Devon Goes Ballistic on Tucker — and Phyllis Catches Jack and Diane in a Clinch

Audra leaves Tucker’s suite and gets a text from Devon urging her to “come to the office asap.”

At Crimson Lights, Daniel talks to Phyllis about her new job with his video gaming platform. She just keeps agreeing with him and he calls her out on her lack of focus. If this were an interview, he wouldn’t hire her! Phyllis knows what he needs and changes the subject to Summer not keeping her at Marchetti. Daniel’s really sorry, but she needs to move on to her new job with him. Phyllis worries she shouldn’t be working with her kids. Daniel tells her that’s not funny and asks her to maybe not make it so clear he’s her second choice.

At the Abbott house, Jack and Diane discuss her plan to target Nikki. She worries that the Newman is formidable and she’ll reignite her anger against her when she’s finally backed off. Jack finds Nikki a suitable target and assures Diane that he’ll smooth things over with her later. Ashley walks in and grimaces at the sight of them conspiring. She informs Jack that if he thinks he’s going to smooth something over with her, it’s not going to happen.

Jack claims he and Diane were discussing her safety. Ashley doesn’t want to hear it and demands to know why she’s at the house all the time. Jack tells his sister she’s being rude; Diane is his guest. Diane doesn’t want to cause problems between them. Ashley guffaws, “Sure you don’t.” She slams out the door.

At Crimson Lights, Phyllis assures Daniel she’s thrilled to be working with him. He asks about the resumes he sent over and she’s forced to admit she hasn’t looked at them yet. Phyllis vows she won’t let him down as Summer let her down. Daniel grimaces. Phyllis needs a good night’s sleep and asks to meet again in the morning. Daniel asks if she’s tired or if it’s Summer. Phyllis tears up. Her feelings are hurt. “She chose Diane over me, that’s all.”

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Devon walks into Lily’s office and thanks her for meeting him in person. She didn’t want to go home anyway. Devon asks what’s going on with her and Billy, but she doesn’t want to talk about it. She asks why he wanted to meet as Audra arrives. Lily wonders if this is about the IPO — she’s already told him they’re moving ahead. Audra assures him she’s done her due diligence regarding any threat from Nate. Devon’s no longer worried about Nate. “I’m worried about a completely different threat.” Lily asks what he’s talking about. He says, “We have a new traitor in the company.”

Ashley shows up at Tucker’s door and he’s pleasantly surprised. She complains Diane’s always at her house day and night. She produces a bottle of wine and rants about Diane turning her brother into a sucker. Tucker’s sorry she’s so upset, but for him, this is heavenly.

At the Abbott mansion, Diane tells Jack she feels terrible about causing his rift with Ashley. Jack says his sister is behaving terribly and he won’t stand for it. He decides they should drop the subject of Stark for now. Diane should be going, but first she wants to discuss the desire she has to kiss him again.

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At Chancellor-Winters, Devon reveals he was tipped off that the lovely Audra has been in contact with Tucker, both in the past and recently. Lily asks how he knows this. Devon’s first clue was that they have the same distinctive ringtone. It made him suspicious enough to wonder whey the person spear-heading their IPO was contacting his dad — the person he first suspected of going after the company. It turns out Audra’s business degree was pretty damn expensive, and she racked up quite a bit of debt. “You must have been just thrilled when all of your debt was paid off in one lump sum by an LLC.” Audra worked for the company and earned the money. Devon points out the LLC was called Only Eyes for You, which just happens to be the name of the very first song that Tucker ever produced. Audra claims she had no idea. Devon thinks it means that Tucker paid for her student loans and then the two of them showed up in town at the exact same time. “Why don’t you tell us what we should make of that?” Lily fumes, “Have you been working with Tucker all along?”

In Tucker’s suite, he muses about Ashley being calm and cool one minute and fiery the next. He sympathizes with her situation, but it’s awakened something in her that he loves — her spark. He asks if it’s anger or excitement. She says, “A little bit of both.” Tucker touches her collar and tells her how sexy she is to him. Ashley asks, “What are you going to do about it?” Tucker replies, “That depends on you.” She pulls him into a kiss.

After sex, Tucker moans, “That was fire,” and talks about how much he missed that. Doesn’t she? Ashley isn’t about to show her hand. He tells her that together they’re stronger than whatever kept them apart. Ashley hates this… and loves this. She informs him that there’s no evidence that they actually work. She’s too smart to fall for him again. Tucker chuckles, “And yet here you are.” Ashley informs him this isn’t an indication of where their relationship is heading. Tucker is going to take a shower and hopes she’ll be there when he comes out. Ashley likes that Diane’s not there. Tucker offers to clear some room in the closet and urges her to order some room service before heading into the washroom.

At Crimson Lights, Daniel tells Phyllis that Summer doesn’t trust Diane and her eyes are very much open to her manipulations. Phyllis wonders, if that’s true, why she’s making the choices she’s making and not sticking up for her. Daniel thinks it’s a case where Phyllis needs to see this from Summer’s point of view — she’s stuck between her mother and husband. “Give her a break already. Be the bigger person.”

At Chancellor-Winters, Audra admits she knows Tucker from her time in London, but insists that has nothing to do with the work she’s done there. Devon asks if she can prove that at all. Audra can’t understand them letting her ties to Tucker slowing their momentum. “Tucker poses no threat to you. Neither do I.” Lily scoffs, “Why would be believe anything you say?!” She can’t deal with this right now and informs Audra, “You’re fired. You’re fired!” Lily tells Devon to have security escort her out of the building and she storms out. Audra tells Devon, “I’ll go… if you feel the same way.” Devon smirks.

In Tucker’s suite, Ashley finds a file labeled Ashley Abbott Beauty Incorporated and one on Jabot. She says to herself, “Bingo. Jabot comps, evaluations, all the reports. He was targeting us.” Tucker appears and tells her he doubts there’s anything in there she doesn’t already know.

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At Chancellor-Winters, Devon invites Audra to make her case for staying on board. She claims she can be an asset since she knows certain things about Tucker and his goals. “Let’s just say you weren’t wrong to think he came in town with an interest in Chancellor-Winters.” Devon wonders if her plan is to betray Tucker’s trust to win him over. Audra already knows a lot about the company and warns Devon that she’s the kind of person he should want on his side. Devon marvels, “Really? So, you’re threatening me now.” He informs her if she says anything to anyone about the company she’ll be in court by the end of the day and will find herself in a long, involved lawsuit. “You’ll probably have to ask my dad for some more money.” Audra senses it’s the end of their working relationship. Devon confirms she’s fired. Audra tells him it’s his loss and taunts that he’s not a very good judge of character. “You’ve been played… a lot. Makes me wonder who you’ve made it as far as you have.”

At the Abbott mansion, Diane tells Jack that her feelings for him aren’t a holdover from the past or gratitude. For the first time in her life, she feels something that’s based on real friendship and not because she needs a man to take care of her. She’s concerned it will hurt their plan. “How can I even pretend to tolerate Stark when I care so much about you?”

At Crimson Lights, Phyllis tells Daniel she’s just been trying to protect Summer. Daniel warns his mother she cannot tell his sister that she filled her in on their conversation. He urges him mother to show Summer empathy and to apologize. Lily walks in and Phyllis teases, “Who’s distracted now.” Phyllis grabs her coat and Daniel warns, “I’m serious… no ratting me out.” He then walks over to check in on Lily, who says she’s had another work crisis she didn’t see coming. Daniel worries it will affect the video gaming platform.

In Tucker’s suite, Ashley asks why he has Jabot’s financials. Tucker says it was exploratory; a way to reconnect with her when he came back to town. He recalls asking Diane to get them for him. Ash asks, “Those came from her?” Tucker doesn’t answer but says he changed his mind about going after Jabot since spending time with her. “I want our connection to be untainted.” He tries to kiss her, but she moves away. Tucker knows she knows what’s happening between them is real. Just them, Devon hammers on the door and tells his father to open up.

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At Crimson Lights, Lily reassures Daniel, who apologizes for making it about him and asks if she wants to talk. She doesn’t. Daniel figures she probably wants to go home and get some rest. Lily asks, “Why don’t we just sit here and talk about things that don’t matter.” Daniel smiles, “I’m in.”

At the Abbott mansion, Jack wonders if Diane is using Stark as an excuse to find out what’s going on between them. That wasn’t her intention, but maybe they should talk about it. Jack says he cares a lot about her, and they kiss. Phyllis arrives outside the door in time to see it.

At Society, Nate spots Audra, who tells him she’s there to celebrate. Nate joins her and would love to hear the good news. They order drinks and he asks what they’re celebrating. Audra says, “I’ve moved on from Chancellor-Winters.” She claims everything is in order for the IPO and they don’t need her any longer. Audra will probably leave town since she needs a challenge. Nate tells her if she’d consider sticking around, he might have just the opportunity for her. She’s intrigued.

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Tucker lets Devon in. His son informs him that whatever relationship they had is over. He knows about his collusion with Audra and that he’s using her to try and scoop up controlling interest in the company when it goes public. Tucker asks if that’s the case, why would he have told Devon to trust his instincts about the IPO being a bad idea. Devon guesses he was trying to throw him off track. He figures it was hard for his father not to laugh every time he talked about Nate betraying them — he and Victoria were distracting them and opening up a clear path for Tucker to screw over Chancellor-Winters. Tucker begins, “I don’t know what went on between you and Audra, but…” Devon informs Tucker that she’s been fired and no longer has access to the company, which means he no longer has access to it. “Or to me, or to my son.”

Tucker insists his only interest in Devon’s business was helping him. Ashley fights tears as Devon accuses Tucker of coming to town claiming he wanted to connect with him and his grandson when he was really just using their relationship so he could stick a plant in his company to try and take it over. Tucker notices Ashley wiping away tears. He wants to explain but Devon rants that he doesn’t want to hear what he has to say — he won’t believe a word of it. He doesn’t know how Tucker even keeps his B.S. straight in his mind. The only meaning he’s ever found in life is his own self-interest and greed. Tucker insists he’s misunderstanding the circumstances and is getting dangerously close to crossing a line with him. Devon is amused that there’s a line now. He warns his father he should leave town tonight because he’s going to make it his mission to make sure there’s no one left in this town who will ever defend him for the rest of his life. With that, he slams out the door.

Tucker tells Ashley that what Devon was accusing him of wasn’t true. Ashley never trusted him anyway, so he really couldn’t sink any lower in her books. Surprised, Tucker asks, “What are you talking about?!” Ashley informs him, “All of this was just an act. So I could get to the truth. I happened to be in the right place at the right time, so mission accomplished.” She grabs her coat and exits. Tucker swipes the papers off his desk, thinks for a minute, and then puts on his shoes.

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At the Abbott mansion, Diane and Jack finish kissing and she says she should go to her hotel alone. Jack offers her a ride, but she has her car. Jack assures her they’ll handle the serious challenges together. She beams.

At Society, Nate tells Audra he’s looking for a COO at Newman Media and she should throw her hat in the ring. “If it all works out, we’ll have plenty more to drink to.” Audra grins, “Consider my hat tossed.”

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Tucker wanders into Noah’s club and spots Phyllis. He sits by her and says, “You look how I feel.” Phyllis asks, “How do I look? How do you feel?” Tucker replies, “So, are you ready yet?” She asks, “For what?” He says, “To burn it all down.”

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Next on The Young and the Restless: Jack takes a risk to help Diane, Jill receives a disturbing message, and Phyllis tries to make amends with Summer.

Don’t miss our photo-filled look back on Tucker McCall’s history in the gallery below.

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