Almost a month later Regenia was still trying to find the courage to speak to her dad as she paced the floor in her home back in Italy. However, she was confused as she tried to understand how he was alive. She knew what she saw... the nurses working on him as he code. Regenia also touched his cold, lifeless body as he laid in the casket. None of this made sense to her, and she wanted to know why her father didn't feel the need to fill her in on his plan. There had to be more to the story, but it seemed like he was avoiding her and the rest of them. Regenia didn't like it, and it made her not trust her father. Somewhere, deep down, she felt like he was running from something. Maybe that's why he wanted her to marry Giuseppe, which caused her mind to wander back to the note he left her. The one she kept with her always; 'You know what you must do.'
Regenia knew there was more to it, but she led herself to believe it was about her questioning whether she should marry Giuseppe. Still, her actions were because she wanted him, not her dad's unclear note. "There you are, Uccellino. I swear you've been hiding from me the entire day. I know it's crazy, but we have been home for a month. It's time to—"
"I don't know if we can trust him."
"Who... your Father?" Giuseppe questioned while Regenia sighed and nodded. She knew it was wrong for the thought to cross her mind, but the links he went to fake his death made her wonder. "Sadly, I've been questioning it myself. Jake has always been good to me, but this... faking his death and not telling me or you about it is questionable. How do you think we should address this?" Regenia's head whipped toward her husband, surprised, he asked her what to do. She didn't know either, but deep down inside, she wanted to trust the man.
"I don't know— maybe we should watch him closely. Christmas is right around the corner. Tomorrow to be exact, and I don't want to move so quickly. I... I... I don't want to misjudge the situation. I want to trust him, but he's giving me so many reasons not to." She sighed, wiping away her tears as Giuseppe quickly wrapped her into a loving hug. "Whatever you decide, I'll be right here. It's hard when you think you can't trust a family member. I've been there, especially when it's a parent, and having you by my side helped me through it. Therefore, I will do the same for you."
Regenia smiled, knowing he would, but her emotions about the situation were conflicting. She wanted to wait until after Christmas and watch how her dad interacted with them. She also had the thought to torture the truth out of him, but she couldn't see herself hurting her father. "He's seemed so happy seeing his granddaughter, but I know him—"
"Do you?" Caterina spoke, making Regenia and Giuseppe turn toward her standing in the doorway. She held a smile while bouncing Giovanna on her shoulder. "Of course, I know my dad..."
"Then why are you questioning his decisions? He didn't want to put his daughter in danger. Jake knew Isla was safe because no one knew about her, but the enemies he made certainly knew about you." Regenia and Giuseppe stared at each other briefly and then back at Caterina as she ignored them, cooing at Gia. She knew something Jake wasn't saying, but Regenia didn't understand why he couldn't tell her.
"Madre, did Jake say something to you?"
"No, but I know the look of a man trying to protect his child. He didn't want to lie to you, but sometimes, you have to do what's best. At the time he thought lying to you was right and Jake knew you wouldn't have married my Figlio if he stayed around."
"Are you saying he knew Berardo was trying to kill him?" Caterina tilted her head as she hummed and continued to bounce her grandchild as if she said nothing. Regenia now knew her mother-in-law knew more than what she was saying. What she couldn't understand was why her dad was being so secretive towards her. "Jake is talking to you, but not his own daughter. Madre, what is going on here?"
"I hope the two of you are done Christmas shopping since it's tomorrow."
"Madre!" Giuseppe yelled, making his mother's head jerk towards him like he had lost his mind. "Giuseppe, you're a parent. So, you should know the lengths a father would go to protect his child. For god sake, you murdered the mother of your children, to protect them from her and Berardo."
"I don't think that has anything to do with Jake faking his death. I understand he wanted me to marry Regenia, but he could have told me if he was in danger. I would have helped."
"Sure, you would have Giuseppe if your ass wasn't behind bars. Remember, you wouldn't be here if it weren't for your beautiful wife standing beside you. Look, I know the two of you want answers, but I can't give them. Regenia it would help if you stop avoiding your Padre and talk to him and be grateful you get a second chance, but first, you must stop overanalyzing things. You're our Donna, not the sweet detective you once were before marrying my handsome son."
Jake knew he had left a lot of things unanswered, but he couldn't lose the one thing he vowed to protect. Regenia was his world, but Jake had done many bad things before she came along, and his wife knew. Sadly, everything he had told Regenia and everyone else was a lie. Jake wasn't the saint he pretended to be. He had skeletons in his past... evil ones and he didn't follow in his father's footsteps as he had told his daughter. Actually, he was a criminal who never got caught, but he wanted to change his life; therefore, he became an officer of the law, and everything was going well until Berardo showed his ugly face.
The man started digging into his past and eventually found something he could use against him. However, Jake wasn't the man someone could run over just because someone knew his past, and Berardo tried everything he could to get him to budge. Nothing he did worked until he found out about Regenia and had his partner threaten to kill her, but before then, Jake had made friends with Giuseppe. Although Giuseppe didn't know what Regenia looked like until after his arrest, he promised Jake he would take care of her if anything happened to him. Luckily for him Giuseppe, fell for her, and Jake knew she was safe. So, when she started speaking about how Giuseppe wanted to marry her, he encouraged her to do so.
"We need to talk—"
"About what Zoey?"
"For starters, let's talk about how you faked your fucking death, Jake! Do you know the hell you put Regenia through?" She yelled as he looked through his phone, refusing to acknowledge her. Jake was a little pissed because the woman he loved was engaged to another, but she did think he was dead. "Regenia's a big girl. She'll get over it."
"Is that all you have to fucking say? I can't believe you, Jake. I know you lived a fucking lie, and I helped you cover that. I played the damn villain so you could live your perfect little lie. I allowed your wife to raise my child while I sat on the sidelines. You promised me you would protect her—"
"AND I FUCKING DID ZOEY!" He shouted, making the woman step back, looking at him as if he lost his mind. "Look, I understand you're upset, but know I will move heaven and earth for my daughters. My past was starting to catch up to me. Berardo knew too much, and the only way I knew how to ended was to fake my death. I told my partner to shoot me, and I paid the nurses to help. Regenia needed to marry Giuseppe, and I knew she wouldn't have done it as long as I was around." He sighed while Zoey shook her head.
"Then you don't know our daughter the way you claim to. Regenia would have married Giuse either way. You raised her and couldn't see your daughter was in love with the man she was trying to help prosecute. She helped him because she wanted to, and she planned to bring you to Italy with them. Jake, all you had to do was tell her the truth. I'm disappointed in you, and FYI, you have lost your daughter's trust. If I were you, I'd start thinking of a way to make it right because Regenia isn't the same sweet little girl you knew a year ago..."
"Zoey—"
"No... no, we are over, so get your hands off me. I'm finally happy where I'm at in my life and it don't involve sneaking around and lying to my children. Jacob makes me happy, and we are planning to have a family. There are many beautiful women here. Find one." Jake chuckled, nodding. Although he loved Zoey, she was in love with another, and he couldn't find it in his heart to mess it up. Jacob was a good, honest man, and Jake needed to learn how to find that balance in his life.
"I love you and always will, but I'm happy that you are in love... Could you please ask our daughters to come speak with me?" Zoey pulled out her phone without a word, texting Regenia and Isla. Moments later, both walked through the door, allowing Zoey to leave. Jake could see the confusion in Regenia's eyes while Isla didn't know what to think, but it looked like she wanted to run.
"Regenia, I owe you an explanation, and Isla I want to get to know you better."
"I want to know why you felt the need to lie to me. That's all I need to know... you were the only person I had in this world before Giuseppe and his family. I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD! I... I cried for days; I left everything behind in New York—"
"Nia sweetie, I didn't mean to hurt you. I thought I was doing the right thing... I thought it would be better if I were out of the picture."
"Better for who? You? Or me?" Regenia questioned as Jake let out a deep breath, shaking his head. Zoey was right; Regenia wasn't the same as he remembered. Besides the loving woman he knew a year ago, she was cold mixed with a little of something else he couldn't put his finger on. "For you... before you start cursing me out, listen. I haven't been truthful with you. I lied about my past, and I'm sorry."
"Okay, then continue." She spoke coldly, causing Jake to search her eyes. He wanted to see if there was a tiny bit of the little girl, he once remembered left somewhere inside of her. "In my past I wasn't the ideal person that should had become a cop. I got to know your mother long before I married... because I ran with her father's crew. I did some things I regretted, and to make up for those things, I became a cop and married, but my heart belong to Zoey. Two years into my marriage, she got pregnant with you, and to keep our past quiet, she agreed to hand you over to my wife and me."
Jake was laying all his past before Regenia, and she looked unmoved. So did Isla. Maybe he made a mistake by allowing Nia to marry Giuseppe, but he kept his promise. Regenia was safe and loved. "I don't care about your past, Dad. I want to know why you couldn't trust me. I'm not blind or stupid. I know you faked your death to protect me, but I could have helped."
"I know you could have, but..." He sighed, reaching over to take his daughter's hand with a small smile. "I didn't think you would marry Giuseppe if I were around—"
"You asked him to marry me. I knew it!"
"I didn't ask Giuseppe to do a damn thing. He came to me the night before I faked my death and asked for your hand in marriage, but I knew I would be the reason you refused." Regenia shook her head. During that moment, Jake saw a glimpse of his little girl. "I came there that morning to tell you I was accepting his proposal. After doing some research, I realized how corrupt the precinct was. Berardo had them in his back pocket, and I knew my only way out was to marry Giuseppe, but that's not solely why I married him. Giuseppe cared for me in a way no other man did besides you. He made me feel safe; I was in love with him before I knew it. I love you, Dad, but you have to earn my trust again. Isla, the floor is yours." Regenia spoke, walking away.
"Isla—"
"You don't have anything to prove to me. I only want to know my Dad."