Renzo (The Ciprianos of Kellington) (2 page)

“What’s wrong?” Delia
asked her.

“Nothing.”
Her hand rubbed the back of her neck, trying to prevent the hairs from
raising
up.

“Something is up. Did
he say something wrong to you?”

Jaslyn shook it off,
continuing to write up the order in the book. But she saw Delia walk over
toward her, she swore she could feel her eyes scanning her every movement.
“What did he say?”

“Nothing.”

“He had to have said
something to you to make you get all silent. Tell me, go on and tell me what he
told you.”

An exasperated breath
released from Jaslyn’s lips when she looked at her friend’s face to say, “All
he told me was to call him Renzo.”

Looking a bit perplexed
by her answer, Delia said, “That is all he told you, to call him Renzo, huh?”

“Yup, just to call him
Renzo.”

“All right, well if
that’s all he said then why do you look like you just came off the sun. The only
reason I say this is because you, girlfriend, are redder than a lobster.”

She scoffed. “Oh
please.”

“It’s true.” They both
began walking toward the back. “Tell me something, was it how he rolls his R’s
when he said his name that got you all hot and bothered?”

“How in the hell did
you know he rolled his R’s?”

Delia started to
giggle. “Let’s just say I know Renzo and those R’s. The only time he rolls them
is when he is interested in someone he wants to get to know a whole lot
better.”

“So you think he wants
to get with me then, huh?”

“Oh, sweetheart, I
don’t think so. I know so. Plus it’s been a long time since he’s done that to
any woman around here.”

Jaslyn just shook her
head. Honestly she didn’t know why she let something as simple as how a man
said his name get to her. But she had to admit, the sound rippled through her
body like nothing she had ever felt before in her life.

* * * *

“Who was that?” asked
Filomena while touching up her makeup.

“It was Ms.
Whitman,
she forgot to get your address for delivery. I’m
just glad that you were able to find the statue, Mom. I know the others will be
just as happy.” Renzo smiled holding her delicate hand.

“Your father would have
been so happy. He thought there was no use in trying to find it after all these
years. I kept telling him I would eventually and all would be well. So what are
your plans for today?”

“Going back to the
restaurant, but other than that nothing much else for today, what about you?”

“Probably finishing up
my book since I can’t get out to the garden today, but my flowers needed this
rain badly. Come by the house if you can, this is the first time in weeks since
I’ve seen you.”

Renzo had been a busy
man for the past couple of months. New ideas for both his restaurants seemed to
have paid off and business was booming. When he had decided to open up his
first restaurant,
Filomena’s
, his mother was honored to have it named
after her. His brothers, however, were not as thrilled. They thought the idea
would be stereotypical for an Italian to open a restaurant. He remembered
Simone had told him he needed to figure out something better to do with his
time than opening up another Italian restaurant. But he would remember the
times when he was a young boy, watching his mother cooking in the kitchen, how
the aroma of her cooking would lift his spirits as well as fill his stomach
with such great food. This was something he wanted to share with the public. He
wanted a setting where people would be comfortable while enjoying really good,
authentic, Italian food like his mother made for them. When his first
restaurant became a smashing success, three years later, he opened a second
restaurant,
Luana’s
, also after his mother and
success followed.

“I know, but business
is prosperous. Come by anytime, everybody has asked about you lately.” Renzo
smiled as they turned onto her street.

“I’ll come down next
week sometime. I promise
mia
cara
,
Renzo.” She lightly
patted his cheek. “Have you heard anything from the boys lately?”

“I talked with Federico
and Simone yesterday. Of course both have been busy. I haven’t talked to Gianni
in over a week since he’s been out of town. I think we need to have a family
dinner sometime soon.”

“How about we do it on
Sunday? Gianni will be coming home on Friday. I’ll make everybody’s favorites.”

Renzo liked the sound
of that and nodded in approval. They pulled up to the gate of her home.
Clicking the control button hooked to his visor, it immediately opened and he
drove along the cobblestone driveway. The Cipriano brothers made sure their mother’s
every wish came true. He remembered when he was just a little boy how his
father made sure their mother was always happy. She was put upon a pedestal and
treated like a true queen.

When they pulled up to
the front, he grabbed the umbrella from the back and got out to help her.
Taking out her keys, they walked to her door and she went to open it. She gave
him a kiss on the cheek before she said, “Have a wonderful day, and thanks for
coming with me to the shop.”

“You know I would do
anything for you. Ma, I’ll talk with you later.” He watched her go inside
before going back to his car to head back into town.

When she had asked him
to go with her to the antique store, he wasn’t looking forward to going
shopping for antiques. But Renzo had heard so much about the place and its
owner from one of his waiters, who said, ‘She’s a real nice piece of eye candy
man!’ He couldn’t take his employee’s word for it. Renzo had to find out for
himself. He had to admit that he was just about to give that guy a raise.

During the time his
mother and Jaslyn were talking and having tea, he had been watching her from
between the antiques. He had to admit that he liked what he saw today. When he
had handed her the check, he really got a good look at her up close. Bright
hazel eyes, the color of the honey his mom would get from the farmers’ market
for her tea. A smile that could melt anyone’s cold heart and lips that looked
like the softest he had ever seen—full, pink, and plump. It had seemed like
forever since he had been in a relationship. Not since his divorce had he even
been interested in any woman. His brothers called him ‘picky’ because they
thought he could have gotten with any woman he wanted. He would always irk them
by calling their good looks a curse since it seemed like whenever they all got
together, the women would flock to them like a bee to a flower.

Renzo was completely
different from his brothers when it came to women. They were looking for a one
night stand, while he was looking for companionship and love. Something he had
lost long ago in his divorce from Melanie.
Now that was a topic that should
have been buried when his signature dried on the divorce papers.
But she
would parade throughout the town in the most outlandish, skimpy and revealing
outfits he had ever seen.

He remembered, one time
in particular, when she came to his restaurant for dinner with a bunch of her
model friends from New York. She wore this very tight black dress which showed
off her breasts to the point where they could have popped out if she breathed.
If that wasn’t bad enough, she couldn’t even walk in the thing because every
step she made, the dress would rise up almost going over her ass. She would
pull it down, but it kept going right on up. She made sure to let everyone in
the place see her sashaying around as she tried her best to pull down that
dress.

He had first met
Melanie at his friend Al’s house warming party. He had no plans for hooking up
with anyone that evening, but he saw her standing on the patio alone. She was
the hottest looking woman he had seen in forever. She looked every bit like a
model with long, blonde hair that curled past her lightly tanned shoulders.
When she smiled, her dazzling pearly whites sparkled brightly along with her
emerald green eyes. They ended up talking and getting to know one another the
entire night. Soon the two were inseparable. The love making was mind blowing.
She pushed him to a point where he never thought he could have gone.

When they decided to
get married, his mother told him it was a bad idea. It was the one and only
time he didn’t listen to his mother’s advice. She had told him how she didn’t
like her eyes because of the way they seemed to shift whenever she was around
his brothers. But, he told his mother he was indeed in love with Melanie and
despite her protest the wedding would go on. She complied with his wishes to be
civil to Melanie and this seemed to make things between mother and
daughter-in-law work out just fine.

That was until it all
went down in one big heaping pile of crap eight years ago on November the
tenth. Things had been going pretty good for them—at least that’s what he thought.
He had been hearing rumors of Melanie hanging around with some shady looking
characters. But he knew in his heart these were all lies created by jealous
people who wanted to see him fail.

He
only wished he had listened to all the warnings from his friends as well as his
own brothers. But when you love someone as much as he did Melanie, you avoid
the negativity that crossed your path. He was on his way to meet her at a local
café, but decided to head on home to pick something up that he forgot. When he made
it home, he noticed a red Jaguar parked in the driveway. It wasn’t hers so he
thought maybe it was one of her girlfriends. When he got inside, he saw a pair
of men’s shoes next to hers near the door, then a trail of clothes leading to
the backyard and the Jacuzzi. What he saw would be burned in his mind for years
to come. He saw her riding the hell out of this mystery guy to the point where
their moans were loud enough to echo inside the porch. It took about three cops
to get him off of the guy. His mother was no solace when she came and almost
tore Melanie’s hair out of her head.

This scandal was the
talk of the town for the next year and a half and the messy divorce went for
another six months. Renzo decided after the divorce he would not rush into
another relationship right away. But it seemed that once he was divorced, he
was prime real estate for every woman in town. He wasn’t about to have it,
keeping mainly to himself, and keeping busy with his work as well as his
family.

When he pulled into his
parking spot at the restaurant, his thoughts continued back to the woman at the
antique store. He hoped she would accept his invite for lunch or dinner. He
wanted to see her again. Maybe he could stop by her shop again sometime to
pretend to look for something. Now that he had her in his sights, he wasn’t
going to let this chance of getting to know her slip away. He was a patient
man. He didn’t plan on rushing anything.

“Mr. Cipriano, it’s
good to see you,” Lisa the maître de said when he walked inside.

“Hello, Lisa.” He gave
her a smile while walking to the kitchen, which was a buzz of clattering pots
and pans, sizzling of beef, chicken, and seafood that smelled oh so good.

“Hey, Ren, what do you
think of this sauce,” said Warren, the head cook stirring a huge stainless steel
pot of pinkish red sauce. The aroma of whatever had been cooking hit him
quickly making his stomach growl. He watched Warren put some rigatoni on a
small plate and ladle the sauce over it. Grabbing a fork, he took a bite of the
pasta and immediately felt as if he had died and gone to heaven.

“This is truly amazing
Warren you’ve done it again. This is a vodka sauce, right?”

“Yes, how does it
taste?”

“Oh, it’s just right.
I’ll get Michael to make this tonight’s special if you plan to make a big batch
of it.”

“I am way ahead of you
there because I’ve already made two huge batches; I just wanted you to taste
this.” Warren chuckled as Renzo plated himself some more and broke off a piece
of crusty bread.

“Awesome. This is going
to go just great for tonight.” Taking his plate, he headed back out to the
dining area and sat in his own private booth. One of the many perks of owning
your own restaurant is trying out the latest creations from the kitchen.

“I’m sorry to disturb
you while you’re eating, Mr. Cipriano, but I needed to talk with you,” Lisa
said.

“Sure thing, Lisa, sit
down.” Wiping his mouth, he poured himself a glass of water.

“I know this is short
notice, but I need next Saturday off. My sister is having surgery on Friday and
needs my help afterwards.”

“Sure thing, Lisa, you
can have Saturday off. I’ll get Natalie to come in.”

“Thanks so much, Mr.
Cipriano, I do so appreciate this.”

As she got up, he
decided to ask her something. “Listen, Lisa, let me ask you a personal
question?”

“Sure what is it?”

“If a guy was to give
you flowers, what kind would you expect to get from him?”

The surprised look on
her face was priceless. She smiled. “Well my boyfriend gave me tulips since I
am not much into roses. I know a lot of women love them, but for me I like something
a bit different.”