At Alberto’s engagement party in the Visconti Grand Hotel ballroom, Angelo observes gaudy décor and considers leaving. Benny appears and jokes this is not Alberto’s first engagement party. Irritated, Angelo descends to the beach, venting hatred for the Coast, the Cove Clan, and Rory, while admitting she fits his preferences. He fixates on the no-touching rule, fearing he will not leave if he crosses it. Spotting a silhouette on the rocks, Angelo reflexively reaches for a weapon he no longer carries. He identifies Rory and resents the lack of concern for her safety.

Angelo approaches and asks if she is still sore from the morning. Rory replies she is not sore enough. Angelo threatens a harder spanking next time. Rory insists there cannot be a next time. Angelo notices her curly hair and reacts when she says Alberto disliked it. He puts his jacket around her and lights a cigarette for her. Angelo asks for a sin. Rory confesses her mother died of cancer and made Rory promise to marry only for love. Rory reveals guilt over signing Alberto’s contract and fear Alberto will kill her and take the Preserve anyway.

Angelo and Rory sit as music drifts down. He tells Rory a story about his mother dying from staged poisoning at a fair, admitting he let the killer go—unaware what they had done—only to then find her dead in a restroom. The poison caused a heart attack; his father died three days later. Angelo explains he could not find the killer because locals would not speak to a Visconti. He left because his mother was gone and he tried to be good, though he keeps vices like monthly violence through Sinners Anonymous.

Angelo came back to find and kill his mother’s killer. Rory connects his deal with Alberto to this hunt. Angelo says if Rory helps, he will leave before crossing engaging her sexually again, which would have consequences. He asks her to promise they find the killer before her wedding because seeing her marry would be torture. Rory walks back to the party. Tor appears from behind a tree and warns Angelo not to pursue Rory, telling him not to force Tor to choose between Angelo and his father.

On All Saints Day, Rory stands among Viscontis at the joint grave of Angelo’s parents as rain begins. Rory’s ribs ache from when Alberto pushed her down the stairs days earlier for wearing her hair curly. Alberto orders Rory closer and guides her under an umbrella to the grave, then leaves to comfort a sobbing woman. Angelo takes the umbrella. Rory wears sunglasses to hide a scrape on her cheek from Alberto’s ring. Angelo also wears sunglasses and jokes it lets him check her out undetected.

Angelo tells Rory to ask him for a sin. She complies. Angelo states he killed his father, contradicting his earlier story. Shocked, Rory presses for explanation. He reveals his father ordered his mother’s murder; Angelo killed both his father and the other woman involved. Angelo says his worst sin is not telling his brothers. Rory asks why he tells her. Angelo says she should know the family she is marrying into, calling the Cove Clan untrustworthy. He kisses Rory’s cheek and says she is disposable to Alberto. They argue over whether he is truly a cheat or a liar, as many say, and she worries that she’ll grow to hate him if he stays too long.

On Wednesday, Angelo rides in silence with Rory to Devil’s Dip for their recurring visit. He reflects he set down a boundary between them after talking to Tor by telling Rory his darkest secret and adding lies about being a cheat to seal the deal—he wants her to dislike him. While Rory visits her father, Angelo answers business emails to reconnect with his London life. When Rory returns, Angelo orders her to list degenerates in Devil’s Dip matching the killer’s description. Rory produces a Devil’s Dip map she uses to help lost tourists and marks suspects.

Rory grabs Angelo’s lapel and suggests staying for atonement in the church. As she’s committed no sins, though, Angelo won’t spank her. Rory steals his car key and begins to key his car. Angelo seizes her wrist, presses her on the hood, and removes her trousers and underwear. Rory protests about being seen, but Angelo gags her and removes his belt.

Rory panics, blaming lust for crossing the line. Angelo’s proximity intensifies her craving for touch. Angelo spanks her with the belt numerous times, while Rory is aroused by the prospect of being seen. They assert how attracted they are to each other, and he spanks her until she orgasms.

Rory collapses and says they are going to hell. Angelo gently pulls her clothing back up, kisses her hair, and says he is already in hell. They return to the car. Rain begins as Angelo drives, turning on Rory’s heated seat. Angelo directs Rory to open the glove box. Rory grins at the silver gun she finds inside.

Angelo reviews contracts at the childhood home to coordinate London meetings, setting a deadline to leave before the wedding. Gabe reports house issues and works on their father’s Pontiac Firebird in the rain. Angelo notes Gabe has been destroying their father’s possessions. Tor arrives and delivers a manila envelope from Alberto. Rory arrives; Angelo reacts possessively to her short skirt. Tor says he is dropping Rory at a wedding dress fitting. Angelo opens the envelope and sees documents demonstrating that Alberto is trying to approve development plans on the Devil’s Preserve, despite Angelo’s ownership of the land and his agreement not to with Rory. Angelo doesn’t tell Rory this, fearing Alberto would kill her if she knew. Tor, who saw the document, warns Angelo not to act rashly.

Angelo learns Rory went to the hangar. He finds Rory balancing on his jet wing. Angelo picking her up and carrying her off the wing, he offers to show Rory inside the jet. Inside the cockpit, Rory expertly identifies equipment and reveals she had a place at pilot school and a conditional offer to Northwestern Aviation Academy but did not sit the final exam, blaming jerks at Devil’s Coast Academy. Angelo notices her skirt exposing lash marks. He uses a pen to lift her skirt and push her panties aside, but he reaffirms they cannot touch.

Tor bangs on the jet, demanding they hurry. Angelo exits first to hide his erection; Rory follows. After they leave, Angelo returns for his phone and finds Rory left her panties on the center stick with a note saying it was to add to his collection.

Alone, Rory lotions her sore backside, reflecting on growing recklessness as the wedding approaches. Alberto bursts in drunk and leers, calling her Signora Visconti. Rory refuses his demand to sit on his lap. Alberto makes sexually threatening comments before throwing her to the floor and taunting her, affirming her suspicion that their contract never mattered. He admits he has no power over the Devil’s Preserve land and made the deal simply because he wanted her; however, he does not need her, and he threatens to kill her and her father. He punches Rory in the face, splitting her lip. Greta enters calmly and asks to prepare Rory for dinner. Alberto leaves. Greta selects lipstick to hide the cut.

At dinner, tension is thick. Dante asks where others are. Alberto says family avoids him. Tor arrives late, joking he also avoided coming. Angelo arrives, and the group bickers, with Angelo eventually threatening a server to stop giving Alberto alcohol. Alberto grabs Rory’s thigh and announces he wants sex. Angelo orders Alberto to bed and threatens to put him to sleep.

Rory flees down the beach. Panicking that the plan has been in vain, she feels betrayed Angelo knew Alberto had no control over Devil’s Preserve and did not tell her. Angelo approaches, and Rory accuses Angelo of lying to her. Angelo explains how telling her would have led to her and her father’s deaths and promises never to give the Preserve. Rory asks Angelo to stay in town, but he refuses.

Rory runs back. Alberto stands naked at the top of the stairs, ordering her to his bedroom. Angelo blocks Rory and orders her not to move. Rory demands to know if Angelo is staying. Angelo says he cannot. Rory ascends, describing what Alberto intends, provoking Angelo. Angelo warns he will not be responsible for what he does if she takes another step. Rory enters Alberto’s bedroom and finds him passed out. Alberto’s Rolls Royce explodes outside with Angelo standing near it, looking up at her. Rory concludes Angelo is not a knight but a monster.

After midnight, Amelia and Rory sit rigidly in a secure suite at the Visconti Grand Hotel and says she wants to flee to Colorado, revealing she sleeps with a gun. Rory watches the Cove brothers on the terrace. Amelia says the family has too many enemies to identify the culprit easily. Donatello enters and reports the gate guard was shot dead and the fuse box was ripped out, shutting down cameras. Dante accuses Angelo of the car bombing, but Tor and Rory create an alibi to divert suspicion. A guard announces Raphael and Angelo have arrived.

Rafe enters with Angelo, joking confidently. Rafe says he knows who did the vandalism because someone called the hotline confessing; he traced it to the pool cleaner, Emilio. Dante demands to hear the call. Rafe refuses. After some argument, Angelo convinces Rory to come to Devil’s Cove with them, as it’s time to visit her father.

They go to the car in tense silence. Angelo insults Rory with claims she “whored [her]self out” (238), citing rumors and her going upstairs to Alberto. Rory challenges this and shows evidence of Alberto’s physical abuse to explain her acquiescent behavior. Angelo is enraged and asks why she did not tell him. Rory asks whether this would have convinced him to stay. Angelo proposes taking Rory and her father away and offers to buy land. Rory refuses to leave the Preserve and decides to show him why.

Angelo enters Devil’s Preserve with Rory, mentally restraining himself from leaving to kill Alberto immediately. Rory stops Angelo from stepping into quicksand, explaining the lake creates waterlogged mud patches. Angelo takes Rory’s hand, consciously deciding to abandon the no-touching rule. Rory guides Angelo to the lake. She texts someone and admits nervousness about bringing a man to meet her father. She removes her engagement ring and pockets it. At the dock, Melissa, the caregiver, approaches and is startled by Angelo’s presence. Rory explains Melissa was hired by Alberto. Chester appears, and Angelo introduces himself as David to hide his identity. Rory calls him a friend from her aviation course. Chester jokes Angelo is too old to be Rory’s boyfriend, then welcomes him and suggests a boat ride.

On the boat, Chester offers boiled candies and explains he replaced swearing with bird-friendly curses because of Rory. Angelo watches Rory come alive with her father and feels jealous. Rory grows quiet on return. Melissa hovers. Chester suggests tea and cookies at the cabin. Melissa tries to redirect, but Rory insists. At the log cabin, two nurses open the door and greet Chester. One recognizes Rory with discomfort. Chester invites them in.

Suddenly, Chester scowls and asks Rory if she is lost. Melissa tells Chester Rory is his daughter. Chester panics, denies having a daughter, and orders everyone out, threatening to call the police. Rory runs into the trees. Angelo chases and catches her near the church road as she hyperventilates. Angelo coaches her to breathe while holding her face. Rory explains environmental dementia: Chester recognizes her only in the familiar forest environment; inside the house or outside the Preserve, his long-term memory fails. Rory states this is why the Preserve cannot be destroyed and why they cannot leave.

Rory rides in tense silence as Angelo drives. He brakes hard near Alberto’s mansion gates and states Rory is not going back. Rory feels relief, but they argue about what they’ll do about Alberto to keep her and her father safe.

Angelo tells Rory to retrieve the gun from the glove box. He removes the magazine and places the gun on the console. He unclips Rory’s seat belt and pulls her onto his lap to teach her how to use it. They both become aroused.

Rory asks why Angelo gave her the gun. He instructs Rory to shoot Alberto if he touches her, then run and call him. Angelo says he will put his number in Rory’s phone and asks if she trusts him, which she does. Rory takes Angelo’s thumb into her mouth. He deepens the gesture and says Rory is his favorite sin.