In the park, Kristina stopped during her morning walk when she felt the baby kick. She decided to take a break and sat on a bench. Just then, Dex rounded the corner during his run, but he stopped when he spotted Kristina. Concerned, he asked if she was okay. "Actually, that depends on you," Kristina said. She cut to the chase and told him about Josslyn's claim that Sonny had ordered Dex to kill Cyrus. "That's not true, is it?" she asked. When Dex was reluctant to answer, she realized with horror that it was true. "Yeah," Dex confirmed.

Kristina started to apologize, but Dex insisted that she was not responsible for her father. Kristina asked if Dex had noticed any changes in her father between when Dex had started working for Sonny and recently. Dex acknowledged that Sonny had been quick to fly off the handle in recent months. When she asked if her father had been paranoid, Dex revealed that -- following the shooting in Puerto Rico -- Sonny had been convinced there had been a traitor in his midst. "Didn't take him long to decide that was me, and after that, there was no changing his mind," Dex said. He acknowledged that Sonny had always been volatile, but that was when it had flipped to paranoia.

"Right when Ava moved in," Kristina said. Moments later, Josslyn walked up. Kristina admitted that she had asked Dex about Josslyn's claim and that Dex had confirmed that Josslyn had been right. "Well, for the record, I wish I wasn't. And looking back, I certainly did not have to tell you the way that I did," Josslyn said. After Kristina left, Dex started to walk away, but Josslyn asked him to wait because she felt that she owed him an explanation.

Josslyn acknowledged that it hadn't been her place to tell Kristina what Sonny had done, but she explained that she'd been afraid of what Sonny would do to Dex and had hoped that telling Kristina would help. Dex asked if Josslyn was still afraid, but she admitted that she knew Dex would be fine. She asked if he had heard from the police academy and assured him that they would be lucky to have him. Dex conceded that he had a lot to make up for, but Josslyn assured him that she was no angel and in no position to judge him or anyone else because she had done things that she was not proud of. Dex said nothing as Josslyn walked away.

At Aurora Media, Drew ushered Willow into his office and thanked her for taking the time to meet with him. Willow teased him about his formality. Chuckling, Drew thanked her for stopping by, so she smiled and told him that Amelia had loved her first swim lesson. Moments later, Michael joined them. Drew explained that he had asked to meet with Willow and Michael because a non-profit organization had asked Aurora Media to run their public relations. Drew revealed that the organization was also in search of a spokesperson, and Drew had immediately thought of Willow.

Shocked, Willow seemed at a loss for words, so Michael carefully reminded Drew that she was a private person. Willow thanked Drew for thinking of her, but she pointed out that she had no experience as a spokesperson. Drew explained that New Tomorrow Institute helped people find bone marrow donors and coordinate umbilical cord blood donations. Drew pointed out that as a leukemia survivor who had benefited in large part from a bone marrow transplant, Willow was uniquely qualified for the position. Seconds later, Nina barged into the office to warn Drew of a problem, but she stopped short when she saw Willow. Willow told Drew that she would think things over and get back to him.

After Michael and Willow left, Nina expressed her disappointment that Willow had barely said a word to her. Drew reminded Nina that she had walked in on a meeting, but Nina wondered if she should reach out to Willow with phone call or text message. Drew advised her to give Willow some space and changed the subject by asking what had been so urgent that Nina had barged into his office. Nina accused Carly of giving her a hard time about some "standard maintenance" in Nina's office. To Nina's annoyance, Drew chuckled. "I wonder where she got that idea from?" he asked.

Nina insisted that she and Drew were on the same team. "In what world am I on the same team as you?" he asked. "The one where Carly and Jason screwed us both over," Nina replied. She asked him what the plan was for "payback," but he had no desire to go after Jason or Carly because they hadn't sent him to prison. Nina argued that she had spared Drew from marrying Carly and going through a divorce when Jason returned. Stunned, Drew sarcastically asked if Nina wanted a thank you.

Nina reached for Drew as she admitted that she wanted something else. She kissed him passionately, but he broke away from the kiss and walked to the door. Defensive, Nina asked if it had been too much for him. Without a word, he locked the door, walked back to Nina, and pulled her into his arms for another kiss. Things quickly heated up as they ripped each other's clothes off and stumbled to a nearby table in a steamy embrace.

In the hotel's restaurant, John approached a hostess to ask if Jason was dining there. The hostess explained that she couldn't share information about the reservations, but Carly walked up and asked if she could help. The hostess stepped away as Carly and John exchanged greetings, and he explained that he had hoped to meet the hotel's new owner. "Well, you already know Jason, and if you're looking for the new owner, you've found her," Carly said. She quickly clarified that she was actually a part owner of the hotel.

John followed Carly to the bar and asked her about the unexpected turn of events. He recalled that she had told him that she had never expected to get the hotel back. Carly confirmed that Jason had bought the hotel from Nina and given it to Carly. John was surprised that Jason had turned the hotel over to Carly without expecting anything in return. Carly explained that Jason didn't operate like that. "When he does or says something, he means it," Carly said.

John confessed that Carly didn't strike him as someone who would accept a gift like that because she valued her independence too much. Carly assured him that he was right. She opened up about the previous opportunities she'd had to get her hotel back, but she had turned down each one. John was curious why Carly had rejected Michael's offer, so she explained that she hadn't wanted to risk Michael getting swept up in her problems with the SEC, which she was certain John knew all about. John nodded, and Carly moved on by revealing that she'd been determined to get the hotel back on her own terms.

John wondered why Carly had accepted the git from Jason when she had refused to accept it from Michael, Sonny, and Nina. "Because taking my hotel back wasn't for me. It was for him," Carly said. Carly told John that Jason had blamed himself for her losing the hotel because Jason hadn't been around to stop it. John asked if Jason was right. "Probably," Carly said. Carly explained that it was clear that Jason had been through some things because she could see it in his eyes, but she admitted that Jason had been tightlipped when she'd asked him about it.

Carly pointed out that there had been fallout from Jason's absence that he couldn't make up, but the hotel was one of the few things that Jason could fix. "So, you swallowed your pride and let him," John said in understanding. She assured him that she was thrilled to have her hotel back, but she wouldn't have accepted the gift from anyone else. "You took it from him. For him," John said. Carly admitted that she would do it again.

John told Carly to enjoy her hotel. After John left, Michael and Willow entered the restaurant. Carly happily greeted them, and Willow admitted that she had already seen improvements in the hotel. After Michael and Willow sat down, they talked about Drew's offer. Michael assured Willow that he didn't want her to feel pressured to accept. Willow admitted that she was honored by Drew's offer, but she would think things over before she gave him an answer.

At Corinthos Coffee, Anna entered Jason's office and thanked him for agreeing to meet. She explained that she needed to debrief him because there were things he needed to know if they intended to find out who was running Pikeman and shut them down. "Such as?" Jason asked. "Firstly, I think Valentin is involved," Anna said. "Big time," she added.

Anna filled Jason in about her past with Valentin and Jack Brennan when they had started out at the WSB. Jason was shocked that Valentin had been a WSB agent, so Anna clarified that Valentin had been a "desk agent." Anna shared that Brennan had finished at the top of the class, and she had been second, which she suspected had been due to sexism. Valentin had also finished high up, but Brennan had been a "pragmatist," so she was certain that he had used the stolen money from their failed mission to seed Pikeman.

Anna told Jason that Valentin had been the go-between when Pikeman had approached Sonny about moving arms shipments through Port Charles, and Valentin had claimed that his association with Pikeman had been limited to contract work in the 1990s. Jason could tell that Anna had her doubts. Anna opened up about her conversation with Valentin when he had tried to convince her that her memory of Valentin and Brennan's close friendship had been wrong. "I know Brennan and Valentin were as thick as thieves back then," Anna assured Jason. However, she confessed that her judgment about Valentin was clouded.

Anna shared the events that had led to her shooting Charlotte. Jason assured Anna that she hadn't done anything wrong because she had acted on her instincts, but she disagreed because she was certain that Jason wouldn't have gone into a dark apartment and fired at someone he couldn't see clearly. Jason argued that he had no way of knowing what he would have done under the same circumstances, but he reminded Anna that Charlotte was alive. Anna explained that she couldn't be objective about Valentin because she saw him as a father first and a person of interest second.

Anna warned Jason that everything in her body screamed that Valentin was more involved in Pikeman than he had let on. She hoped that Jason could be more rational and get a better read on Valentin. Jason promised to help, but he assured Anna that he trusted her instincts. "Thank you," Anna said. She told him about Sonny's first shipment for Pikeman. Jason revealed that he had intended to talk to Dex on another matter, but he promised to find out if Dex knew anything about Valentin.

Moments later, John entered the warehouse and called out to Jason. When he saw Anna follow Jason out of the office, John smiled. "Oh, look. The gang's all here," John said in a snide tone. John demanded to know why the investigation into Pikeman had stalled. He angrily accused Jason of not having his head in the game and warned that the terms of Jason's agreement with the FBI still stood. "Carly stays free as long as you do what the FBI asks of you. Are we clear?" John asked.

Jason told John that he had nothing to report, but John wasn't satisfied. He instructed Jason to reacquaint himself with Jason's old contacts that had moved illegal shipments through the coffee business and to find out when Pikeman's next shipment was. After Jason returned to his office, John justified how he had handled things with Jason, but Anna could tell that John didn't like himself when he treated Jason like that.

In Pentonville's visitor area, Ava smiled as Nikolas was escorted into the area. Nikolas was surprised to see her, so she explained that she had wanted to check in with him before he was transferred. "How are you?" she asked. "Incarcerated," he replied. Ava smiled. "Besides that," she said.

Nikolas admitted that he was resigned to his fate, but he changed the subject because he had heard from Laura that Ava was living with Sonny. Ava insisted that it had started out as a safety precaution when someone had broken into Wyndemere, and she reminded him that she shared a daughter with Sonny. With a little prodding from Nikolas, Ava confided that things had vastly improved between her and Sonny because of recent betrayals that had left Sonny feeling alone.

Ava explained that she was one of the few people that Sonny trusted, and they had grown to rely on and support each other. Nikolas asked if Ava was in love with Sonny. She smiled. "No. Why? Are you jealous?" she asked in a teasing tone. She conceded that she found Sonny attractive; she couldn't rule out falling in love with him down the road, but she was just happy to be on Sonny's good side.

Ava admitted that she had always hated feeling as if she were skating on thin ice with Sonny, worried that a custody battle was imminent. Nikolas suspected that Ava enjoyed being a part of Sonny's inner circle. "Damn right, I do," Ava said. She insisted that she had spent years with her nose pressed up to the window on the outside, looking in, and she'd been despised and ridiculed by everyone in Sonny's orbit. "Not Nina," Nikolas argued. Ava agreed, but she believed Nina and Sonny's collapse had been inevitable because Nina could never understand Sonny the way that Ava could.

Ava confessed that what she truly relished was that Carly had finally gotten a taste of her own medicine. Ava accused Carly of always looking down her nose at Ava and repeatedly slamming the door in her face. "Well, guess who's in charge of the entry now?" Ava smugly asked. However, she assured Nikolas that she was helping Sonny because she had discovered that his bipolar medication had been tampered with and reduced to a quarter of its strength. Alarmed, Nikolas urged Ava to tell Sonny, but she explained that she intended to keep a close eye on Sonny until she found the culprit responsible.

Nikolas realized that Ava liked having Sonny in the partially medicated state. He warned Ava that she was playing with fire because Sonny would be furious if he were to learn that she'd known about his medication and hadn't tried to fix things immediately. Nikolas explained that he cared about her, but she accused him of always underestimating her. "I know what I'm doing," she promised. "God, I hope so," Nikolas whispered as he watched Ava leave.

Elsewhere in Pentonville, Valentin signed as one of Nikolas' visitors. Satisfied, Brennan led Valentin to a small office and closed the door. Valentin was impressed that Brennan could move freely about the prison without a guard accompanying him. Brennan got down to business by asking for a progress report on Sonny. Valentin promised that the plan was working because Sonny was isolated from friends and family. Valentin smiled as he shared that Sonny only trusted Ava Jerome.

Brennan praised Valentin's plan of secretly lowering the dosage of Sonny's bipolar medication, but he reminded Valentin that Jason remained a problem. Valentin and Brennan agreed that Jason knew too much about Pikeman's operations. Valentin revealed that "Alan Jacobs'" paperwork had checked out, indicating that the person who had put Jason in place had been capable of manipulating government records. Brennan speculated that Jason had been forced to cooperate, which indicated a government operation.

Brennan pointed out that the WSB was the only organization that could be trusted. Valentin suggested that the CIA had been responsible, so they agreed that they would use Sonny's spiraling mental health and the rift between the Jason and Sonny to their advantage by framing Sonny for Jason's murder. Valentin explained that it would be their last face-to-face meeting because they couldn't risk anyone linking him to Brennan. Brennan agreed, but he advised Valentin to tread with caution because Anna might grow suspicious.

Valentin asked Brennan about Anna's recent visit, but he assured Valentin that he'd given nothing away. However, he warned Valentin that Anna was smart, and she knew their history. "She was there when we stole that money to fund Pikeman," Brennan said. He warned Valentin that it wouldn't take much for Anna to put the pieces together, but Valentin was confident that he could handle Anna. Brennan hoped that Valentin was right -- for Anna's sake. He advised Valentin to keep his distance from Anna because the more time that Valentin spent with her, the greater the chance that he would give himself away.

• Maxie and Natalia don't see eye-to-eye

• Michael offers to take one for the team

• Jason pays Dex a visit

• Drew and Nina's passionate interlude is interrupted