A couple of questions for Dr. Lucas, Gideon, Eva, Corinne, Magdalene, Christopher & Marriage

[GiGi]

Hi LNCronan,

I read your posting and I don’t assume that Nathan was dirt poor. I think that his cash was quickly running out and maybe his dwindling finances, in addition to his mental states were causes of his mental unraveling. There wasn’t anything written other than the fact that Nathan’s father had completely disowned him some time ago. He may have been living off of whatever payoff his father had given him or any trust that he may have had access to. Who knows? I don’t think that the hotel that Nathan was staying at was a nice hotel per se, but probably just an average two/three star rating hotel, but you do have a point. Even the most economical hotel would probably be far more expensive because it was located in New York.

I guess the key question here is; how did Nathan wind up on Gideon’s radar? We the readers don’t have anything to go on here. Sylvia didn’t leave any clues. I suspect that maybe there might be something mentioned in the next book.

Your points about Gideon possibly having Nathan tailed could be a possibility but who knows? I would have found it hard to believe that someone placing a suspect under surveillance could watch that person beat another human being to a pulp? That would make them an accessory to a crime. I wonder if Sylvia will elaborate on this in her next book.

Another question I have is; why would Gideon lure Nathan to New York, to murder him? That makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. It would behoove Gideon to travel to Podunk Hicksville to commit the murder. Why would he lure someone into his own backyard where he would obviously be under suspicion? I guess the argument could be made that he would have more control in a setting that he was comfortable with. It just seems like an awfully big risk.

[GiGi]

Hi LNCronan,

I don’t think that Corinne said anything about her messed about looks or discussions with Gideon. Corinne made it very clear to Eva that she didn’t Eva was good enough for her. She also made it very clear that she made a mistake in letting Gideon go in BTY. I think as far as Corinne is concerned, everything is fair game. I also don’t think that Gideon gives a hoot what Corinne says about Eva. He loves Eva madly, deeply, and obsessively. Point Stop!

What is sad is that Corinne never really had Gideon and I think that’s where it might get interesting. I quite frankly think that Gideon would have initially taken Corinne to task about how she had been treating Eva. I think that Gideon feels guilty about having lead on Corinne (although it wasn’t done intentionally). Corinne still holds a fond place in Gideon’s heart, but I suspect if she keeps the crap up, she’ll get a huge ugly wakeup call from Gideon(via verbal lashing).

[GiGi]

 

sure, he spoke to corinne of her early on - it's probably the only thing he wanted to talk about!  but their post-eva discussions would be wary to include the subject.  if the man you wanted was still hung up on somebody else, would you keep reminding him of her?  no.  even at that dinner where he was ignoring eva to talk to corinne, we know from magdalene that corinne kept trying to discuss eva by talking about herself.  she's a great manipulater.

 

Hi Jo-mama,

Is Corinne manipulative or is she just pathetic and desperate? My thought is that she is desperate. I think that Corinne has quickly realized that she cannot manipulate Gideon. She tried it once and lost the engagement. I don't really believe that she would be foolish enough to think that she could somehow manipulate him now. What do you think?

[GiGi]

 

You know when all is said and done, Eva owes Gideon an old fashion Arse kicking. I mean come on, treating her like a hysterical, bubble-headed blond who can't handle the truth of Nathan being back in the picture is insulting. I know he was trying to protect her, but everyone seems to forget it was Eva that went through the abuse and she survived it - maybe she would have liked to have had some say in what happen to Nathan. Gideon's lack of trust in her as a strong woman is going to be a real problem for them in the future because Eva is strong & smart. I love the last snippet when she calls him a "caveman" that was spot on, happy for her.

 

As for Corinne, I keep wondering what Gideon said to her about his sudden interest in taking her to dinner and parties instead of Eva. Corinne would have had to ask why he wasn't taking Eva? I mean the last time Corinne seen Gideon he was chasing after Eva out the door. I can't see Gideon confiding in Corinne, but he couldn't have just called her up and said "Let's start hanging out - a lot."

 

I'm starting to think that Gideon may have even called Corinne to show up at the Crossfire looking all mused up that day Eva saw her. We don't know what time Nathan showed up and Gideon may have even put his plan into motion that quickly - this is a man who remembers all of Eva's makeup products by brand and shades - that gives him super powers in my book. That would play along with Corinne taking so long to open the door - keeping the plan going of making Eva think there was something more going on between her and Gideon.  Corrine might have even called Gideon while Eva was waiting. But, if all that is true how much of what Gideon was planning to do to Nathan did he tell Corinne? Surely not that he intended to kill him. But, he had to tell her something???

 

Hi Mrsmajessick,

I agree with you completely. I think every single one of them; Monica, Stanton and Gideon all deserve one huge B**** slap. Every single one of them could have picked up the phone and warned Eva about Nathan and the potential danger. Yet none of them did. It will be interesting to see if Sylvia will deal with this in the next book.

As far as Gideon is concerned, I don’t think that Gideon said anything to Corinne or asked for her help in leading Eva astray. I think that would just be cruel. Gideon is well aware of Corinne’s feelings for him and I don’t think that he would do anything to give her hope that they might get back together again.

[jo_mama]

   

Hi Jo-mama,

Is Corinne manipulative or is she just pathetic and desperate? My thought is that she is desperate. I think that Corinne has quickly realized that she cannot manipulate Gideon. She tried it once and lost the engagement. I don't really believe that she would be foolish enough to think that she could somehow manipulate him now. What do you think?

why must i choose between desperate and manipulative?  i think one breeds the other.  manipulation in itself is not evil or bad - it's a skill - a skill she was trying to use at the dinner where she spoke to gideon all evening and in her attempts to drive eva away.

 

makes me think he must be even more gorgeous than i can imagine, cause i wouldn't put up with a lot of his crap.  billions of dollars and a pretty face won't make me sign up for spontenous dream raping.  maybe eva should mention that part to corinne - might cure that desperation thing for her.

[GiGi]

Hi Jo-mama,

If Corinne was honest with herself, she would have realized that she never really had Gideon and I think that somewhere deep down inside she knew that. Gideon could never spend an entire evening with her. He never spent long amounts of time with her either. Gideon kept coming up with excuses as to why he couldn’t spend a weekend with her. No sooner had the weekend started than Gideon was out of there. As a woman, there is no blessed loving way that Corinne didn’t notice that! I am absolutely sure that her radar was up. When she tried in a last ditch attempt to keep Gideon she broke up with him and Gideon DIDN’T chase her. I know that as a woman that must have crushed her! Absolutely everything she feared came true!

As for the word “manipulation†the Oxford Concise Dictionary states; that manipulation manage person property, etc. by dexterous esp. unfair use of influence etc.†I would ask you how is that not negative? If Corinne was trying to manipulate Eva and the entire Gideon situation at the advocacy dinner, then I state that she was trying to manipulate the situation to her advantage by trying to cast doubt in Eva’s mind about her relationship with Gideon and thereby making room for Corinne to try and move in to Gideon’s world. That is a negative act. She was hoping for a second chance with Gideon by trying to cast doubt in their relationship and possibly break them up.

[LN Cronan]

Hi LNCronan,

I read your posting and I don’t assume that Nathan was dirt poor. I think that his cash was quickly running out and maybe his dwindling finances, in addition to his mental states were causes of his mental unraveling. There wasn’t anything written other than the fact that Nathan’s father had completely disowned him some time ago. He may have been living off of whatever payoff his father had given him or any trust that he may have had access to. Who knows? I don’t think that the hotel that Nathan was staying at was a nice hotel per se, but probably just an average two/three star rating hotel, but you do have a point. Even the most economical hotel would probably be far more expensive because it was located in New York.

I guess the key question here is; how did Nathan wind up on Gideon’s radar? We the readers don’t have anything to go on here. Sylvia didn’t leave any clues. I suspect that maybe there might be something mentioned in the next book.

Your points about Gideon possibly having Nathan tailed could be a possibility but who knows? I would have found it hard to believe that someone placing a suspect under surveillance could watch that person beat another human being to a pulp? That would make them an accessory to a crime. I wonder if Sylvia will elaborate on this in her next book.

Another question I have is; why would Gideon lure Nathan to New York, to murder him? That makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. It would behoove Gideon to travel to Podunk Hicksville to commit the murder. Why would he lure someone into his own backyard where he would obviously be under suspicion? I guess the argument could be made that he would have more control in a setting that he was comfortable with. It just seems like an awfully big risk.

 

Good morning, GiGi

 

I've always been in the camp that Gideon didn't kill for revenge. So whatever Gideon had been planning to do to ruin Nathan was something else, but it changed after Nathan nearly killed Cary. Gideon realized Eva's life was in danger and he hastily threw together a plan to stop Nathan as soon as possible. Gideon set his plan in motion during the day Monday. Thursday night, Nathan was dead. It's a case of justifiable homicide to save a life (though taking the law into his own hands was wrong) rather than revenge killing.

 

You raise a great point, "How did Nathan wind up on Gideon's radar"  that is, end up in New York. You're absolutely right though that it makes no sense for Gideon to lure Nathan to New York in order to do to him whatever Gideon had in mind (Plan Number One). It'd make more sense for Gideon to ruin Nathan from afar. And in any case, Gideon wouldn't ever want Nathan in the same city as Eva. I think Nathan contacted Gideon first. Gideon had last-minute cancelled an outside lunch appointment the day he had Nathan in his office, the day he hit Nathan. My guess is Nathan showed up unannounced at the Crossfire.

 

Nathan having access to a trust fund is intriguing. If he came from an old wealthy family, some grandparent or other relative may have set up a trust fund which his father would control while Nathan was a minor but over which Nathan would gain control as an adult. And probably blew through. But I can't see him getting a cent from his father's own money. "Disowned" means cutting off in every way possible.

 

Re: the hotel where Nathan stayed, Gideon owned it and so I can't see it being anything other than a luxury property. Every property of Gideon's we've seen in the story: his hotels, casinos, nightclubs, his flagship office tower, are all luxurious. Someone else was footing the bill to keep Nathan at that hotel and under close watch. On this point, I'm in camp Stanton/Gideon. Maybe together they arranged it and Stanton put a show of paying for it, looking like he was throwing Nathan a crumb as he (Stanton) was thinking over Nathan's demands. I think as far as handling the extortion, Stanton and Gideon cooperated with one another. Did Monica know is the question I have here.

 

Given how Gideon has Eva tailed (er, stalked - let's be honest; Gideon goes too far), he must have had people watching Nathan 24/7. So how did Nathan get as far into the beating of Cary as he did? It wasn't one blow with the bat: he fractured Cary's skull, broke ribs and broke one of his arms. I hope Eva gets a full explanation of how Nathan ended up in New York, and how Gideon in his obsessive-control way dealt with the situation starting with Plan One to ruin Nathan, then shifting to Plan Two to kill him. And Eva deserves to know all about Plan Three -- Gideon's plan to go back to her as soon as he could. How long did he expect Eva to "wait!" and what was he doing about it on his side. 

[mrsmajessick]

Hello GiGi, LN Cronan & jo_mama,

 

I still come back to the possibility that Nathan ended up in NY after seeing a gossip rag of Eva & Gideon. If Eva's dad could hear about it in California than I'm sure Nathan heard about it wherever he was. I find it suspect that Nathan wanted to leave the country with the money he was hoping to get from Gideon and/or Stanton? I think he was in trouble and was looking to get away quickly. I think he is a sicko who continued to rape women long after Eva was gone - and (this makes my stomach turn) maybe little girls. I think it may come out in EWY that he was a suspect in several other rapes and the cops were getting close. We have no reason to believe he would stop with Eva.

 

I think Nathan became enrage when he saw Eva living a good life and happy and from his thinking he probably assumed she was doing it with his father's money. I think he intended to get money from who ever was willing to give it Gideon/Stanton, then kill Eva and fleed the country.

 

I don't think Gideon was trailing Nathan until after the attack on Cary. I think he was keeping a close eye on Eva, but I think the night he was meeting with his security he was putting them on alert to watch Nathan and keep an even closer eye on Eva. After all, if Gideon's plan to kill Nathan was to be successful he would need to know where Nathan is. Imagine him showing up at Nathan's hotel with knife in hand and Nathan is out getting a hot dog at a street vendor - talk about a buzz kill -lol.

 

As for Corinne, come on, no woman is going to spend time with a man she wants, knowing he has a girlfriend and not ask if he and his girlfriend are having problems, since he's now spending so much time with her. Corinne would want to know if her plan was working. She would want to "be there" for Gideon during his heartbreak. She would milk that role for all it's worth. It makes no sense to me that they wouldn't have had some kind of conversation regarding the status of his relationship with Eva. Even if it were a short one something along the lines of "we're on a break, but I just want to be friends with you." I'm not so sure if Gideon is as honest as others think. I don't think he lies out right, but lying through omission is just as bad. Gideon withholds a lot, he is the king of withholding and in keeping secrets they become lies.

 

Bare with me here, is it not a lie the pretense of Gideon getting back together with Corinne? And since he didn't tell Eva it was fake knowing that she believes something was happening between those two, and not just that, but the woman was heart broken and he still didn't say, "look angel it's all a ruse." All he said was "trust me" and "be patient" - that's lying by omission and he's wrong for that. And, he most certainly lied to Eva every time she begged him to talk to her about what was going on by his dismissive attitude or keeping his mouth closed. Was he ever going to tell her about Nathan? Really the only time I see Gideon being upfront and honest with Eva is when she gives him no choice. For example his F-pad had she not discovered the toys I doubt he would have told her that's where he takes "dates." Then there's the ex-fiance, once again Eva had to confront him about it and then he told the truth. He introduced Corinne as an "old friend" big difference. Nor did he tell Eva he left the advocacy dinner to pick up Corinne until she confronted him with that information. Then when Eva was on the phone with him and she asked him if Nathan showed him pictures of her and he admitted it, but only after she demanded an answer. He lied to her about meeting her at Dr. Petersen. He knew he would be off killing Nathan and had no intention of meeting her at the doctor's office, he wanted her to go so she would have an alibi for the evening. He lied to her about beathing Nathan up in his office when he said, "I had to take a late meeting" and refusing to explain further. So in that sense, Gideon is a little manipulative. Eva has to confront him everytime to get the truth. And sometime she has to repeatedly confront him and still get nothing - his dreams, his shares in Vidal Records, his problems with his family, his rift with Dr. Lucas - he never told Eva outright how it started, just what he did to get revenge on the doctor.

 

If I had to confront my husband at every turn to get him to tell me the truth or even talk to me about what is happening in his life we would have been long divorced. Sorry I love the "ideal" of Gideon but if I saw him in real life knowing what I know about him - I'd run as fast as my Nike's could go in the opposite direction. I understand he has issues and that keeps him closed off, but he'll never overcome those issues if he chooses to stay tight lipped. I hope he trust Eva enough in EWY to open the flood gates and deal with himself with her support.

This post has been promoted to an article

[AMC]

Hello GiGi, LN Cronan & jo_mama,

 

I still come back to the possibility that Nathan ended up in NY after seeing a gossip rag of Eva & Gideon. If Eva's dad could hear about it in California than I'm sure Nathan heard about it wherever he was. I find it suspect that Nathan wanted to leave the country with the money he was hoping to get from Gideon and/or Stanton? I think he was in trouble and was looking to get away quickly. I think he is a sicko who continued to rape women long after Eva was gone - and (this makes my stomach turn) maybe little girls. I think it may come out in EWY that he was a suspect in several other rapes and the cops were getting close. We have no reason to believe he would stop with Eva.

 

I think Nathan became enrage when he saw Eva living a good life and happy and from his thinking he probably assumed she was doing it with his father's money. I think he intended to get money from who ever was willing to give it Gideon/Stanton, then kill Eva and fleed the country.

 

I don't think Gideon was trailing Nathan until after the attack on Cary. I think he was keeping a close eye on Eva, but I think the night he was meeting with his security he was putting them on alert to watch Nathan and keep an even closer eye on Eva. After all, if Gideon's plan to kill Nathan was to be successful he would need to know where Nathan is. Imagine him showing up at Nathan's hotel with knife in hand and Nathan is out getting a hot dog at a street vendor - talk about a buzz kill -lol.

 

As for Corinne, come on, no woman is going to spend time with a man she wants, knowing he has a girlfriend and not ask if he and his girlfriend are having problems, since he's now spending so much time with her. Corinne would want to know if her plan was working. She would want to "be there" for Gideon during his heartbreak. She would milk that role for all it's worth. It makes no sense to me that they wouldn't have had some kind of conversation regarding the status of his relationship with Eva. Even if it were a short one something along the lines of "we're on a break, but I just want to be friends with you." I'm not so sure if Gideon is as honest as others think. I don't think he lies out right, but lying through omission is just as bad. Gideon withholds a lot, he is the king of withholding and in keeping secrets they become lies.

 

Bare with me here, is it not a lie the pretense of Gideon getting back together with Corinne? And since he didn't tell Eva it was fake knowing that she believes something was happening between those two, and not just that, but the woman was heart broken and he still didn't say, "look angel it's all a ruse." All he said was "trust me" and "be patient" - that's lying by omission and he's wrong for that. And, he most certainly lied to Eva every time she begged him to talk to her about what was going on by his dismissive attitude or keeping his mouth closed. Was he ever going to tell her about Nathan? Really the only time I see Gideon being upfront and honest with Eva is when she gives him no choice. For example his F-pad had she not discovered the toys I doubt he would have told her that's where he takes "dates." Then there's the ex-fiance, once again Eva had to confront him about it and then he told the truth. He introduced Corinne as an "old friend" big difference. Nor did he tell Eva he left the advocacy dinner to pick up Corinne until she confronted him with that information. Then when Eva was on the phone with him and she asked him if Nathan showed him pictures of her and he admitted it, but only after she demanded an answer. He lied to her about meeting her at Dr. Petersen. He knew he would be off killing Nathan and had no intention of meeting her at the doctor's office, he wanted her to go so she would have an alibi for the evening. He lied to her about beathing Nathan up in his office when he said, "I had to take a late meeting" and refusing to explain further. So in that sense, Gideon is a little manipulative. Eva has to confront him everytime to get the truth. And sometime she has to repeatedly confront him and still get nothing - his dreams, his shares in Vidal Records, his problems with his family, his rift with Dr. Lucas - he never told Eva outright how it started, just what he did to get revenge on the doctor.

 

If I had to confront my husband at every turn to get him to tell me the truth or even talk to me about what is happening in his life we would have been long divorced. Sorry I love the "ideal" of Gideon but if I saw him in real life knowing what I know about him - I'd run as fast as my Nike's could go in the opposite direction. I understand he has issues and that keeps him closed off, but he'll never overcome those issues if he chooses to stay tight lipped. I hope he trust Eva enough in EWY to open the flood gates and deal with himself with her support.

Wow and Wow, lady!  Great points!

[LN Cronan]

Fantastic observations, mrsmajessick, so much so I promoted the post to article status on the site.

 

One thing to add -- I think Gideon is at last making real progress to overcome his worst issue, an inability to trust other people. The catalyst that is changing his life is his love for Eva. All along, he's fought harder for her than he has for anything else in his life. But in the early stages of that fight, he had been trying to run the relationship like he ran the rest of his life -- an existing rigid (and seriously dysfunctional) pattern of trying to control everything, a pattern that includes keeping secrets.

 

He repeatedly found out the hard way keeping secrets kept driving a wedge between Eva and him. The only times he'd open up (and only partially) was out of desperation to get her to come back each time she ran away after something secret came out anyway (the #$&! pad, his violent nightmares, the ex-fiance he'd never mentioned.)

 

Then he really found out the hard way she meant what she said when she told him he had the power to push her away. She ended the relationship. She refused to trust him anymore (as well she should have, because he shattered her trust.) And she had no intention of waiting for him either. After a few weeks of licking her wounds, she began moving on with a life that no longer included him. 

 

Toward the end of Reflected, he finally made a huge leap of faith by opening up to her about details of the abuse he suffered as a child. But he did so only because he finally understood his old way of (mis)handling things meant he really had lost her this time, maybe lost her forever. So he began to open up in order to try to save any hope he ever had of getting her to be with him again. It worked. She promised to wait for him to go back to her.

 

He's got a lot more work to do on his trust issues, though, and it'll be a joy to see him do so in Entwined. Because he's learned that each time he does take the risk of really trusting her, her love for him grows deeper.

[LN Cronan]

One of many dopeslaps Gideon needs is for spending all his free time with Corrine after he left Eva. How is Corrine NOT supposed to get all her hopes up? Even if he maintained he wanted nothing more than friendship. His words said one thing but his actions said another.

 

In chapter 22 of Bared To You, Eva points out to him "You feel guilty because she still loves you," and he responds, "I do, yes." He knows he's the reason her marriage failed - that she married on the rebound but never dropped the torch she held for Gideon. The divorce in progress is painful. He's trying to be a friend, and he feels it's a cruel time to cut her off.

 

But Eva pointed out to Gideon he's not Corrine's only friend and Corrine needs to find someone more appropriate to lean on during her time of crisis. "You wanna nip her hopes in the bud real quick. Stow the guilt, Gideon, and start weaning her off."

 

How could he not see it's crazy for Corrine to go running to him as a friend to lean on during her divorce. The reason her marriage fell apart is because she's in love with the "friend." She doesn't want friendship, she wants to marry Gideon. Duh, Gideon, hello!! And he's got to know that Corrine is going to be shattered when he does go back to Eva.

 

I think we all agree that Gideon mishandled the whole cover story of leaving Eva. But as far as Corrine goes, he ought to have stuck just to the two times he was out in public with her in order to make sure the press got pictures of them all cozy together out on the town. Proceeding to then spend weeks of his free time with her? He's guilty of seriously leading her on.

[Chiara]

It's not the first time he's used people without a care for their feelings - remember how he shamelessly led on Dr. Lucas' wife for the purpose of his own revenge, without an apparent thought for the woman's feelings. I think he will stop at nothing to get to his aim - and this perseverance also encompasses Eva now and his protection of her.

[jo_mama]

is it possible that he was incredibly straight with corinne?  she didn't argue with eva that he wasn't in love with eva, just that he was spending all his time with her (corinne).  he might have made it clear to corinne that he was still with eva, but that he wanted to spend some time with her.  she's desperate enough for him to accomidate, probably knowing full well that if she didn't that magdalene would be more than wiling to jump in.  pathetic women that they are.  a couple leaks to the tabloids via his pr team about rekindling old flames and he's all good.

[MegansCoils]

Hi everyone, Here is a quick question I wanted to throw out. Given all of the information presented in the two books, do you think we have enough information to figure out who abused Gideon and who killed Nathan?

I'm pretty sure so. If we read, reread, dissect every sentence and so on. Usually you can get the hint from the other books when everything comes together. I have tangible copies of the last two books but now I'm thinking about reading it on my Kindle so I don't have to wait for Amazon to send it to me or go to the bookstore!

[LN Cronan]

is it possible that he was incredibly straight with corinne?  she didn't argue with eva that he wasn't in love with eva, just that he was spending all his time with her (corinne).  he might have made it clear to corinne that he was still with eva, but that he wanted to spend some time with her.  she's desperate enough for him to accomidate, probably knowing full well that if she didn't that magdalene would be more than wiling to jump in.  pathetic women that they are.  a couple leaks to the tabloids via his pr team about rekindling old flames and he's all good.

 

No way would he be straight with Corrine. He wouldn't open up and trust her even when he was engaged to her all those years ago. And a lot of the time he isn't straight with Eva either. Where the story now stands at the end of Reflected, everything is riding on his cover story he left Eva for Corrine. My guess is he's lying by omission to Corrine, refusing to talk about Eva and letting Corrine jump to her own conclusion he's finished with Eva forever. I'm sure he's continuing to tell Corrine he just wants to be friends -- however, his actions don't match his words. By spending all of his free time with her, he's lying by omission he wants more.

 

Basically, for her own protection, he tricked Eva into thinking he'd left her. He's using Corrine by tricking her into thinking he's rebuilding their old relationship.

 

During the fight between Corrine and Eva, Corrine tried to stay on the offensive the whole time. She kept trying to land punches designed to make Eva jealous of her. Trying to trick her into thinking Gideon was sleeping with her. Pointing out truthfully she knew for a fact Gideon was not sleeping with Eva, because Gideon was now spending all of his free time with her (Corrine.) In fact, Corrine twice tried using as a weapon the fact Gideon was spending all his time with her (and thus not seeing Eva at all.) 

 

And Corrine turned evil when Eva got to the point of why she was there on her doorstep. Eva demanded to know what Corrine had been doing at the Crossfire that day she came out looking like she'd just had a nooner with Gideon. Bottom of page 311. Corrine's " ... smile was razor sharp. 'What do you think I was doing.'"

 

I love, love, love Eva's comeback "Not Gideon." You go, gurl! Eva then proceeded to accurately accuse Corrine of exactly what she had done. Gideon had warned Corrine Eva had jealousy issues. So Corrine had pulled a dirty trick that day in order to try to drive Eva crazy. Eva won the whole fight when Corrine gave herself away. "I saw the answer on her face. It was lightning quick, there and gone, but I saw it."

 

And that's when sweet Corrine finally lost her temper entirely, dropped an F-bomb and tried taking one last shot at Eva by again getting in the dig "I'm the one he's spending time with." Eva countered with pointing out that because Corrine was with Gideon so much, Corrine was seeing up close Gideon was hurting.

 

Eva finally walked away with the sassy parting shot "Have a nice day!" and Corrine was so mad she slammed her door. That sassiness was even better than Eva's usual practice of flipping people off. She flips men off (Gideon twice and Dr. Lucas once). But when dealing with rival, catty women, she gets in the last word. Like calling Magdalene pathetic when the two of them had their nasty fight in the ladies room in Bared to You. 

[LN Cronan]

Magdalene is pathetic. She was willing to sit around waiting, even if it took years, for Gideon to finish sowing his wild oats and decide to settle down. That he'd naturally settle down with her. Why? Because she wears her hair like Corrine? And Gideon's mother is best friends with Magdalene's mother? Magdalene was so desperate she even slept with Christopher. Why? Because she had to "get some" somehow, and she wasn't getting any from Gideon. Nor would she risk sleeping with Gideon, not until he was ready to commit.

 

Corrine is just sad. And desperate. She chased Gideon, landed him, but then seriously settled for less than a real relationship with a man who kept himself seriously closed off. Gideon claimed Corrine thought the fact they always had sex at the hotel was "romantic." Malarkey. It had to drive her crazy that Gideon would not "sleep" with her in the literal sense of the word. Even after she asked him to marry her, he still would not spend a whole night together. So she delivered an ultimatum by breaking off the engagement. When that didn't work, she settled for some other man on the rebound. Then when that fell apart, she began throwing herself at Gideon again. And rather than being happy for him having fallen in love with someone, she started playing dirty tricks on the woman he loved in order to drive her away. Where the story now stands, she's settling for scraps as a Friend Without Benefits.

 

And Gideon can be really dumb when it comes to women. Corrine has been holding a torch for almost a decade. Corrine even married someone else, but still she ultimately came back to Gideon. Magdalene was willing to wait years for Gideon, even though she wasn't the only woman he let himself be seen with socially by the tabloids and even though he was having casual sex with a lot of other women. And Gideon honestly thought that Eva would wait for him? Wait for however long it took him to go back to her? And that Eva would settle for whatever scraps he threw? Because Corrine and Magdalene both had?

 

Uh, no, Gideon. Eva meant it when she kicked you to the curb. Didn't matter that she was still in love with you. She refused to settle for how you were treating and especially how you were mistreating her. And she decided to move on with her life. It took everything you had to convince her to agree to wait. And the only reason she agreed was you made a serious effort to change your ways.

 

Even then, did you expect her to sit around for more weeks? For months, even years if that's what it took? Um, hello, out there is a rock star who's said in interviews he wants another shot with her. A guy she once wanted with all her heart and a guy you saw for yourself that a part of her still desires him physically. What were you expecting to happen when Brett's current concert tour wrapped up? That he wasn't going to keep trying to see Eva? Because you publicly dumped Eva for another woman, a woman you probably were going to end up marrying, so Eva was now free for the taking.

 

In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if Brett shows up in New York again as soon as his tour wraps up. And what if word gets out that "Golden Girl" is none other than the well-known young socialite Eva Trammel? Can you see Gideon privately squirming at gossip stories, maybe even pictures, linking Eva and Brett and claiming the two of them have reignited a relationship that used to be really hot? It would serve Gideon right for those tabloid stories and pictures "Gideon Cross and former fiance seen together again!"

[jo_mama]

No way would he be straight with Corrine. He wouldn't open up and trust her even when he was engaged to her all those years ago. And a lot of the time he isn't straight with Eva either. Where the story now stands at the end of Reflected, everything is riding on his cover story he left Eva for Corrine. My guess is he's lying by omission to Corrine, refusing to talk about Eva and letting Corrine jump to her own conclusion he's finished with Eva forever. I'm sure he's continuing to tell Corrine he just wants to be friends -- however, his actions don't match his words. By spending all of his free time with her, he's lying by omission he wants more.

 

Basically, for her own protection, he tricked Eva into thinking he'd left her. He's using Corrine by tricking her into thinking he's rebuilding their old relationship.

 

During the fight between Corrine and Eva, Corrine tried to stay on the offensive the whole time. She kept trying to land punches designed to make Eva jealous of her. Trying to trick her into thinking Gideon was sleeping with her. Pointing out truthfully she knew for a fact Gideon was not sleeping with Eva, because Gideon was now spending all of his free time with her (Corrine.) In fact, Corrine twice tried using as a weapon the fact Gideon was spending all his time with her (and thus not seeing Eva at all.) 

 

And Corrine turned evil when Eva got to the point of why she was there on her doorstep. Eva demanded to know what Corrine had been doing at the Crossfire that day she came out looking like she'd just had a nooner with Gideon. Bottom of page 311. Corrine's " ... smile was razor sharp. 'What do you think I was doing.'"

 

I love, love, love Eva's comeback "Not Gideon." You go, gurl! Eva then proceeded to accurately accuse Corrine of exactly what she had done. Gideon had warned Corrine Eva had jealousy issues. So Corrine had pulled a dirty trick that day in order to try to drive Eva crazy. Eva won the whole fight when Corrine gave herself away. "I saw the answer on her face. It was lightning quick, there and gone, but I saw it."

 

And that's when sweet Corrine finally lost her temper entirely, dropped an F-bomb and tried taking one last shot at Eva by again getting in the dig "I'm the one he's spending time with." Eva countered with pointing out that because Corrine was with Gideon so much, Corrine was seeing up close Gideon was hurting.

 

Eva finally walked away with the sassy parting shot "Have a nice day!" and Corrine was so mad she slammed her door. That sassiness was even better than Eva's usual practice of flipping people off. She flips men off (Gideon twice and Dr. Lucas once). But when dealing with rival, catty women, she gets in the last word. Like calling Magdalene pathetic when the two of them had their nasty fight in the ladies room in Bared to You. 

i think we'll have to agree to disagree on our conclusions.  i think gideon is an honest guy.  he's working desperately throughout reflected to get eva to trust him completely.  he's also not very 'chatty' when it's not about sex, so i can't imagine him offering corinne much more than a "don't worry about eva" or "eva is non of your business" line if she were to question him.  and when would she do all this questioning?  while he's at work and can easily avoid her calls?  when they are at events and he's bombarded with people bidding for his attention?  he might be spending his free time with corinne, but it's all spent in public so to attract attention.

 

corrine's behavior is evidence to me that she does not think gideon and eva are over.  if she thought she had him she wouldn't have to make eva jealous.  she's still playing games and trying to push eva out.

 

i think gideon's behavior is being overanalysed.  he's a man, and in such his motives are very simple.  he says he wants eva and all his actions are working to that end.  even nathan is easy - he wants eva and money, and he is working towards those goals.  it's the females of the story who are stirring the pot and causing friction (eva included).

[LN Cronan]

i think we'll have to agree to disagree on our conclusions.  i think gideon is an honest guy.  he's working desperately throughout reflected to get eva to trust him completely.  he's also not very 'chatty' when it's not about sex, so i can't imagine him offering corinne much more than a "don't worry about eva" or "eva is non of your business" line if she were to question him.  and when would she do all this questioning?  while he's at work and can easily avoid her calls?  when they are at events and he's bombarded with people bidding for his attention?  he might be spending his free time with corinne, but it's all spent in public so to attract attention.

 

corrine's behavior is evidence to me that she does not think gideon and eva are over.  if she thought she had him she wouldn't have to make eva jealous.  she's still playing games and trying to push eva out.

 

i think gideon's behavior is being overanalysed.  he's a man, and in such his motives are very simple.  he says he wants eva and all his actions are working to that end.  even nathan is easy - he wants eva and money, and he is working towards those goals.  it's the females of the story who are stirring the pot and causing friction (eva included).

 

I must say it's great to have a guy here in the thread to lend a guy's perspective to the books. Love it! You're sticking up for Gideon from a guy's point of view. I think the female fans sometimes stick up for Eva more than she deserves. She's also to blame for the fact the relationship was rocky from day one.

[GiGi]

Hi LNCronan, Mrsmajessick, Jo-mama,

I didn’t see it written that Gideon was all of his free time with Corinne. I think that Gideon spent the bare minimum amount of time to make his alibi plausible, but that’s it. I think that even a tiny scrap of affection to Corinne meant all systems go in her mind. Maybe she thinks that if she is more supportive of Gideon and what he is going through and is his biggest cheerleader than maybe he will turn his affections back toward her. At best Gideon was always aloof with Corinne and I think that’s what got to her. Could you imagine being in love with someone and wanting to spend all your time with them, hugging, kissing, etc. and then every time you try to spend time with your “paramour†it is over even before it has begun. As a woman, I know that it would devastate me and I think that Corinne felt the same way.

I have been saying that Magdalene was pathetic from the beginning but no one was on team GiGi. That’s ok, there is plenty of room over here ladies. I think that if I had one question for Magdalene I guess it would be; what on earth is so special about Corinne that you completely lost your identity in hopes of capturing a man and how on earth would you compete with Corinne if you didn’t have your own identity (you kept your hair long like Corinne, you were chaste, demure, etc.)? Who is the real Magdalene? It is obvious by this woman’s’ words and actions that she has serious self esteem issues. Ok, so I have more than one question. What does everyone think?

I think that Gideon is selectively dumb and arrogant. It is like you said LNCronan; women have been throwing themselves at Gideon for years and I think that there may have been a part of him that may have just expected that when he told Eva to “wait†that she would. Surprise, surprise, Eva is most likely the first woman who never “jumped up and obeyedâ€. Sigh! There is hope after all. :)

[jo_mama]

I must say it's great to have a guy here in the thread to lend a guy's perspective to the books. Love it! You're sticking up for Gideon from a guy's point of view. I think the female fans sometimes stick up for Eva more than she deserves. She's also to blame for the fact the relationship was rocky from day one.

ha!  sorry - i'm not a man, but i am married to one!  it's like nature for a woman to read into everything a man does and analyze it to death (have you read/seen 'he's just not that into you'?), especially a woman, like eva, with deep insecurity issues.  gideon is so typically male!  he does not understand that taking a woman up on her offer of sex might be leading her on.  he doesn't understand why a hotel room isn't romantic.  and he doesn't get why eva wants to know everything.  we women want to know everything, right?  lol - that's why we're here.

 

i'm not really standing up for gideon.  he's easy to love while reading the book because we are in eva's head, and eva loves gideon.  too much, in fact.  we're driven to hate him and suddenly back in love with him again - the power of writing!  but he is flaaaaawed.  not the man for me by any measure, but i understand the man and the woman who loves him.

[LN Cronan]

jo_mama, your profile says Gender: male. LOL!!! Gotta update that. Yeesh, how could a web site that is devoted to fans of romance novels, a literary genre aimed at women, have "male" as the default setting for a new profile. Maybe because the site designers were guys? OK, laughing over.

 

GiGi, you raise a great point about Gideon supposedly spending all his free time with Corrine. It is written down on page 311. But the person making that claim is Corrine herself. She said it during her argument with Eva. So I now realize I need to take that with a serious grain of salt, because it's a direct quote from Corrine, who has every reason to lie.

 

But certainly, Gideon is spending time with her. There are three instances that Eva found out about for certain (dinner at Tableau One, the vodka publicity mixer at the &%$! pad hotel, and Gideon emerging from the Crossfire with Corrine sometime shortly after 5 p.m. one afternoon.) There have to be more times that Eva doesn't know about. And it has to be true that Corrine is the only woman that Gideon is seeing right now, if it is true that Corrine is his cover story.

 

After we're done with the current round of hashing Corrine, I'd love to get into hashing Magdalene with you, GiGi. Especially intriguing is the phone call she made to Eva the morning after Eva met Corrine. There's so much that can be read into every last thing Magdalene said to Eva, and about what Eva thought regarding Magdalene's motive (or motives plural). Then there's the whole set of interaction among the three women the night before. Material very rich for speculation.

[GiGi]

 

ha!  sorry - i'm not a man, but i am married to one!  it's like nature for a woman to read into everything a man does and analyze it to death (have you read/seen 'he's just not that into you'?), especially a woman, like eva, with deep insecurity issues.  gideon is so typically male!  he does not understand that taking a woman up on her offer of sex might be leading her on.  he doesn't understand why a hotel room isn't romantic.  and he doesn't get why eva wants to know everything.  we women want to know everything, right?  lol - that's why we're here.

 

i'm not really standing up for gideon.  he's easy to love while reading the book because we are in eva's head, and eva loves gideon.  too much, in fact.  we're driven to hate him and suddenly back in love with him again - the power of writing!  but he is flaaaaawed.  not the man for me by any measure, but i understand the man and the woman who loves him.

 

Hi Jo-mama,

I am confused by your posting. Your gender listed is male and you said that you are female. I think that maybe people may be confusing you as being male because that is how you listed yourself. If you look under your name it says "male". I just thought you should know.

[GiGi]

Hi LNCronan,

I was wondering how many more weeks do we have to wait until the release of the next book and how many characters do we have left to dissect? Maybe we should space this out a little and make it last? LOL(Is that the term for laughing?)! :)

[GiGi]

Hi LNCronan,

I think that if Gideon spent any time at all with Corinne, it was strictly at public functions where the two of them could be photographed together, thereby bolstering his alibi. If Gideon couldn’t spend any extended alone time with Corinne, sexual or otherwise, I don’t believe that he was going to start now, especially when he doesn’t have those feelings. :)

[LN Cronan]

LOL stands for Laugh Out Loud (or Laughing Out Loud).

 

Oh there's lots of material, I think, to tide us all over until June 4. Not only analyzing to pieces every last character, major and minor. But also combing through both books to try to figure out what are the red herrings (designed to deflect the reader) and what are the foreshadowings of what's to come. And of course Sylvia, bless her, keeps feeding us appetizers on a regular basis: the snippets.

 

I'd love it if she were able to have some more time in her busy schedule to jump in answers to spoiler questions.

 

Of the three times we do know he was with Corrine, number one was an intimate dinner for two at a friend's restaurant. Number two, the biggie, was at a very public social function. Number three was for all intents and purposes one-on-one, her being at his office and leaving together in his car. Discounting his assistant Scott and his back-up driver, Raul, it was just the two of them leaving.

 

Eva couldn't help but notice Corrine lives almost around the corner from Gideon. I'm wondering whether that's an important tidbit to the plot of Entwined. Did Gideon spend time at Corrine's apartment? Certainly, it's conveniently located to make it easy for him to spend free time. And if he is trying to fool the police, it'd be smart of him to be going in and out of there. Not having papparazzi hanging outside to snap a picture. But certainly having the building's doormen and downstairs desk people able to say, if it came down to them being asked, that yes, she has Gideon over to her place.

 

I suspect the whole reason he had Corrine over to his office that afternoon was so that the building security and the staff in his office could say, if it came down to anyone asking, that he's had her swing by to see him at work too. Especially because he used to have Eva come up to his office regularly.

 

What I really want to know is where did Gideon go after the vodka party. The very short article online said the party was from 6-9 p.m. Having an alibi of only three hours would be very high risk, because an argument might be raised Nathan died sometime after 9 p.m. Determining time of death is not an exact science. Unless a death is actually witnessed, time of death is at best an educated guestimate. To be safe -- and Gideon was very methodical -- he should have had an alibi for the entire night. 

 

When the cops asked him where he'd been that night, he didn't want to offer his alibi in front of Eva. But he did agree to talk to them while he walked them downstairs. "I was at a work-related function" is something he could easily say in front of Eva and her father. "I spent the whole night with Corrine Giroux" is something he couldn't say.

 

Here's a theory: what if right after the party was over, Gideon went back to Corrine's apartment with her? Bear with me here. Maybe he said something like "we didn't get a chance to really talk at the party, why don't we go to your place. I really want to hear about what's going on with the divorce, how you're holding up, how you're getting settled back in here in New York. I know things are rough. How are you doing?" And proceed to sit there listening to her talk until the wee hours, then walking home.