"Kreepy Kevin" is back at it, but THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS' Greg Rikaart says his character is a different person now — albeit decidedly more menacing.

Jana's double-cross drove Kevin back to his scheming ways, but Rikaart insists Kevin won't forget the great strides he's made since his creepy days.

"People keep saying, 'Oh, the old Kevin!'" Rikaart notes. "But that's not what this is. Kevin has made leaps and bounds to turn himself into a different person. Now he's faced with a difficult, awful situation and we're seeing the person he's become and the person he used to be coming together to forge ahead. He's more calculating and menacing — and probably more dangerous."

It doesn't help that for all his bitterness over Jana's duplicity — not to mention her attempt on his life! — Kevin isn't over her. "The opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference, and the last thing he is toward her is indifferent!" Rikaart laughs. "There are very strong feelings there. He feels a lot of hatred, but for legitimate reasons. This was his first love, his first healthy adult, romantic sexual relationship, and his first heartbreak. For her to have betrayed him the way she did? There's so much pain there, but he still loves her. In remembering the bad times, no matter how much you want to hate that person, you can't help but remember the good times, too."

Those memories are clear whenever Kevin talks to Jana, even as he's playing it up to lure her out of hiding.

But bravado aside, does Kevin really have it in him to kill her? "No. Maybe. In crimes of passion, people kill for love all the time," hedges Rikaart. "The old Kevin would have given in to that emotion, but he's smarter now. If there's one thing he is, it's cool under pressure. He's become very calculated and controlled, but his emotions aren't necessarily cooperating."

Lucky for Rikaart, that's just the way he likes it. "I love Kevin when he's conflicted, tormented and pained. It's challenging," reveals the actor. "I'm happier with this story than I have been with anything since my early storylines. Life is good."