In the present, Tierney wakes up in a hospital room in New York. Lila explains that Tierney was shot in the head in Prague, two weeks earlier. The bullet fractured her skull, and Tiernan arranged for her to be flown to New York for care. With only garbled memories of the attack and recalling that Achilles had been sent to kill her, Tierney assumes that he was the one who shot her. She asks why Tiernan brought her back to the US, given the danger that Vello Ferrante (who wants her dead) poses. Lila begins to explain that he is no longer a threat, but Tierney loses consciousness before she can elaborate.

Tierney drifts in and out of consciousness for four more days. Tiernan remains evasive about why Don Vello is no longer a threat. She learns that Achilles is in New York and (still believing Achilles was the one who shot her) is confused that Tiernan doesn’t seem to be angry with him. Tiernan also makes a cryptic comment about their father, Tyrone, being held captive by the Ferrante family. 

Tierney worries about the severity of her injuries and how long her recovery will take. The trauma from her time in the Siberian camp is also resurfacing. One day, she awakens to find Achilles in her room. Achilles insists he was not the one who shot her and prompts her to remember the events in Prague. She realizes that there was a second man in the apartment and that the other man was the one who shot her. Achilles explains that Vello hired Tristan Hale to kill her, not believing Achilles would go through with the job. Tristan escaped from the apartment because Achilles prioritized helping Tierney. 

Achilles explains that he is not going to marry Katya and that he wants to rebuild a relationship with Tierney. He reveals that he had a confrontation with his father and beat him. Tierney objects to there being any chance of she and Achilles trusting one another, but Achilles tells her, “by this time next year, we’ll be married” (238).

Tierney continues to be flooded with repressed memories of the horrific abuse she endured as a child in the Siberian camp. The trauma overwhelms her, and she sinks into a deep depression, losing her will to live and refusing to speak to anyone. Though Tiernan and Lila visit daily, she remains unresponsive. Achilles is the only person she communicates with, lashing out with insults to drive him away.

One day, Tierney overhears an argument between Achilles and Tiernan. Achilles insists on taking Tierney away to a place where she can properly recover, claiming he is the only one who can bring her back from her despair. He threatens to kidnap her if necessary, and Tiernan reluctantly agrees to let Achilles take her.

Achilles takes Tierney from the hospital and drives to a secluded cabin by the ocean. He carries her inside, where she immediately falls asleep. She later wakes from a nightmare of being gang-raped at the work camp. In the morning, she struggles with disorientation and exhaustion. She realizes that Achilles must be feeding and bathing her but is too exhausted to care.

For the next two weeks, Achilles tenderly and patiently cares for Tierney, feeding her, bathing her, and reading to her. Three weeks after arriving at the cabin, Tierney finally breaks her silence. She asks where they are, and Achilles tells her that they are in Maryland. She walks out into a rainstorm and toward the ocean, reflecting on her traumatic life. Back at the cabin, Achilles tries to remove her wet clothes. The physical contact triggers a violent reaction, and she attacks him while screaming. He allows her to vent her rage, which culminates in her smashing furniture and plates. Achilles watches calmly, remarking that she is finally healing. Although she demands to go home, he defers, encouraging her to eat.

Achilles drives Tierney back to New York. Although he wants to keep her with him, he knows returning her to her family is the right thing to do. He accepts that he has caused her immense pain and that she will forgive him on her own terms. When they arrive at Tiernan and Lila’s house, Tierney tells Achilles that he is dead to her and that he should never contact her again.

Two weeks later, Tierney feels smothered by Tiernan and Lila’s overprotective care. Achilles attempts to visit daily, but she refuses to see him. She has also been contemplating the assassination attempt and is confused because the shot should not have missed. She wonders if Tristan was purposefully trying to wound her without killing her. 

One evening, Tierney, feeling restless, texts Achilles and demands he bring her alcohol. He agrees, on the condition that she have a drink with him. When he arrives, she tentatively thanks him for taking care of her. When she sees him with his nephew, Nero, Tierney is pained by how loving he is with the child. As they drink, Achilles reveals that he is no longer his father’s successor. He declares his love for Tierney and states that he will announce their engagement as soon as she says the word.

Overwhelmed, Tierney admits she is scared to love him. She tells him that she needs freedom and autonomy within their relationship and will need him to prove that he has changed. She tells him the story of how her uterus was surgically removed after injuries she sustained after being repeatedly raped. Achilles responds that surrogacy and adoption remain options, which intrigues her. Tierney admits that she did not want him to be injured when she set the fire and tried to die by suicide: She believed he would arrive much later and that it would be too late for him to attempt to save her. When Achilles asks why she lied and claimed that she wanted him to get hurt, Tierney explains that Luca threatened to kill her if she did not end the relationship.

Achilles is furious. Although Tierney pleads with him not kill Luca, he insists that Luca will pay. She explains why she attempted to die by suicide in the first place: “I thought if I died in a fire, you’d eventually move on. You’d know I always loved you” (267). They vow their love for one another. Achilles demands the names of the men who abused her in the camp, vowing to hunt them down. Tierney also asks why her father is being held captive at the Ferrante house. Achilles explains that Tyrone was spying on his children and relaying information to Vello. Achilles has been torturing Tyrone but has delayed killing him so that Tierney could witness it.

Achilles rushes to the apartment Luca shares with his wife, Sofia. He notices a suspicious closeness between Sofia and Jeremie (a member of the Bratva who frequently works for Luca). Achilles orders Luca to come with him and drives to a secluded wooded area. There, he confronts Luca about threatening Tierney. Unrepentant, Luca states he was only following their father’s orders. To punish him, Achilles shoots Luca in the toes, shoulder, and foot in succession; each time, Luca shows no pain or reaction. Achilles then beats his brother, warns him to never interfere with Tierney again, and abandons him in the woods.

A flashback reveals that two-and-a-half years earlier, Achilles began suffocating Tierney with constant surveillance. To defy him, she arranges a sexual encounter with a man named Tucker Reid but ends up finding the experience unsatisfying. 

Three days later, Achilles takes Tierney to a warehouse where Tucker is tied to a chair, severely beaten. When Achilles sees the bruises on Tierney’s neck from where Tucker choked her during sex, he becomes enraged and kills Tucker in front of her. He warns her that he will murder any man who touches her, declaring that if he cannot have her, no one will.

Tierney is invited to attend a Ferrante family dinner alongside Tiernan and Lila. On the way, she questions Tiernan about shifts in the Ferrante family dynamic since she was shot. Tiernan explains that he and Achilles jointly attacked Vello in retaliation for him hiring Hale to assassinate her. Vello’s condition has declined significantly, and Luca and Enzo have seized control. The two brothers decided to demote Achilles since his emotions about Tierney make him too volatile, but they are no longer listening to their father. Since Vello never made a decision about his successor, Luca and Enzo plan to “split the pie the way they see fit and appoint the don on their own terms” (286). 

At the dinner, Tierney is consumed with jealousy when she sees Achilles speaking with Katya Rasputin. The family, however, announces that Katya and Enzo are now engaged, cementing a political alliance between the Bratva and the Ferrantes. When an argument erupts between Luca and Jeremie, Tierney pulls Enzo aside to speak with him privately. She is confused because she has evidence that Enzo is gay. Enzo argues that he is confused and unsure about his sexuality, but defends the decision to marry Katya, explaining that “I’ll give her free rein and the option to take a lover” (297). Enzo believes that agreeing to the marriage will increase his status; Luca will inherit Vello’s role as the head of the crime family, but he aspires to be second in command. 

Achilles interrupts Enzo and Tierney and Enzo leaves. Achilles taunts Tierney about her jealousy and playfully pushes her into the pool. Their bickering becomes erotically charged and they have sex in the pool, aroused by the risky nature of making love only a few feet away from the party guests. Afterward, Achilles demands she move in with him. Tierney agrees but makes demands: a separate room, her total freedom, and no sex unless she initiates it. To test him, she demands the right to have a one-night stand with another man. Furious but desperate, Achilles agrees on the condition that he is present to ensure her safety.