Renzo (The Ciprianos of Kellington) (13 page)

“Oh no, nothing at all,
bro, I was just wondering what you were doing out of your room wearing nothing
but your briefs. Plus the fact that you went into the room where Jaslyn was
supposed to be sleeping. So if she didn’t sleep in her own room, where did she
sleep?” The grin on his brother’s face should have pissed Renzo off, but that
morning was a new start to a brand new life. Rubbing his jaw, he gave his
brother a wink before he walked back into his room. He wasn’t about to let
anything ruin his day now that he had Jaslyn.

* * * *

They managed to get
showered, even though Renzo was having a hard time keeping his hands off her.
While she was fixing her hair in the mirror, he wrapped his arms around her
waist. He sighed deeply. “God, you feel so good.”

“So do you. Let’s go,
lover boy, and eat breakfast.”

When they got into the
kitchen, the rest of the Cipriano clan sitting around the table eating paused
briefly to looking at them. “Good morning,” Jaslyn said, grabbing a plate from
the kitchen island.

“Good morning, dear,
sleep well?” Filomena asked, grabbing some papers on the counter.

“Yes,
ma’am.”
Plating scrambled eggs and bacon, Jaslyn picked up
a slice of toast and buttered it.

“Do you want orange or
grapefruit juice?” Renzo asked with a smile.

“Orange, please.” She
glanced over at the table and saw the brothers smiling at the two of them.
Looking over at Renzo once more, he gave her a wink and handed her the glass
while she walked over to the table with her food. Sitting down next to Simone,
she began to eat, but soon noticed the eerie silence in the kitchen. No one was
saying a word. When she looked at the brothers’ faces, she could tell they knew
that they had made love last night. Shaking her head and smiling she continued
to eat until Filomena asked, “I’ve got to go into town to meet with people
about the party.
Hanno
un
grande
giorno
i
miei
figli
.
And have a wonderful day, Jaslyn, dear.” Giving her a kiss on the side of her temple,
she walked over to her sons and gave them kisses before leaving.

Once the door closed,
Federico shot off the comment, “So how was it?”

“How was what?” asked
Jaslyn as Renzo came and sat down next to her.

“You know what.” His
smile was coy and playful and she knew he was trying his best to get her to
cave and answer his question. When she looked at Renzo, she could tell he was
getting angrier by the moment. She decided to calm him down a bit by giving him
a kiss.

His lips slowly
accepted her kiss. His arm locked around her waist, holding her close to him
until they stopped and she looked up at him, they both laughed at each other.
“Does that tell you how it was, stupid?” Renzo said, nuzzling Jaslyn’s cheek.

“I got it, brother, I
got it,” Federico said with a smirk as Gianni and Simone chuckled.

“Well, I for one am
happy for you. It’s good to see a smile on our older brother’s face.” Gianni
patted his brother on the shoulder and pinched Jaslyn’s cheek.

“Thanks you guys, well
we better go I’ve got too much to do today,” Jaslyn said as she grabbed her
purse. “Have a great day, everybody.”

“Goodbye!” said the
brothers.

When she left, Renzo
went and smacked Federico upside the head. Before Federico could say a word
Renzo gave him a stern look and pointed his finger at him before following
Jaslyn out.

The ride into town
wasn’t long enough for Jaslyn, even though he was driving
slow
enough for a funeral procession. “Did you want to go by the shop first or by
the police station?”

“I think we need to go
by the police station. I’ll call up Delia and have her meet us there. I should
have called her before I left the house.”

Going into her purse,
she grabbed her cell and after the second ring she heard, “Hey, girl, how are
you?”

“Doing fine, listen
Renzo and I are headed over to the police station. Can you meet us there
because I know they will want your report too?”

“Sure, see you there.”

“Bye.” Then to Renzo,
she said, “She’ll be waiting for us there.” Jaslyn smiled as he grabbed her
hand and kissed it. Sighing, she looked out the window wondering what was going
to happen when she confronted Melanie.

When they pulled up
into the parking lot of the police station, she saw Delia standing in front.

“Hey you guys!” Delia
shouted waving. When they came up to her, she gave them a baffling look.

“What’s wrong?” asked
Jaslyn.

“I don’t know something
just feels different.” She kept looking at them for a moment more, but then
shook it off as they went inside.

“We are here to see
Officer Taylor,” Renzo told the lady behind the desk.

“And you are?”

“Renzo Cipriano.”

She spoke into the
phone then smiled. “He’ll be on his way, just sit down over there.” The three
of them went and sat down and Delia really sat back and watched them.

“You’re holding hands?”
Delia said, turning to get a better look at them.

Jaslyn looked at Renzo’s
fingers interlocking with her own. Looking over at him, she smiled and then looked
back at Delia who was now wide-eyed and smiling. “You guys are holding hands.
Oh my God, does this mean you guys are together?”

Giving a cocky smile,
Renzo didn’t say a thing at first, but then gave Jaslyn a look and Delia’s
mouth opened even wider. “What do you think?” Jaslyn inquired trying her best
not to smile but couldn’t help it.

“Oh my God, this is
great. Oh, I am so happy for you both, so what do you plan on doing next?”

Renzo kissed her hand
while smiling and told Delia, “We will see. We have to talk things out.” Jaslyn
nodded in agreement as the door opened and Officer Taylor stepped into the
room.

“Hello, everybody,
please come back here with me,” said Officer Taylor. They followed him into a
room where a lone table and four chairs stood in the middle. They sat down and
Officer Taylor put a folder on the table. “We interrogated Melanie until she
caved in and told us about some accomplices who had helped her. One of which
works for the sanitation department, that’s how they were able to get the
trash. From what she had told us, they came to your place around three
forty-seven in the morning. The man and another friend drove two dump trucks filled
with trash. She proceeded to slash your tires and threw paint as well as wrote
fuck you bitch
in red paint. Then they
went and dumped trash on your car. She told me she paid them a grand each. We
arrested them as well but there was something else that we found out, Jaslyn.”
The look on his face showed he honestly didn’t want to tell them what was coming
next.

“Well, what is it?”
Delia asked.

“She had been plotting
to hire someone to either burn your house or antique store down. One of the
dump truck drivers we talked to stated Melanie had wanted to know if he knew of
anyone that could go to your house or the store and make it look like it was an
electrical problem. At first the guy was apprehensive, but then he asked what
if anybody would be in the home. She stated she didn’t care if that bitch was
in the house much less if anybody was in the store.”

Jaslyn honestly
couldn’t believe how vindictive this woman was to not only make their lives
like a horror movie, but was willing to have her killed or have her place
burned to the ground. Just so Melanie could prove a point to Renzo that she
meant business. “She’s still in custody, right?” asked Jaslyn.

“Yes, we have charges
of harassment, vandalism, terroristic threats as well as a conspiracy charges.
She will be going to court probably within the next two weeks. I will call you
when we have a date set for court so that you can all be there,” he told them.

When they got back to
the parking lot, Renzo was cursing underneath his breath.

“Well, that was
something to hear, wasn’t it,” Delia said. Jaslyn looked up at Renzo’s
distraught face.

“I’m sorry, Jaslyn.”

“Sorry, about what?”
She didn’t understand why he was sorry for anything because none of this was
his fault.

“Sorry for putting you
through all this crap. If I had known—”

“But you didn’t know,
none of us knew it would go this far, sweetheart, so don’t beat yourself up
over it.” Resting her hand on his cheek, she saw the smile that reassured her
that her words made sense to him. He kissed her lips and whispered something
softly against her ear, which made her smirk a bit and she nodded. “I’ll hold
you to that, Mr. Cipriano. Well, we better head onto work, Delia, another day
another dollar.”

 
“Listen, how about that dinner I promised? We
can do it tonight, something to get us away from town. What do you say?”

After the day she had,
a little bit of time out of town would be nice she thought. “I think I’ll take
you up on that, Mr. Cipriano.”

“Good, I’ll call and
make reservations for tonight. I’ll come and pick you up after work and we can
go by your place to get your things that you’ll want to wear. Then we can go to
my mom’s to get ready and we can go afterward,” Renzo told her.

“I don’t know, Ren. I
mean, I don’t think I need to stay at your mom’s again tonight.”

“Sweetheart, I would
rather have you at my mom’s house than alone with no car at yours. There’s no
telling what Melanie could do, even though she’s in jail right now. She has her
ways, believe me, and I know Delia will agree with me. We’d both feel better if
you were some place safe. At least until all of this mess has died down a bit.”

“Renzo is right,
hon
, we are only thinking about your safety, and you don’t
know Melanie like the rest of us do.”

Jaslyn completely
understood. They were right. It would be foolish right now to stay at home. “All
right, I’ll wait for you to pick me up after work then.” His lips kissed her
forehead, which sent shivers through her body as they parted ways.

While they drove back
toward the square, Jaslyn heard Delia say, “Renzo and Jaslyn sitting in a
tree…K. I. S. S. I. N. G!”

Jaslyn didn’t say a
word, she just shook her head as she continued, “First comes love and then comes
marriage, then comes Jaslyn with a baby carriage.”

“I swear you will so
get it later on, girl.” She was trying her best not to laugh but it was funny.

“With twins, you’ll
have twins.” That’s when they both cackled before pulling up to the shop.

“You are absolutely
nuts, woman, I swear.” Jaslyn wiped a tear from her eye as they both got out.
Another day another dollar, Jaslyn thought while opening the door.

One of the problems
with living in a small town is that gossip tends to run rampant. Word got out
about Jaslyn’s car getting trashed and who was at fault. It seemed like
everybody from the block was coming over to the shop, not to buy but to hear
what had happened. “You want to know what I think?” asked Marilyn, who owned
the fruit stand where Jaslyn got her fruit from. “I think that Renzo picked the
right one in you, Jaslyn. Renzo and I graduated high school together, so I’ve
known him for most of my life. When he was with Melanie, he was miserable. Even
though he never wanted people to notice, I did along with some of his friends.
Melanie was not his type from the get go, way too uppity. Always thought
everybody in town was below her just because she was a model and had been all
over the world.” Marilyn scoffed.

“She always went around
town in some of the most outlandish outfits, kind of like the dress she wore
when she came in here. After they got the divorce, it seemed that she could get
with whoever she wanted. But when it came to Renzo trying to find interest in
any woman here in town or outside of town, she made sure he was miserable. I
know she has someone spying on him at the restaurant because honestly how could
she have known that you guys were having lunch here at the shop?” Delia pointed
out to her.

“Do you remember
Rebecca, Delia?” Marilyn interrupted. Jaslyn listened to Delia groan when she
said the girl’s name.

“Who’s Rebecca?” Jaslyn
asked.

“Lord
have
mercy Rebecca, now that’s a name I haven’t heard in
months. Actually, it’s been I would say about three and a half years now since
that incident happened. Rebecca worked over at Tilly’s flower shop, she did
some of the most beautiful arrangements you had ever seen in your life. She met
Renzo by way of a
delivery,
one of the waitress’
husbands had some flowers sent for her birthday. Well, this was her first time
going to the restaurant and she had been here for like what…I think it was
about two months. She brought the bouquet there and he gloated on how beautiful
the flowers were and introduced himself. That’s all it took for her to fall
head over heels in love with him. So for the next couple of months, she would
go and have lunch at the restaurant. Always sitting in the same booth, right
where she could see him go walking by. I think this went on for about a year.”
Delia looked over to Marilyn as if she was trying to remember whether she was
right or not.