For several weeks, Lila nests with Imma, receives regular visits from Tierney, and reconnects with her brothers. Her sleep improves as she and Tiernan grow more intimate, though he remains uninterested in the baby. Chiara still refuses direct contact but sends gifts through Enzo. Lila vents to Enzo about their mother’s silence; he explains that Chiara dropped the subject of Lila marrying Angelo after speaking with Tiernan and that Tiernan is working on finding her attacker but facing obstacles.

When Imma insists that Lila attend Chiara’s birthday dinner, Lila resists. Tiernan observes the exchange and tells Lila that she’s maturing through her rebellion. He then reveals that he has already made plans to attend the dinner himself since it will be an opportunity to discuss plans for the Bratva attacks. Angry that he made plans involving her family without telling her, Lila demands that he share his social calendar. Tiernan praises her assertiveness but refuses to take orders. Before leaving, he taunts her by caressing her until she almost climaxes and then stopping.

Tiernan drives a silent, resentful Lila to her parents’ home for the birthday dinner. At the dinner, Tiernan feels pride and possessive desire as he admires Lila’s beauty. Sam Brennan, Tiernan’s informant, reports that Alex Rasputin has returned to the US from Russia; he’s currently in Las Vegas, Nevada, and likely won’t attempt retaliation for his father’s death for four to five weeks. Tiernan, Achilles, and Sam discuss their plans for a strike against the Bratva; although Achilles thinks they should take Enzo, Tiernan insists that Enzo stay to protect Lila, saying that they’ll take Luca, the eldest Ferrante brother, instead. They have a tactical advantage because Alex doesn’t think anyone knows he has returned to the US. Tiernan, however, worries that Alex will deduce his affection for Lila and that this will endanger her.

At dinner, Lila sits on Tiernan’s lap and teases him throughout the meal; when Chiara criticizes her behavior, Lila answers with a sexually explicit taunt that shocks the family. To change the subject, Vello uses coded language to explain to the US president (who is one of the dinner guests) that the house is bugged. The president explains that he won’t get on the wrong side of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), who are trying to catch Vello for his many criminal activities, but offers a coded hint as to where the bugs are located. Meanwhile, Tiernan has been driven to distraction by Lila’s provocative teasing. He drags her into a private room, where she demands that he never weaponize sex and always share his plans; he agrees but requires that she not leave him unsatisfied and never try to follow him anywhere unless she knows for sure that the location is safe. Tiernan also agrees to be faithful. Inwardly, he accepts that he’s never going to let Lila go.

Lila expresses her desire to have sex with him. They go to her childhood bedroom and have sex, Tiernan’s first time having vaginal intercourse. They return to the dinner, where it’s obvious that they were just having sex. Lila’s family is shocked by her newly bold nature.

Thirteen years ago, three months after escaping Siberia, Tiernan and Tierney reunite with their father, Tyrone, and older brother, Fintan, in London. The family moves to the US, and Tiernan bonds deeply with Fintan, who fills the void left by their emotionally absent father: He teaches the twins English, Irish culture, and practical skills. Tiernan adopts his brother’s mannerisms so completely that no one would guess they grew up apart.

Unlike Tiernan, Tierney doesn’t embrace her Irish heritage and reinvents herself as an American socialite. Over the next three years, Tiernan discovers the full extent of his trauma: He can only experience sex in the cold, transactional way Igor taught him and forms no meaningful relationships. At 18, feeling like his life is devoid of joy, he decides to end it. One night, on the rooftop of Fermanagh’s, the family pub, he prepares to shoot himself. Fintan appears and stops him, arguing that Tiernan can’t let Igor win by dying before avenging himself and their family. Fintan urges that Tiernan stay alive to pursue revenge. Tiernan agrees but comes up with a private plan: He will kill Igor and then live for exactly one year afterward. If nothing comes along to give his life purpose by the end of that year, he will take his own life.

This information contextualizes the numbered countdown on Tiernan’s chapters; these are the days remaining before his planned suicide.

Two weeks after the birthday dinner, Tiernan takes Lila to one of his gambling clubs. While waiting, she goes upstairs and discovers him talking with Becky, the woman she caught him having sex with right after their marriage. Even though she observes Tiernan turning down Becky’s overtures, she’s still enraged. She storms out.

Outside, in front of a crowd, Tiernan lays his expensive coat over a puddle so that Lila won’t ruin her shoes. He then kneels in front of everyone to clear wool from her heel. She confronts him about Becky, and he apologizes, explaining that he had wanted Becky because he couldn’t touch Lila at the time. He offers to fire every woman working for him, insisting that there’s no one else he desires. Satisfied, Lila tells him not to fire anyone but asks him to ensure the women are treated well.

As summer transitions to fall and Lila’s pregnancy progresses, she and Tiernan deepen their relationship and spend more time together. He shows her a “safe house” in an isolated area, explaining that if he and all their family members are dead, she must come to this location, find a hidden phone number, and call it three times to be smuggled out of the country. Later, Tiernan reveals that he’s leaving for Vegas within days to confront the Russians. Lila confesses that she doesn’t want him to die. He coldly tells her that he’s a villain and that their relationship hasn’t changed that fact. Heartbroken, Lila exits the car and tells him to enjoy planning his own funeral.

Still upset, Lila stops in the pub before returning to her apartment. She receives a text from Tiernan about a scheduled cochlear implant consultation but dismisses it as an attempt to placate her. At her apartment door, she finds an envelope addressed to her. Inside is a blackmail letter stating that the writer knows her baby isn’t Tiernan’s and demanding $150,000 in cash, threatening to kill both Lila and the baby if she tells Tiernan or refuses to comply.

Lila realizes that the person has intimate knowledge of their situation and access to their heavily guarded building. She considers asking Enzo for the money and handling it herself but worries that the threat won’t end after one payment. Torn between the danger of keeping the secret and the certainty that revealing it will end her marriage, she resolves to fight to keep both her baby and her husband.

Three days later, Lila and Tiernan visit Dr. Castile, a hearing specialist. Throughout the appointment, Lila is distracted by thoughts of the blackmail letter and the realization that she’s in love with Tiernan. Dr. Castile confirms that she’s an excellent candidate for a cochlear implant but explains that the surgery must wait until after the baby is born. Tiernan’s grim reaction to the mention of the baby reaffirms to Lila that he still doesn’t feel any connection to the child. She resolves to tell him about the blackmail after he returns from Vegas.

In the car, Tiernan is confused by her somber mood, saying that he thought she would be delighted by the prospect of being able to hear music. She questions him about his trip to Vegas, and he admits that he’s leaving the following evening, accompanied by Achilles and Luca.

On the morning of his departure, Tiernan asks Tierney, his father, and Fintan to watch over Lila while he’s gone. Tiernan doesn’t want to kill Alex, but he knows that he’s in danger for as long as Alex is alive. When Tiernan visits his sister’s apartment, he discovers a note with the name and number of Tom Rothwell, a federal agent. Confronting his sister, he learns that she has been communicating with the FBI: Tierney is exhausted by their criminal lifestyle and hoping to destroy Achilles and secure immunity for herself and Tiernan. She explains that the deal in which Achilles has the right to choose her husband leaves her feeling vulnerable and powerless. She concedes that she won’t take any action until Tiernan comes back from Vegas since she knows he needs the support of the Italians.

Furious, Tiernan warns her that if her actions endanger Lila, he will kill her himself. Tiernan instructs Tierney to take care of Lila while he’s gone and that he will see what can be done about Achilles.

Tiernan then visits a sex shop and purchases vibrators for Lila so that she can sleep while he is away. When he presents them, she tells him that she doesn’t fall asleep because of orgasms but because she feels safe in his arms. They have passionate sex, and afterward, she gives him a portrait she drew of him. Lila confesses that she thinks she loves him and begs him not to go. In response, he produces the cross pendant she gave him from his nightstand drawer, puts it on, kisses her forehead, and leaves.

In the Nevada desert, Tiernan’s forces prepare to ambush Alex Rasputin’s convoy as the Russian forces drive to their secret weapons storehouse. Achilles and Tiernan are stationed in the same van, while Luca is in a different one. While waiting, Achilles reveals that he has known since Lila was 12 that she’s deaf and doesn’t have an intellectual disability. He confides that he knew marriage to Tiernan would help free Lila from their mother’s manipulation and control; he also sensed the attraction between them. Tiernan begins to ask if Achilles will consider releasing Tierney from their deal, but Achilles refuses to consider this.

When the convoy arrives, a fierce firefight erupts. Tiernan and Achilles fight their way to the van where Alex is believed to be hidden; Tiernan tosses a grenade inside and takes cover. After the explosion, Tiernan investigates and finds Alex alive beneath a pile of bodies, injured but armed. They take Alex captive; he’s the sole Bratva survivor, though eight of their own men die. En route to the Bratva weapons warehouse, Tiernan feels uneasy, sensing that the operation was too easy. They use Alex as a hostage to gain entry to the warehouse, and then Tiernan takes him inside and ties him to a chair. A mixture of Irish and Italian gang members goes in search of Alex’s half-brothers, who are hiding in the warehouse.

While Tiernan is in Nevada, Tierney accompanies Lila to her OB-GYN appointment. The two of them are driving to the appointment when another vehicle runs a red light and crashes violently into their car. Lila is seriously injured and fades out of consciousness as Tierney frantically tries to help her.