Yes, we’re reading Captivated By You, the fourth book in Sylvia Day’s Crossfire series! Long-time blog readers might remember that I did not actually read the third book in the series. This has not posed a problem thus far. [Ariel says: I have ever so graciously allowed Matt to return to the series with me. I mean, obviously I was desperate to cover each and every delightful (and not at all tedious) chapter on my own.]

Today’s chapter is from Eva’s perspective, because somehow we just started reading two books in completely different genres with narration jumping back and forth between the two main characters in a relationship. Trends gonna trend! [Ariel says: This was completely unplanned. What a beautiful disaster accident!] 

Captivated By You Chapter 2

Eva calls Gideon because it’s only been a few hours since their last directionless fight.

Something in his voice didn’t hit me right. “I can call back later.”
“Eva.” The authoritative bite when he said my name had my toes flexing in my nude sling-back Louboutins. “Say what you need.”

Surprisingly, this conversation isn’t a fight about their relationship! Totally mixing things up, this conversation has Eva immediately succumb to his authority, and then reintroduces the subplot implying that Megumi has been kidnapped by the Russian mob. Only one of those is really doing the mixing up, but boy does it mix things up.

Eva asks if Gideon can break some rules and give her Megumi’s address (btw, this is apparently the first time Gideon learns about Megumi’s existence, and yet doesn’t flip shit that his wife has friends who are not him. Is this series better than Fifty Shades again? I can’t keep track anymore) because she’s been out sick all week and isn’t returning her calls.

“It’s just not like her to not get in touch with me, especially when she’s calling in sick to work every day. She’s a chatty girl, you know?”
“No,” he drawled. “I have no idea.”
If it had been any other guy who’d said that, I would think he was being sarcastic. But not Gideon. I didn’t think he’d ever really talked with women in any meaningful way. He was too often clueless when interacting with me, as if his social development hadn’t quite been well rounded when it came to dealing with the opposite sex.

I like how the book is trying to say that Gideon is a desirable man with a complicated past, but he basically just sounds like The Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon. [Ariel says: Oh my god YES! Also, I feel like we’ve been comparing everyone to Sheldon recently. I think that should give these writers pause because it’s definitely not what they’re going for, especially in this case.]

Arguably still more charismatic than Jamie Dornan’s Christian Grey, though.

Gideon tells Eva to use Raúl, his personal private detective-type, which she’s a little uncomfortable about.

[I]t made me feel as if our relationship were unbalanced in his favor. While I didn’t believe he would ever hold that over me, I didn’t think he’d see me as equal to him, either, and that was really important to me.

Evidence to the contrary: Their entire relationship.

Anyway, you were probably wondering when their conversation would turn into an incoherent fight again.

“I want either myself, Angus, or Raúl with you when you go see her.”
“And that wouldn’t be awkward at all.”
“Don’t throw me that ‘chicks before dicks’ line, Eva. You need to give me something here.”

After the phone call, the executive chairman, Christine Field, stops by to congratulate Eva on her engagement. The book reminds us how batshit insane it is.

Telling her I had been with Waters Field & Leaman longer than I’d been with Gideon, when I had been employed there only a couple of months, would open up speculation I didn’t want floating around.

To clarify, this is probably the only plausible subplot so far. The batshit insane part is that this entire series has all taken place in only a couple months. Eva’s probably got stuff that’s been in her fridge for more time than has passed since Gideon murdered a dude two books ago. [Ariel says: That was so last week! Murder shmurder. Brett Klein has a magic penis, let’s focus on that] 

Eva reflects on the fight she had with Gideon that morning.

Something important had shifted between us that morning. I felt as if a core column of trust had been shaken.
Did he know that? Did he understand how big a problem that was?

Does Eva understand what a big problem Gideon is? I feel like we’re not seeing the forest for the trees, here. I’m not sure Eva knows what a tree looks like.

Yes, of course I have a gif for that. I’m a goddamn professional.

Eva gets a call from her mom, flipping out about Eva being married. For those of you having trouble telling this book’s characters apart, or telling them apart from their Fifty Shades analogues, Eva’s mom is the nuts one who tracked her movements through her phone. Eva’s mom is basically also this book’s Christian Grey.

No mother should find out on the Internet that her daughter is getting married!”
I stared at my monitor blankly, my heart rate kicking up. “What? Where on the Internet?”
“Take your pick! Page Six, HuffPost…”

A very effective way to explain that something is all over the place is to start with the least-familiar examples.

As you might imagine, conflicts happen! Eva’s mom wants to talk with Eva about wedding planning! Eva wants to talk with her dad about her engagement so he hears it from her first! I want to talk about how wasn’t their engagement secret and why does Eva not find it strange that it suddenly isn’t?

[Ariel says: It’s not the engagement that’s secret, it’s that they got married in secret. They decided they’ll just be like, “Ah yes, we’re only engaged” but then they’re going to tell Cary (and apparently Brett) that they’re actually already married. Eva doesn’t want to deny her mom the pleasure of wedding planning, so she can’t tell her the truth.] 

As for Eva’s dad, we get this gem of an understatment.

I was torn between doing what I was paid to do— work— and making sure my dad heard about the engagement from me. […] my dad had been in a funk since he’d messed around with my mom and I was worried about him. He wasn’t the kind of guy to take sleeping with a married woman lightly, even one he was in love with.

Eva only has time to shoot him a text before she has to go to a meeting, and hopes it’s enough.

Question of the Day! What will the over-the-top consequences be when we inevitably discover it’s not enough?