enough the fact Gideon and Eva are "engaged." Figures that Gideon supposedly dumped Eva for Corrine, then dumped Corrine for Eva -- and so the redhead figures neither woman is "safe" and both are "fair game" to eph with.

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 When it comes to her possible sexual triggers, he's so aware and so careful. But he doesn't have the same level of awareness when it comes to her Mommy issue triggers. She went away to school to get out from her mother's suffocating her. Then Eva came to New York determined to make it on her own and she took an entry level job in her field instead of letting Stanton get her a job through his connections. She held onto her job instead of quitting during that period when working in the Crossfire was .

Wouldn't it be great if this 12-day countdown ends with the official announcement of the release date for book 5!

Chapter 8: I think Eva is much smarter than Gideon when it comes to Detective Graves - then again, Eva is a cop's daughter. She's right -- it looks suspicious that she went from the discard pile to fiancée in only a few weeks. Gideon has totally undermined the lie he never loved Eva, that she wasn't anything beyond flavor of the week. I think her gut's right. The detective is still trying to decide whether Gideon should be brought to justice. So she keeps approaching Eva.