GiGi

 Hi ShazScott1980, You rock! You always lift my spirits!

Hi Donnad, You are hilarious!! You make my laugh funny lady!!

Hello Ms. Julie54, Now all we need to do is find;Â a nice "tingly Italian man" for each of us, so we can relive that "tingly" feeling anytime we wish!Â

 Hi Gabri, I am asking for a honeymoon in Italy! Maybe Milano, or Fierenza...sigh!  Italy has some of the best food in the world and Eva would definately enjoy herself there! Gideon would enjoy watching Eva enjoy herself!

Ciao Gabri! Bienvenuti!Â

Hi Everyone, How about:   Non ho piu paura perché tuo amore. I am no longer am afraid because of your love Italian (sorry the translation may be slightly off, it has been a while since I have had to write in Italian. Maybe some of my Italian sisters can help me out with this.  Senza di te non c'e sole nel cielo. Without you, there is no sun in the sky.  Sei l'unica. You're the only one.  Aiutami sono disperato! Help me I'm desperate!  Il tuo piacere e il mio. Your pleasure is my pleasure.   Â

Hi Everyone, I just wanted to add that I think that Sylvia has done a brilliant job in her writing of these books and of her writing this storyline. She has made me care about Gideon and Eva and their lives. I have cried for them, rejoiced for them, been outraged for them and am now grieving for them. She has taken fictional characters and somehow made them very real. For me, that is the mark of a great writer! Brava Cara Sylvia! Brava!

Hi Julie54, I have always done my best to post accurate information for everyone. I feel that because of my background and educational experiences, I hold a certain amount of responsibility for my postings and my internet actions. Yes, yes I know that this is just a forum and this is just for fun, but for me I want to make sure that at the end of the day, whoever reads my postings will know that I did my best to provide accurate, sometimes lighthearted and at times challenging postings. There has been so much speculation and theorizing about the various storylines that it has tested my limits to accept information that hasn’t been yet verified (scientific gold standards of sorts). My scientific background has always provided me with comfortable parameters from which to operate with. In order to prove that a theory is correct, a scientist would have to prove that the equal and opposite theory is incorrect, which is why I have challenged so many diverse theories. Thank you for your patience and kindness ladies! As I have been walking this journey with Eva and Gideon I have often found myself questioning the validity of some of things that I have read. So in order to confirm my theories and suspicions, I do the thing that I know how to do. I go to the source that I think can provide me with the most accurate information and then I begin to humble myself and start asking questions....all kinds of questions and maybe some of them seem a little ridiculous (to the people who have to listen to them). I am so grateful that all of these people have been so incredibly kind and had taken time out of their very busy schedules to help me sort these storylines out. Thank you! I have been thinking about everything that has transpired over the past few days and I have to say that I am heart- sick. I have been thinking about this journey that I have taken with Gideon and Eva and I have so many regrets for these two. I wish I could have spoken to both of them, cautioned them, given them wise counsel, offered them words of comfort and hope. Mostly I wish I could have told Gideon to: STOP!! WAIT!!! THINK FIRST BEFORE YOU ACT!!! Once you cross that moral line you won’t ever be able to go back. I know that I can’t do that. Sigh!! Now the deed has been done (well I am playing games to distract myself from a looming ugly truth that is coming on June 4th) and I feel like I am grieving for two people who have lost their innocence all over again. They can never go back. They will never be the same people. They will have to live with the fact that this murder will forever follow them, bind them and their pasts in the worst possible ways. I don’t find any reason to rejoice over that fact. Oh please Sylvia I need a silver lining for these two. I need a happily ever after most of all! Please tell me that there will be a happily ever after! :)

Hi MrsCrossfire, If Gideon killed Nathan, how is that justifiable? From everything that we have read, it appears that Gideon methodically and premediatedly planned Nathan's murder. How is that a good thing?  Are we the readers supposed to cheer on a man who was that cold and calculated? I know that what Nathan did is despicable and I am not in any way, shape or form, condoning what he did, but how am I supposed to excuse what Gideon did? How is that something to be cheered for?Â

Hi Everyone, How about:  Je t'adore mon coeur. It means "I love you my heart" in French. Ohh la la!

Hi everyone, Sylvia's short stories are really good too! All Revved Up and her Christmas story are both great reads.

 Hi ShazScott1980, I think I need to get my hearing checked because I didn't hear anything about Gideon having killed Nathan...I could have sworn it was someone else!  I also think I may need to get my eyesight tested if I see anything about Gideon having killed someone too!!

Hi Julie54, I am still roaring with laughter!! I say it was Monica who killed Nathan... in the library ... with a candlestick holder... (ok now my Clue roots are showing)!!

Hi Julie54, I am sitting here laughing! I love it! Yes, indeed the publishers did get it wrong!! My money is still on Monica!! Come on Monica, step up to the plate and take one for theam for crying out loud!!

Hi KiMa, I agree with you. I need answers. The romance is fine and all, but at this point I need answers and lots of them. I can no longer be placated with whispered "sweet nothings". Gideon needs to start talking...fast!

Hi Sscrph, I would think that most domestic household staff would be placed by agencies. The staff would most likely need to have criminal background checks and finger prints taken. I would think that with such a wealthy man as Mr. Barker was, he wouldn't have let just anyone into his home and around his family.  I think that what upsets me most about this situation is that these people (if they were afraid of Nathan), decided to keep their jobs and just sat and listened to Eva being repeatedly raped and tortured. How on this green earth could these people have justified that to themselves? I get the fact that maybe some of these people may have been afraid, but finding a job as a domestic help isn't difficult. They could have been placed in another home easily.  I don't know how these people could have lived with themselves given the situation at the time and with what they knew. They basically threw Eva under the bus and quite frankly that doesn't sit well with me at all!!! I am sorry I get so heated about this, but I am just sick to death about hearing about how everyone is always "afraid". At some point people have to grow up, start acting like adults and take some responsibility!! Someone has to have enough courage to help!! Sigh!

Hi Kirsten, I get where you are coming from. I get it. I think I am just sad and disappointed by this entire situation. If Gideon did kill Nathan (I want to read that with my own two eyes with that book in my hand), then he has chosen such a hard road to travel and I think that is sad. At the end of the day, there is no good outcome when crimes like these are committed. Someone always looses. There are no winners.

Hi Sylvia, You are absolutely correct. I must remember to use my terminology correctly. My appologies.  What I was getting at and didn't do a very good job of explaining was; if another prisoner found out about Nathan raping Eva when she was 10 years old and he was 12, it wouldn't have been very well received in a prison setting. Sex crimes are seen as the lowest form of crime to commit and that is why, often times (depending on the severity and the amount of publicity said crime has received) those criminals are segregated from the general population (for their safety and protection).  I also don't know whether Nathan would have been sent to a mental institution immediately or whether he would have wound up in the prison system first. If for the sake of arguement Nathan was sent to prison or a mental institution, an arguement could have been made to label Nathan as a dangerous offender and as such he would never have been eligible for release (I know that designation is a part of the criminal justice system in Canada and I hope that is the case in the US). Obtaining that kind of designation would however would be entering into a huge legal gray area. There are so many factors as to whether his previous crimes would be admissible or not (again depending on the judge and the legal arguements presented) given his present day actions. In the end I guess it is a moot point. Nathan is now dead and we the reader will never know what could have been. We have to deal with what is; Nathan is now dead. Period.

Hi everyone, Something else just struck me. A prosecutor would have absolutely LOVED a case like Eva's! They would have been dancing a jig of glee up and down the courthouse steps! There would have been actual documented physical evidence, a completely sympathic victim (Eva), upstanding members of the community (i.e. Gideon, Stanton and Monica) and a despicable defendant. Prosecutors would be getting down on their hands and knees and thanking the Universe above for such a case.  Given all the circumstances, I would have been really surpised if they didn't throw the "book" at Nathan. I am not so sure that man would have ever seen the light of day and I also don't think that Nathan would have lasted too long in prison. Prisoners always seem to find out about pedophiles and rapists in prison. Oh well, I can't change what has happened. Sigh!

Hi Sylvia, I guess I have always believed that Eva could overcome what ever obstacles would come her way. I don't see her as that fragile. I have seen her make so many strides with her life and I think that with unconditional love and support she would have been able to overcome this horrible situation.  I do suppose that is my flaw as the reader. I believe that each person has the capacity to grow, to change and to become stronger.  As a reader I think that everyone has assumed that Eva wouldn't be able to handle a trial. I sometimes wonder if they don't give Eva enough credit or whether somewhere deep down inside there isn't a small part of them, that wants to protect their good name. How much of this "protection" is really for Eva and how much of this is for them? It takes an incredibly strong person to stand beside another human being when they are suffering. Thus far, I don't know that any of these individuals motives have been pure (based on their actions and past conduct). Such is the human condition. Each and every single one of us is flawed. Sigh!  Thank you for taking the time to clarify this point. Thank you.

Hi Julie54, I agree with your assertion. It is most likely that Gideon was abused in the library. I just have to wonder why he was left alone so much. I also have to wonder if the household staff didn't hear Gideon screaming or crying.Â

Hi AMC, I could have bought that arguement had Monica not lied to Eva yet again, about being in New York. How many bites at the apple is Monica supposed to get before the reader just throws in the towel? Why wouldn't Monica tell Eva about Nathan's presence in New York or even about the threats or the blackmail? Why did Eva have to pin her mother down and tell her about Nathan and why on earth wasn't Monica forthcoming about what was going on even while Eva was telling her mother about what was going on? I mean really?! What possible excuse could Monica have for keeping all these secrets?!

Hi Everyone, I have been thinking about what Sylvia wrote yesterday in response to a posting I wrote. I started thinking about juvenile crimes and the expunging of said records. So with that in mind and the quotes that Sylvia posted (i.e. Gideon viewed photos and videos of Eva being raped), I contacted The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and my local police department.  I asked them if a person who had been convicted of the crime of rape and such (had his records sealed because of his juvenile status), took evidence from those past crimes (i.e. the videos and photos of Nathan raping and torturing Eva), and used that evidence in the attempts to extort monies from said individuals, would that evidence (the photos and videos) be admissible as evidence in court? The unanimous response from all parties was absolutely YES!!  When Nathan went to Gideon, Stanton and maybe Monica, and showed them the photos and videos of him raping Eva, he was effectively breaking the seal on his juvenile case. He was producing documented evidence from a previous crime in the attempts to commit a new crime. As it was explained to me, Nathan can't have his cake and eat it too. He couldn't claim privilege on one hand and then use that evidence (knowing that he couldn't be charged for past crimes) in the attempt to commit a new crime.  I then walked across the street to a neighbour who works as a crown attorney and I asked him whether the videos and photos would be admissible in court and he also said yes! Now I know that there are no absolutes in this world and that yes it is possible that if Nathan had gone before a judge who was extremely sympathetic toward him, may have had the evidence tossed out on a technicality, but I suspect that in this case, given the circumstances, that evidence would be admissible in a court of law.  I also asked about Nathan's possession of this evidence and whether it would have been considered child po** and all the legal parties agreed that possession of said evidence could constitute child p****. Nathan could face charges for possession and attempt to distribute child p*** (given the facts that he showed Gideon and Stanton the videos and photos).  Also depending on where Nathan made the tape, (i.e. New York, Connecticut, California, etc.), if Nathan crossed the state lines when he went to meet with Stanton and Gideon and New York, he could face even more charges (if I am not mistaken, federal charges).  Perhaps someone who has a legal background might want to join in on this discussion. Or perhaps Sylvia can clarify this point for us. I know that Canada and the US has different laws and approach situations differently but surely our two countries cannot be that different.Â

Hi Julie54, We don't know that there wasn't any physical evidence of Gideon's abuse (when he was examined by the doctors). All we know as the reader is that nothing was reported. We don't know how big this entire cover up is. I guess we will have to wait until June 4th to find out. Maybe Gideon himself will go more into detail about what exactly was going on when he was being abused.Â

 Hi ShazScott1980, I love it! That is a brilliant idea!!