At Chez Rouge, John arranges a romantic setting for Marlena. Marlena soon arrives and is greeted by Maggie, then spots John across the room and figures out that he’s the one who summoned her over to the restaurant. Marlena approaches John and confronts him about luring her there. He just wants to put the business concerning the docks behind them and claims that it wasn’t his intention to upset or disappoint her. “Why do you suddenly care what I think of you?” she questions. John invites her to at least sit down and have a drink. He admits that he doesn’t know why her opinion of him matters, it just does. Marlena would be happy to hear this if it meant that he was having memories resurface. He refers to her as smart and classy and admits that he feels bad when he disappoints her. “That’s my way of apologizing,” he adds.
John presents Marlena with a box and encourages her to open it, joking how it’s not going to bite her. “There’s more than one way to be bitten, you know,” she notes. “Did you get that out of a fortune cookie?” he retorts. She opens the box to an exquisite diamond necklace. He assumes that all is forgiven, but she states otherwise. She reminds him that material gifts don’t matter to her. “What woman doesn’t love diamonds?” questions John. “This woman, especially when they are being used as a bribe,” affirms Marlena. “It’s a gift. A bribe is giving someone something when you expect something in return,” clarifies John. Marlena brings up the customs agent who was delaying and impounding the Kiriakis shipments. John denies any involvement and assumes that she’s not keeping it. “I read somewhere that diamonds are a girl’s best friend,” he says. “My best friend has always been my husband,” she counters. She affirms that he can’t buy her forgiveness the same way he bought the customs agent. John wonders what’s wrong with spending money in order to make money. Marlena refers to it as immoral and illegal and insists that there are much better ways to spend his money, like feeding the hungry. John implores her to admit that she wants the necklace, but she stresses that her husband would never dream of trying to buy her affection or forgiveness.
Marlena walks over to Maggie and hands her the box. Maggie gasps and claims that she can’t possibly accept it. Marlena encourages her to sell it and give the money to charity, then walks out. Maggie walks over to John and assumes that his date didn’t go the way he had hoped. She advises him to sell the necklace and give the money to a worthy cause if he wants to impress her. John doesn’t want to impress her anymore and refers to Marlena as too high maintenance, which Maggie says isn’t true.
In Bo’s hospital room, Abe assures Bo that there are officers out looking for Hope on their own time. Bo thanks him and answers his phone to Steve, who urges Bo not to bring the cops in on the situation until he arrives. Bo concocts a story to Abe about Steve telling him to stay in bed, and get better. Abe proceeds to check on his people who are looking for Hope. Bo demurs that they should call the cops off. Abe is confused, since Bo was worried about her. Bo claims he was overreacting and panicked after his dream and blames it on the drugs. Abe says they have searched everywhere, which Lexie confirms. He is suspicious of Bo’s sudden calmness. Lexie encourages him to relax, noting that his blood pressure and heart rate are still elevated.
Back at the Salem Inn Suite, Steph arrives. Steve tells her to keep an eye on a sleeping Kayla while he goes to see Uncle Bo. Steph suspects that it has something to do with Ava and urges him to spill, otherwise she’ll wake Kayla up. Steve implores her not to, since Kayla experienced some bad cramping earlier and he had to call the doctor. He urges her to just trust him and keep Kayla calm and quiet.
Steph approaches her mom when she wakes up and mentions the doctor visit which Steve told her about. Kayla says everything’s fine, she just needs to take it easy. Steph encourages her to go into the bedroom and get some real sleep. Afterwards, Max knocks on the door and wonders what’s going on with her dad’s phone call. Steph makes him promise not to tell if she reveals the story regarding her mom and dad.
Steph fills him in on the Ava situation off camera. She urges him not to tell Steve that she told him. He assures her that he’ll keep mum and that she can trust him. Max deduces that Ava is probably watching Steph, Steve, and Kayla, so he offers to snoop around. Steph informs him that Steve already talked to Abe unofficially and he can’t get any leads on Ava. She further reveals that Ava’s dad is some kind of a crime boss. Max offers to do anything to help, even if it’s just being there with her. He hugs her and assures her that he cares a lot about her. He stutters as he is about to say those three little words, but declares that he feels very strongly for her. This makes Stephanie laugh so hard that tears come out of her eyes. She wonders if he’s afraid to say “the word” for fear that she won’t say it back. Max plays dumb. She implores him to say it, but he continues to crack jokes. “And just for the record, I’m not afraid to say it,” she declares. She then says, “love,” He kisses her in response, which Kayla witnesses.
An uncomfortable Kayla apologizes for interrupting and says she just couldn’t sleep. Max proceeds to leave, but Kayla offers to go back into the bedroom. Steph implores her mom to stay. Kayla delicately brings up how Max was adopted by the Bradys. Steph mentions how the sorority sisters have brought up the related factor. Kayla just wants them to be able to deal with the comments and misunderstandings. Max jokes how he’ll just takes somebody’s arm and twist it if anyone says anything. Kayla then worries over Steve being gone, thinking he’d be back by now. Steph reveals that Steve’s visiting Bo. Kayla admits that she’s kind of happy not to have Steve hovering over her all of the time. Max states that Steve just wants her to be safe. “Why wouldn’t I be?” questions a suspicious Kayla. Steph covers and claims that Max was referring to the baby.
