Last chapter, Detective Eva went around New York to abruptly and inexplicably solve 95% of all unanswered questions in this book. She butted heads with Dr. Lucas, telling him off for hiding the true results of Gideon’s childhood examination that would have proved he’d been sexually assaulted. She bitched out Gideon’s mom for not believing Gideon when he was a kid.
Detective Eva also confronted Corinne about the time she came out of the Crossfire looking like she’d just had sex. However, she did not solve the mystery of why da fuq Gideon had lipstick on his collar that day.
To prove he loves her, Gideon told Eva that he loves her (woah). Also, he tells her about the terrible things that happened to him when he was a kid.
Chapter 19
Now it’s time to yell at Gideon’s dick of a brother Christopher! Eva sets up a lunch meeting because this is the appropriate venue for a confrontation about the past, and also a proven way to get Gideon’s attention.
But then as soon as he shows up for lunch, Eva realizes there’s a flaw in her plan. Christopher may be a total asshat now, but he was just a kid when everything went down.
Instead, Eva pretends that she hates Gideon and just wants someone to bitch about him with. She figures out that Christopher’s animosity towards his brother is mainly about jealousy and sibling rivalry, but you know, on a very wealthy scale. Full of competing companies and whatnot. Boooring.
Afterwards, Gideon calls Eva to his office, and she points out how mature they are getting to be! Which is the sign of true maturity.
“Do you realize that your reaction to my lunch with Christopher is very calm? And so is my reaction to you spending time with Corinne? We’re both reacting totally different from the way we would have just a month ago.”
[I’m reacting differently too! When this book first started, I probably would have been grateful that they weren’t fighting about nothing. But now I have been burned too many times by this series to trust this “look how much we’ve grown” nonsense! If it were true there wouldn’t be more fucking books in this series!]
He was different. He smiled, and there was something unique about that warm curving of his lips. “We trust each other, Eva. It feels good, doesn’t it?”
“Trusting you doesn’t mean I’m any less baffled by what’s going on between us. Why are we hiding in this office?”
“Plausible deniability.”
That’s just the thing you want the person you’re supposed to trust to say!
Eva chooses not to comment on this because Gideon distracts her with the L word again. Instead of being like, “So it’s pretty apparent you murdered Nathan,” Eva’s like, “OMG U LUV ME!”
To further distract Eva from the seemingly biggest mystery of the book, he gives her an answer to a much smaller question. One night, way back when in this book, Eva had a nightmare, and when she woke up Gideon was just returning to her apartment, fully dressed, and she was like WHERE WAS HE! Turns out he was getting rid of his “fuck pad” as they so lovingly call it. Eva is all hearts and butterflies after this revelation.
Eva heads home to hang out with Cary because we haven’t been grossed out by him in awhile. She sees one of his fuck buddies leaving (dressed as a sexy nurse and everything! “Complete with exposed garters and fishnets.”), and he talks about how hard it is for him because he wants to fuck Tatiana AND Trey. I give no fucks, Cary.
Really, the only reason I’m even mentioning that useless bit of “plot” is that Eva says this to Cary:
“I feel like chilling with you. I want to sprawl on the couch, and eat pizza with chopsticks and Chinese food with my fingers.”
“You’re a rebel, baby girl.”
Slow down there, Eva! Next you’ll be saying you want to eat soup with a fork or chocolate with a spatula! Though I can’t imagine Eva will find any success with this, I wish her and her crazy, rebellious ways the best of luck.
Skip ahead to the next night at Eva’s Krav Maga class where the real action of this chapter takes place. When the final question of this book (or at least the final question I can remember) is answered in the dumbest way possible. No, really.
My steps faltered when I saw one of the detectives who’d come to my apartment. Detective Shelley Graves wasn’t dressed for work, though.
Though this sounds like it could be the beginning of a porno, it’s actually the beginning of a Big Reveal.
Before we get to that, though, the timeline of the book is specified. This in itself is a more shocking revelation than anything the detective is going to say. Eva tells Detective Graves she’s been taking Krav Maga here for “a month.” Eva started this class at about the same exact time she started seeing Gideon. How can this only be a month? Why is time treated is the most bizarre way in these series?
So this is the part we’re actually supposed to be shocked about:
“I told myself that on the off chance I happened to run into you off-duty someday, I’d talk to you. I figured the odds of that were nil. And lo and behold, here you are. It must be a sign.”
[…]
“I think your boyfriend killed Nathan Barker.”
I stiffened, my breath catching audibly.
“I’ll never be able to prove it,” she said grimly. “He’s too smart. Too thorough. The whole thing was precisely premeditated. The moment Gideon Cross came to the decision to kill Nathan Barker, he had his ducks in a row.”
There is way too much to quote at once here, but Graves literally just reveals every detail of Nathan’s murder that Gideon clearly committed but that she just can’t prove! She also reveals that Cary was attacked by none other than Nathan!
Man, I forgot that was even another mystery in this book. Shows how little I care about Cary. Whoops!
After the attack, which Graves surmised was to “intimidate and threaten” Gideon because he wasn’t giving into Nathan’s blackmail demands, Gideon realized that Nathan was too dangerous to let live.
“At that point, I think Cross perceived you to be in mortal danger. And you know what? He was right. I’ve seen the evidence we collected from Barker’s room— photos , detailed notes of your daily schedule, news clippings . . . even some of your garbage. Usually when we find that sort of thing, it’s too late.”
The all-knowing Graves further explains that Nathan didn’t like Gideon and Eva’s relationship, so Gideon backed off from Eva to keep her safe. The detective (who I’ve just realized is a stand-in for Sylvia Day herself!) explains it better than me, though.
“Cross cut you off, started seeing an old flame. That served two purposes— it made Barker relax, and it wiped out Cross’s motive. Why would he kill a man over a woman he’d dumped? He set that up pretty well— he didn’t tell you. You strengthened the lie with your honest reactions.”
IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING? What kind of fucking police work is this? Furthermore, what kind of plot device is this??
Then Graves reveals Gideon has a perfect alibi. He threw a party, the fire alarm went off, and in the confusion Gideon went to go kill Nathan. He returned, and everyone was like, “Oh yeah, of course we saw Gideon there! I just can’t remember the exact time because, you know, chaos!”
Also, guess who owned the hotel Nathan was staying at?
Take Our PollYup, it’s Gideon! And it just so happens the security cameras were being upgraded when Nathan was murdered, so nothing was caught on tape. What a strange coincidence! Graves is like, “Gideon obvs went and stabbed Nathan right at his room in like five seconds flat. Just can’t prove it damn it! I hate when this happens :((((”
Omg but is what Graves is saying true?!?! DID GIDEON REALLY KILL NATHAN!??!
Obviously he fucking did, but Graves can’t be asked to pursue this shizzy.
“So here’s the thing: I could keep digging and spending time on this case while there are others on my desk. But what’s the point? Cross isn’t a danger to the public. [Debatable] My partner will tell you it’s never okay to take the law into your own hands. And for the most part, I’m on the same page. But Nathan Barker was going to kill you. Maybe not next week. Maybe not next year. But someday.”
Graves further explains (because she won’t shut the fuck up) that she’s burned her notes on the case, and everyone (including Nathan’s own father) think he’s a piece of shit and don’t miss him, so the law doesn’t give a fuck anymore either.
Look, I totally agree with all this. Who cares that Nathan is dead? I truly believe this fictional world is better off! My problem is that I don’t buy any of this scene with Graves. It was all bull shit, but then to top it all off her reason for revealing all this is that she wants Gideon and Eva to get back together.
“You broke up with him on the Saturday after we interrupted your dinner, didn’t you?” She nodded when I did. “He was in the station then, giving a statement. He stepped out of the room, but I could see him through the window in the door. The only time I’ve seen pain like that is when I’m notifying next of kin. To be honest, that’s why I’m telling you this now— so you can go back to him.”
No. All the nos in the world. Sylvia Day had NO other way to get Gideon and Eva back together even though they are pretty much already back together? I get that Gideon doesn’t want to tell Eva the whole truth while the investigation is going on for many reasons. But I would have believed it if he’d told Eva at some point later or if Detective Eva had figured enough of it out on her own to accept what had happened and ask Gideon for the whole truth once he was in the clear.
In the competition to be the Worst Detective in Reflected in You, I think it’s clear who the winner is.
Eva goes to Gideon’s apartment, and I shit you not, there is only like two pages left and this is what happens:
Dark desolation shadowed Gideon’s beautiful eyes. He knew that I knew. The truth hung heavy in the air between us, a near-tangible thing.
[…]
“Where do we go from here?”
I held him. “Wherever this takes us. Together.”
They don’t even talk about what happened! I am 100% fine with Eva being grateful and relieved about this. Nathan was going to kill her. Nathan tormented her for years. Nathan was AWFUL. I’m fine with Eva being fine about this, grateful for it even. But shouldn’t she have expressed…surprise? Some concern?
Matt was saying to me the other day that she should have been disturbed or at least contemplative of what it means that Gideon could kill for her. I’m sure he’ll explain his point of view more in depth tomorrow, but my point is that all I needed was just something a little more conflicted than this reaction. Even for just a second! Like. All of this information was so overwhelming, and nothing. She reacted more strongly to Gideon going out to dinner with Corinne than this!
I believe she would be relieved, happy and grateful that he is dead. But I feel like it warrants a conversation. Or even an acknowledgement that she she doesn’t feel any apprehension that Gideon killed someone for her.
My real question, though, is how is there more of this series? This feels like all the conclusion we really need in a way. This weirdly only makes me more curious about what happens next. Will the plot be more than Eva and Gideon arguing about nothing? Most likely not, but I’m willing to find out.