Ridge thinks Brooke is crazy to have married Eric.

At Brooke's house, she tells Ridge not to do this to her. He asks who knows her like he does. She tells him that her marrying Eric will give Bridget, and all of them, what they need. What about RJ? he asks. She assures him that RJ will always know who his father is, but he fears that his son might think of him as his brother instead. If Nick was a wrong turn, he argues, marrying Eric is insanity! She reminds Ridge that he turned his back on her, so why is he now telling her she's crazy to want anyone else? Ridge says that he never wanted to give her up, and Taylor knew that. But he's with Taylor now, Brooke points out, so what is she supposed to do? Ridge isn't sure, but he can't bear to watch her lose herself. She asks if that's because she's not with him, wondering why he always talks about the two of them as "us" when they can't be together. Ridge says she makes him want to save her from herself. They tried that, Brooke says, so why is this time any different? They were happy once and figured it out, he replies. Brooke turns her back to him and says that maybe he was right that there was only one man who could love her the ways she wants to be loved. But that man has commitments and so does she, so they have to set that dream aside. Ridge asks how you stop wanting it, but Brooke hasn't figured that out, either. They hug.

Hector tells Taylor how he feels.

At the Bel Air mansion, Taylor asks Hector for Brooke's number; he says he knows it, but he's not letting her call. But what if Ridge isn't coming back this time? she asks. Then she's better off, Hector says, taking the phone. Taylor turns to him and wonders if maybe she is; Hector gazes back at her and says he's looking at all he ever wanted. They start to kiss. She rips his shirt open. He carries her to the stairs, and...

... Hector is brought back to reality by Taylor coming downstairs after helping Phoebe with her homework. Taylor looks to the phone, but Hector tells her not to call. He thinks it's time she stopped. She's a shrink, he points out, so she knows about brainwashing and interrogation, yet she doesn't see that she's a prisoner of her husband not knowing what he wants. He feels like she's talked herself into believing that Ridge is her best chance at being happy. She tells him to stop, asking him not to make her regret confiding in him. He admits that he's been making passes at another man's wife, even though that's not his style, and he knows she's not happy about. And he's not happy about it either, he states, as it's not what he wants. What he wants is her - ALL of her. Taylor tells Hector that his friendship means a lot to her, even though they haven't known each other long. He tells her not to worry about letting him down easy; even if he falls flat on his face, he wants her to know that he's in awe of her, and he doesn't get how Ridge can look at anyone else. She says he's overestimating her qualities, but he disagrees. If she was his wife, he says, he'd make love to her six times a day and would always brag about her. Any woman would enjoy that fantasy, she says. But it's not a fantasy, he says. He points out that he's here, even though he knows she wants to kick him out. And he's glad she won't cheat on her husband, as that's who he wants to be. He tells her to keep working on her relationship with Ridge; when she's tired of being treated like sawdust, she can find him (Hector), and he'll make her the center of his world. He then turns to leave but stops, wondering if he left something out. He didn't, she says. He concedes that she's the expert and leaves.

Taylor considers what Ridge's news means for Stephanie.

Taylor goes up to the bedroom, recalling Hector's comment about leaving something out. Ridge comes in; she asks why he rings the bell downstairs, but he barges right into the bedroom. Didn't she ask him to move back in? he asks. He said he would think about it, she reminds him: did he do that with Brooke? Ridge tells her that she won't believe what Brooke has done. Taylor doesn't know why she should care, since he ran off in the middle of an important talk about their marriage just because Bridget told him Brooke got married. He reminds her that Brooke has his son, and she could be taking RJ to Outer Mongolia for all he knows. Still, Taylor says, they could have finished their talk first, but he had to run off. She thinks that shows that who Brooke is with means more to him than their marriage. He tells her that Brooke married his dad, to prove she's no threat to Bridget. What about Dante? Taylor asks. Bridget wasn't buying that Dante thing, he says. Taylor doesn't believe it: she worries about Stephanie, since no woman should be treated with such a lack of respect to be pushed off without warning. She admits that she feels a little guilty, because she feels relief that it wasn't her who got pushed off that way.

Stephanie asks Eric what he's done.

At the beach house, Stephanie asks Eric what he's done. What he said he would do if he got the chance, he replies. He and Brooke went to Vegas to avoid a public stir. She asks why he couldn't wait a week, or even a day. He reminds her that he's wanted this for a long time. But Brooke is using him to convince Bridget that she doesn't want Nick, she says - and in the end, Brooke won't be able to keep her hands off Nick. Eric tells her to stop seeing all this negativity. And all he sees is Brooke's heaving chest, she quips. Eric thinks she will keep being angry and bitter until she admits that Brooke is showing maturity. Like Brooke claimed to do with Thorne, she argues, and with Deacon and Ridge. Eric says that he and Brooke talked on the way to Vegas, and he knows Brooke wants to stop acting on impulse and focus on giving her kids some stability. Stephanie says that this is so old; she thinks Brooke married him to hide her feelings for Nick, just like she did to hide her feelings for Ridge when she first married Eric. She's sure Brooke will break his heart, and she thinks he even knows that. Eric says that he knows that Brooke won't forget her "other" attachment overnight. That attachment is named Nick, and it's obvious that Nick and Brooke are in love. That's why she can't understand how Eric could do this for sex. It's about more than that, Eric says. Stephanie disagrees, and she bets that Brooke loves getting to live her [Stephanie's] life again. Eric tells her that his family with Brooke is real, even if she's not part of it. And their family means nothing? she asks.

Eric tells Stephanie that they just went through the motions of marriage. She never treated him as an equal; she treated him like one of her children. A parade of mistresses and betrayals change a woman, she says. Eric admits he has some of the blame. She asks if he even thought about her or their family when he and Brooke exchanged their vows. Their kids are grown, he reminds her, and Brooke needs him in a way that his kids don't. He can be the father now that he wasn't to his kids while he was building his business and finding himself. Stephanie doesn't think it will last. Brooke arrives; Eric tells her that Stephanie is leaving. Brooke hopes so. Stephanie tells Brooke that she can't save Bridget's marriage, as there's nothing left to save. "You made sure of that," Brooke says. Stephanie says she cleared the path for Brooke with Nick, but she thinks Brooke doesn't want to be the "scarlet woman" who stole her daughter's husband. Brooke says she doesn't want a life with Nick. But she and Nick can survive any scandal if they're meant to be together, Stephanie argues. Or, she asks, has Brooke mistaken the taste of respectability she got as a Forrester for virtue and just can't part with it? She says that Brooke will use Eric over her dead body.

Brooke and Eric ask Stephanie to leave.

Brooke doesn't think she could ever hurt Eric like Stephanie has, even if she was as vicious as Stephanie claims. She intends to protect Eric and orders Stephanie out. Brooke sees the catered dinner Eric ordered; he reminds her that they haven't had a proper wedding night. Stephanie can't believe this; she recalls how miserable Brooke and Eric were in their first marriage. Eric tells her to go, but she goes on about how this marriage is based on the biggest lie of all. She warns Eric that he'll never get what he wants from Brooke. Brooke says she's wrong and starts kissing Eric, who again asks Stephanie to leave. They keep kissing, without regard for Stephanie, who agrees to let him have his fun tonight if he annuls this fiasco of a marriage in the morning. Brooke bids Stephanie goodbye. Eric follows Brooke to the couch and tells her to ignore Stephanie, as they keep kissing. Stephanie pleads with Eric to listen to reason, but he just looks at Brooke and ignores Stephanie. As they keep kissing, the door closes; they stop kissing, but they then see that Stephanie is still there. She says she's always heard about this "magic spell" Brooke has over men, so now she can see it for herself. Let's show her, Eric tells Brooke as they kiss.