GiGi

Hi Betty, Eva's loyalties lay with herself. Both parents; Monica and Victor, have been less than ideal for so many reasons. We the readers are given so little information about Eva's relationship with her father during the early years. Where was Victor? Did he have visitation rights? Did he see his daughter on a regular basis or did he just have the occasional phone call on birthday's and holidays? What made Victor feel like he couldn't be a part of his daughter's life?  Monica on the other hand had primary physical custody and when she wasn't busy trying to snag a husband she wasn't paying attention to what was going on underneath her own household roof? What's her deal? How can she be considered a good mother?  Monica did the "social circle" ho-stro until she managed to bag another husband. Her track record of husbands, thus far, stinks! One had a sociopath/psychopath for a child (who never knew about his son's proclivities...???) and the other was a degenerate gambler. Stanton gives in at every turn, so how is he a better husband. At what point, do we as individuals, go beyond saying that Monica had a run of bad luck, and start questioning Monica's judgement.  Now if we couple that with the fact that in 1461 days, Monica was completely clueless and out-to-lunch as far as her daughter was concerned, how can we still say that she is a good mother? If we also include that lovely little tidbit of Monica hiding Eva's abuse from Victor, do we honestly think that she was/is a good mother?   Another thing to consider; in 1461 days Monica NEVER checked; her daughter's bedsheets, underware (for blood), bathed her daughter or saw her daughter in her undergarments (which would be normal if a mother-daughter went shopping together and a mother was ACTIVELY involved in her daughter's life), never would have noticed ALL of the EMOTIONAL or PHYSICAL symptoms that her daughter must have been exhibiting, or her choice of pediatrician and annual examinations. I am sure that parents have to take their children to the doctor, but not once in four years did anyone detect that something was wrong with Eva?  Finally the point must be made about the household staff; who one earth did these people employ that could stand by and watch while Eva was being raped and tortured on a nearly daily basis? In 1461 days, surely SOMEONE heard SOMETHING!! When does it stop being everyone else's fault?  When is it Monica's turn to start accepting responsibility?Â

Hi Betty. I think that the most important thing was the Elizabeth Vidal should NEVER have asked Christopher Jr. about Gideon's abuse. She put a five year old on the spot and then pitted on child against the other in her misguided attempts to find the truth.  Elizabeth should have believed her child from the beginning...point...stop!  Your quote about Gideon's attempts to deal with Christopher's bad behaviour doesn't correlate with Gideon's abuse. One issue has nothing to do with the other. Could you please clarify why you included that comment? It would help me to understand what your postion is more clearly. Thanks in advance.Â

Hi Vikki-Sixx, Welcome to the forum and I hope you enjoy yourself.Â

Oh seriously Sscrph...don't torture us! I never even stopped to consider that they might break up during book four! Augh! Oh the angst! I wouldn't even know what to do with myself if that happened, because then I would have to wait for another huge, honking long time before they finally get back together!  Say it isn't so sister!Â

Hi Li94, Welcome to the forum and I hope you enjoy yourself.Â

Ok, seriously, I like!Â

You make a good point Kirsten. Both Gideon and Eva will have to learn how to deal with their triggers in a more positive manner. Thus far, everytime Eva gets triggered she pulls a "runner" and every time Gideon gets triggered he shuts down. Now that they are married, neither of them can rely on those techniques. If they do, then that marriage will be doomed to fail.  Sylvia has however, promised us that Gideon and Eva will have a happily-ever-after so we will just have to "buckle-up" and get ready for the bumpy ride ahead of us. I have to get a package of antacids, if there is going to be a lot of upset. I have a feeling that I may have a queasy stomach with all of this turmoil.Â

Hi Avid Reader, I just wanted to clarify a few things with you as far as the abused becoming abusers themselves. Statistically, that is a complete fallacy. It is difficult to quantify just exactly how many people are abused because over 85% of all abuse, rape, incest, etc. is never reported to legal authorities or dealt with criminally.  Of those cases that are reported criminally; less than 30% of said cases result in a criminal conviction. That being said, if we consider what you said and say that 100 people were abused, then by proxy all 100 people would go on to abuse people themselves. That theory just isn't supported.  What has been reported and supported with documented evidence is that many people who are abused, go on to have difficulties in many areas of their lives; emotional issues, addictions of all varieties and self harm (suicide attempts, etc.).  During another forum discussion, a forum member had stated that of all criminals convicted, 65% state that they were abused. That does not mean that 65% of every person who was abused will go on to commit a crime, or rape etc. It only means that of the prison population 65% of those inmates were abused. Those are two very different scenarios.  I sincerely hope that Christopher Jr. wasn't abused by Hugh and hope even more that if Christopher Jr. was abused, that he himself, didn't go on to abuse another person.  I hope what I have said makes sense to the forum members. If not, let me know and I will try to figure out another way to explain it in a different manner. Thanks everyone.Â

Hi Sharon, I agree with you. You are coming from a place of documented evidence that supports your position.Â

Hi Sharon, It will be interesting to see what Christopher Jr. role was in this entire scenario. I think it was of the ladies in the forum who mentioned that we probably won't really get to Christopher Jr. story until book five. I just hope we get a least a few answers in the fourth book.

  Hi Sscrph, I think that Terry and Anne Lucas might be good possible candidates for the bitter enemies category, but what makes you think that Christopher Jr. would qualify as a bitter enemy? What are your thoughts? What does everyone think?  P.S. If Christpher Jr. actually has the "se* tape", I don't think that it would end up working in his favour. He would wind up looking like the creepy, loser younger brother, who possessed homemade p*** of his brother's wife. Yuck!Â

Hi Sscrph, I think that Gideon may be afraid of Eva seeing the very real and very vulnerable Gideon. Thus far, he has always been her rock and has always come running after her. Eva never really got a chance to see just how vulnerable and deeply hurt Gideon has been.  I keep coming back to the references of when Eva wrote Gideon the letter during their separation during the second book. She poured her heart to him and he didn't seem to respond, or didn't respond in the way that Eva thought that he would. She could never really be sure where Gideon was coming from. She couldn't see past her pain, to see Gideon's very real pain.  Sylvia said that the next two books are going to be about Gideon and him dealing with his problems. That may be a very new place for Eva to be in. She is very insecure, and that insecurity may wreak havoc every time Gideon has to deal with problems from his past. Eva will have to set aside her insecurities and focus all of her attention on Gideon, in order to help him.  Now that being said, I could be wrong and quite frankly who knows? Only Syliva and thus far she isn't telling. What does everyone think?

Oh my goodness, you are too funny Kirsten.Â

Hi GLH, I think that if the topic of Hugh is discussed, it might be in the form of flashbacks and Gideon finally discussing what happened to him during thos counselling sessions. If we are lucky (so to speak) Gideon might even describe his first-hand accounting of what Hugh was like.Â

Gideon Cross 56 Eva Tramell Reyes Cross 55 Victor Reyes 55 Monica Stanton 44+1=45 Cary Taylor 45 Ireland Vidal 46 Angus McLeod 42 Benjamin Clancy 41-1=40 Arnoldo Ricci 17  RIP List    Nathan Barker RIP Gideon Cross Corinne Giroux R.I.P 02/07/2013 azmich Anne Lucas R.I.P. 06/07/2013 Rogue Tatiana Cherlin RIP 7/7/2013 shazScott1980 Deanna Johnson RIP 7/8/13 Barb55 Brett Kline RIP 7/11/13 Barb55 Terence Lucas RIP 7/12/2013 ShazScott1980 and GiGi too Sam Yimara RIP 7/12/2013 Rogue Christopher Vidal jr 7/15/2013 ShazScott1980 Jean Francois Giroux RIP 7/16/13 Barb55 Shelley Graves RIP 7/16/13 - jls1216 Richard Michna RIP 7/17/13 ShazScott1980 Daniel 7/21/12 ShazScott1980 Erik RIP 7/22/2013 Barb55 Magdalene RIP 7/24/2013 Barb55 Richard Stanton RIP 7/25/2013 Barb55 Lacey RIP 7/28/2013 azmich Christine Fields RIP 7/31/2013 azmich Michael Waters RIP 8/2/13 Barb55 Christopher Vidal Sr RIP 8/4/2013 Barb55 Walter Leaman RIP 8/6/2013 Barb55 Parker Smith RIP 8/17/2013 Barb55 Megumi RIP 8/21/2013 ShazScott1980 Dr Peterson RIP 8/22/2013 ShazScott1980 Scott (Gideon assistant) 08/23/2013 RIP Barb55 Shawna Ellison RIP 08/26/2013 Barb55 Elizabeth Cross Vidal 08/29/2013 ShazScott1980 Steven Ellison RIP 8/30/2013 Barb55 Mark Garrity RIP 9/4/2013 SharonM745 Martin Stanton RIP 9/6/2013 SharonM745 Dr. Travis RIP 9/9/2013 Sheens263 Trey RIP 9/13/2013 ShazScott1980 Â

Hi GLH, I agree with your position. I was going to post a clarification. Using a se* swing, just like using a se* toy isn't an indicator of any kind of BDSM play. It is considered more of an addition to love making, a little spice, so to speak.

Hi Sharon, I think what I struggle with the most; is the fact that Monica lived under the same roof as her daughter for four years and not once in any of those days (1461 days to be precise) did Monica clue into the fact that her daughter was being raped and tortured on a nearly daily basis.  It doesn't matter how that loaf of bread is sliced; Monica was a lousy mother. I have made you and the other members of this forum, a promise to not judge Monica and I will...but let's just say that, I GiGi, am counting the days until I get to hear what Monica's backstory is. It had better be one HUGE HONKING DOOZY OF A STORY to even come close to trying to justify her extremely neglectful care of Eva.  Let's also remember that parents of lesser monetary means would have faced criminal charges for not looking after the welfare of their child. Eva's sexual abuse was extreme and no court of law would have taken too kindly to a woman who didn't clue into the fact that her daughter was in physical danger on a daily basis.  It may also be said that Monica's hystronics and use of said tears haven't helped her cause. It may be an indicator of a woman who cannot face her problems and uses her emotional outbursts to hold others hostage and thereby negates any responsibility on Monica's part. I wonder if Eva has forgiven her mother or whether she allows her guilt (Eva felt guilty about her mom having to leave that marriage) to always try to smooth things over with her mother.Â

Hi Dgcaffeine, I hope that Stanton finds out about Monica's cheating. If he really loves her and can accept her sincere appology and confession then, they may have something to hold on to. If Monica has no intention of ever telling Stanton about her mistake and Stanton finds out somehow, then we may see some fireworks fly!Â

Gideon Cross 55 Eva Tramell Reyes Cross 55 Victor Reyes 55 Monica Stanton 44+1=45 Cary Taylor 45 Ireland Vidal 46 Angus McLeod 43 Benjamin Clancy 42-1=41 Arnoldo Ricci 16  RIP List  Nathan Barker RIP Gideon Cross Corinne Giroux R.I.P 02/07/2013 azmich Anne Lucas R.I.P. 06/07/2013 Rogue Tatiana Cherlin RIP 7/7/2013 shazScott1980 Deanna Johnson RIP 7/8/13 Barb55 Brett Kline RIP 7/11/13 Barb55 Terence Lucas RIP 7/12/2013 ShazScott1980 and GiGi too Sam Yimara RIP 7/12/2013 Rogue Christopher Vidal jr 7/15/2013 ShazScott1980 Jean Francois Giroux RIP 7/16/13 Barb55 Shelley Graves RIP 7/16/13 - jls1216 Richard Michna RIP 7/17/13 ShazScott1980 Daniel 7/21/12 ShazScott1980 Erik RIP 7/22/2013 Barb55 Magdalene RIP 7/24/2013 Barb55 Richard Stanton RIP 7/25/2013 Barb55 Lacey RIP 7/28/2013 azmich Christine Fields RIP 7/31/2013 azmich Michael Waters RIP 8/2/13 Barb55 Christopher Vidal Sr RIP 8/4/2013 Barb55 Walter Leaman RIP 8/6/2013 Barb55 Parker Smith RIP 8/17/2013 Barb55 Megumi RIP 8/21/2013 ShazScott1980 Dr Peterson RIP 8/22/2013 ShazScott1980 Scott (Gideon assistant) 08/23/2013 RIP Barb55 Shawna Ellison RIP 08/26/2013 Barb55 Elizabeth Cross Vidal 08/29/2013 ShazScott1980 Steven Ellison RIP 8/30/2013 Barb55 Mark Garrity RIP 9/4/2013 SharonM745 Martin Stanton RIP 9/6/2013 SharonM745 Dr. Travis RIP 9/9/2013 Sheens263 Trey RIP 9/13/2013 ShazScott1980 Â

Hi Kirsten, What does POS mean please? Thanks in advance.

Hi Sscrph, Could that be a reference to the upcoming "wedding" in New York? Hmmm....now the wheels are turning...

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Hi Everyone, Is it just me or did the "...lured bitter enemies out of the shadows..." intrigue anyone else? It sounds like we have quite the story ahead of us...sitting on pins and needles here...waiting!Â

Hi Sylvia, Thank you so much for the snippet! I can hardly wait for the upcoming book!

How wonderful and appropriate.Â