Sure he would never be able to trust her again, Ric broke up with Marianna and sent her running back to the vineyard. He then began plotting with Sonny for Trevor's demise. After her go-round with Kate, Claudia paid a visit to Jason and brought him a very special gift. Lulu confessed she's still interested in Johnny while visiting with Carly.

Ric confronted Marianna with all Trevor had told him. While the woman didn't deny it, she did insist that she had broken off the deal with his father and had fallen in love with him. Having learned from his past, Ric knew he would never trust her again and told her they had to be over. Heartbroken, she said she was returning to the vineyard.

As I mentioned in these pages earlier this week, this is just the first of a handful of casting cuts we'll be seeing in the next week or two. While neither actress who played the role in its short existence had much spark, I did like where they were headed with Ric. If Marianna was to be the catalyst, so be it. Unfortunately, now that he has been cut so deep by his father, I think we'll be seeing more and more of the old Ric.

There is one little change, though. He does seem willing to work with Sonny to get what he wants. Because of their past, however, Sonny was unsure of whether or not Ric could be trusted, but it seemed as though he was willing to try in the name of the common goal - eliminate Trevor. Good thing Ric gave up that DA job. It probably wouldn't look good if the District Attorney was involved in plotting a mob hit.

Claudia was up to some dirty business of her own. Immediately following her mini cat fight with Kate, she brought Jason a present. How did she know he was looking to get a new, shiny gun? She wanted Trevor dead and she wanted it done yesterday. It appears Mr. Lansing has worn out his welcome with everyone.

The first encounter with Claudia and Spinelli was rather amusing and it took less than a minute for her to get a Spinelli nickname all her own. Funny how she didn't find Vixenella to be the put-down he intended it to be, but then again this is a woman who gets called 'whore' everywhere she goes.