Lauren watches Junior speed off on a motorcycle and recognizes both the bike and gear from her own neighborhood, realizing he may have been near her for a long time. Ryan identifies the coin-shaped object she found earlier as a SecPro tracking device not available to the public, confirming Lauren's suspicion that Junior has been stalking her. She mentally connects a string of unexplained recent good fortune—slashed tires of gossiping church ladies, a councilwoman's sudden meeting, vanished parking tickets—to his hidden interventions.

Back inside Velvet, Lauren discovers Junior accidentally (or deliberately) took her phone, leaving his behind. She calls him on Ryan's phone; he refuses to return it until church the next day, warns her not to answer his, and hangs up. Lauren drinks heavily, processing her anger and confusion.

The next morning, hungover, Lauren reflects on her fight with Junior. She recalls past partners who tried to control her camwork and her mother, whose mobster husband (Lauren's father) coerced her into quitting work and mentally abused her until she abandoned her daughters. Lauren fears repeating this pattern. She is unsettled by Junior's stalking, casual violence, and the smile he wore while breaking a man's arm—yet admits she was turned on. She weighs his red flags against traits she values: openness, self-awareness, and willingness to apologize.

Lauren arranges to meet Nonna before Mass to retrieve her phone. At a bakery, Nonna shocks bystanders with crude commentary, then drops a bombshell: Lauren's father is genuinely missing. His girlfriend reported him gone for weeks, Kristen filed a police report, and Tommy hasn't used his phone or credit cards since disappearing. Lauren is hurt that Kristen kept this from her.

Lauren casually asks about the slashed tires at church and learns the targeted cars belonged to Maria, Angelina, and Nina—the exact women who had gossiped about her—confirming Junior was responsible. Nonna then pivots to urging Lauren to embrace promiscuity while she can, lamenting her own fifty years with only one partner.