A Tearful Hope Runs to Thomas — and Liam Goes Behind Finn’s Back to Update Steffy

At Il Giardino, Sheila guesses Li pushing her face into her pasta is another accident. Li says it’s a reminder of how disgusting she thinks it is that she’s not rotting in a prison cell. Li picks a bit of sauce off Sheila’s face and sneers, “Ugh, the sauce is bitter. Just like you.” Sheila eyeballs the set of knives sitting nearby.

At Deacon’s place, Hope tells her father he cannot love her while claiming to love Sheila. “Loving her is hurting me and the two cannot exist at the same time.” She tells Deacon that Sheila is toxic and will destroy the relationship they have. She wants him to put an end to this with her.

Deacon promised himself he’d never disappoint Hope again if she let him back into her life. Hope challenges, “Then don’t. You do have a choice, Dad.” They’ve come so far, and he shouldn’t throw it away on someone like Sheila, who is using him and manipulating him. Hope declares that she’s not capable of change because she is a sociopath, “She’s not capable of love. She is dangerous, Dad.”

Deacon tells Hope he and Sheila speak the same language, “We’ve always been the outsiders.” Hope informs her father that he’s made mistakes but he’s nothing like Sheila. She pleads with him to get himself out of this. Just then, Hollis knocks at the door and tells Deacon they have a situation downstairs that needs his attention ASAP. Deacon asks Hope not to lose faith in him before he exits, “I know what I’m doing. I swear.” Hope tears up.

Liam enters Forrester’s design office, where Thomas is working. He has a stuffie for Beth to give Hope. Thomas doesn’t know where Hope is. Talk turns to Hope’s father being in love with Sheila. The two agree it’s insane and that it puts everyone at risk. Liam worries, “We’ll never be rid of her.”

Liam rants about Finn giving Sheila hope by hugging her and calling her mom. “She’s the kind of person you don’t give an inch to, and yet he gives her a mile.” Thomas agrees with Liam that Finn has handled the situation all wrong. Liam rants that Steffy has to be separated from her family as a result and it’s killing her. “It’s killing me too because I want her back,” he blurts.

Thomas gawps, “You want my sister back?” He agrees with Liam that Finn has made mistakes but he is still his sister’s husband. Liam feels he needs to act like a husband and keep Sheila away. Thomas mocks, “Like you acted like a real husband with Hope when you ran away as soon as things got a little tough?” How is he going to protect his sister better than Finn? Liam is going to make sure he does. With that, he storms out.

Ridge visits Finn at work and declares that Deacon and his mother are happily in love. Finn clarifies that Sheila and Deacon are in love. Li is his mother. Ridge grunts, “Whatever.” He asks, “How much of this have you told Steffy?” Finn confesses he hasn’t told her about Sheila and Deacon yet. This has been a nightmare for him. Sheila has effectively taken his family from him. What if she doesn’t stop until she’s taken everything he loves? Finn feels this is all beyond his control. Ridge says that beyond his control or not, he has to tell Steffy. Finn knows she needs to be told but he doesn’t want to scare her off anymore. Ridge says fine, but when it’s time, it’s his story to tell.

In the restaurant, Sheila eyes the knives and says to Li in a measured tone, “I can see how mad you are, and I deserve it. So, you go ahead and let go on me. But if you think I’m going to lose it and do something rash or stupid and fall for these attempts of yours to provoke me, you should know by now that I won’t fall for the bait. I am not stupid.” Sheila won’t do something that will land her back in jail.

Deacon walks up and asks what the hell is going on. Sheila says that Li put her face in the sauce. Li snips that she doesn’t know Deacon very well but he must be crazy to be involved with such a heinous creature as Sheila Carter.

Hope enters the design office crying. She tells Thomas that she can’t believe her father is doing this. She can’t believe he’d expect her to accept his relationship with Sheila when she’s a monster! Breaking down, Hope cries that he’s willing to throw away their relationship and everything they worked to build for her. That’s not why she wanted to see Thomas, however. “I came here to do this.” With that, Hope grabs Thomas and pulls him into a passionate clinch.

Finn’s exasperated when Liam shows up at his office and asks what he’s doing there. Liam’s surprised he has to ask, “You know everyone’s going to find out about your mom and Deacon, right? Like, Hope just told me.” He complains that Steffy is never going to come home. Now that Deacon and Sheila are shacking up, it just makes the situation more dangerous. “What did she say when you told her?” Taking in Finn’s expression, Liam realizes, “Oh, OK. She doesn’t know about any of this, does she? You didn’t tell her.”

Liam finds it pretty unbelievable that Finn doesn’t have the good sense to tell Steffy that his psycho mother is hooking up with Deacon Sharpe, “Whatever happened to the whole, ‘It’s your job to protect your family’ thing?” Finn counters that he shouldn’t question him or his love for Steffy when he’s bounced back and forth between Hope and Steffy more times than he can count. Liam tells him he can try and make it about him, but this is getting worse by the minute. Finn says if Sheila is going to listen to anyone, it’s Deacon, who thinks he can control her. Liam says that Deacon is wrong, “And so are you. He cannot keep Steffy protected and clearly, neither can you.” Finn equals danger. A nurse calls Finn, who says he’ll be there in a minute. He tells Liam he’s being disrespectful to him and to Steffy. It’s a scumbag move. “Stay out of my business and stay the hell away from my wife.”

In the design office, Thomas and Hope’s kiss ends and they smile. She thanks him. “I needed that.” Thomas says this is what he wants, “You here in my arms. Because I love you. It’s that simple.” Hope doesn’t know what she feels but she’s grateful for his understanding and she doesn’t want to take advantage of that. Thomas assures her she never could; she’s too wonderful a person. Hope admits she’s still processing the end of her marriage and her family as she thought she knew it. She’s been in something for so long with someone who wasn’t fully committed to her, that having time away from it, she now realizes how exhausting that was. Thomas is sorry that Liam hurt her over and over again. Hope doesn’t know if she’s going to feel that connection again with another man. Thomas assures her it’s OK and he understands. “It’s completely fine, OK. I get it and I’m here. This is what I want. To be here with you, holding you, loving you.” They kiss again. He tells her, “I will always love you.”

Finn exits his office and Liam says, “Screw it” and pulls out his phone and calls Steffy. He gets her voicemail and tells her he debated whether or not to leave her this message. He thought she might hear it from Finn, “But who am I kidding, you’re not going to. You deserve to come home feeling safe, and with Finn you’re not going to have that feeling. Especially considering what I just learned. So, Sheila and Deacon are a thing now. They are romantically involved. Finn knows about it and he’s keeping it from you. I don’t know what else to tell you. The guy has been blowing this from day one and I think we both know why — he’s Sheila’s son. He’s never going to keep you safe… he’s never going to keep you safe the way that I would. You know I want more than anything for you to come home, but don’t come home to him. Come home to me.” After disconnecting, Liam looks at a photo of Steffy and says, “We were married once. We could do it again.”