Renzo (The Ciprianos of Kellington) (8 page)

“I told you before you
need to come more often to see me, Jaslyn. Once you come back to me on a
schedule, then things will be a lot better for you,” Chi said, grunting while
massaging Jaslyn’s shoulders. Even though she was a small woman, Chi had
strength in her hands. If she could, Jaslyn figured Chi hands would be
considered deadly weapons. Every time she would work on her back, she would
work in one spot for a while before moving onto the next spot.

Soon the phone rang as
Chi told her, “Don’t worry about the phone. I have it set where it will
automatically go to my voice mail. I can get the message from my blue tooth.”
After about three more rings, it stopped and Chi stopped to listen to the
message over her blue tooth. Jaslyn couldn’t see what was going on but soon she
heard her gasp in shock. “What’s wrong?”

“I got a call from one
of my friends in town. She told me something happened down at Filomena’s
restaurant just now. Renzo Cipriano’s ex-wife had a tantrum. Breaking plates
and glasses against the walls, people were screaming and trying to hide. It was
insane she said. Luckily Renzo grabbed hold of Melanie until the cops came to arrest
her.”

Jaslyn couldn’t believe
what she was hearing. “Did she say why it happened?”

“Something about a
woman is all she could tell me. Whoever she is really got under Melanie’s skin,
big time because she completely trashed the place.” Chi giggled. Jaslyn’s cell
phone rang in her purse. Chi grabbed it for her. “Thanks.” She saw it was the
shop.
“Yeah?”

“Are you all right?”
asked Delia.

“Yes, I’m fine. Why?”

“Oh, thank God. I just
found out Melanie went ballistic over at Renzo’s. He came over here looking for
you because he was worried.”

“Bless both your
hearts, but I’m fine. I’ve been here at Chi’s getting my massage. She got a
call too. Tell him I’m sorry that happened. I know he’s upset.”

“Upset is the
understatement of the year. He is beyond pissed, but mainly worried about you.”

“Can you please let him
know I’m fine? I’ll try and call him when I get back to the shop or tell him to
come by in about an hour.”

“I sure will let him
know, he was worried sick about if you were alright. Goodbye.”

Closing her phone and
putting it back in her purse, she laid back down as Chi asked, “Someone calling
about the incident?”

“Word is getting around
quickly,” Jaslyn said, thinking about what had happened and hoping Renzo was all
right.

* * * *

When Gianni, Filomena,
and Simone arrived at the restaurant, most of the crowd had dispersed, except
for a few cops and some gazers looking to see if they could see any more
commotion. Filomena headed straight inside. A gasp escaped her mouth when she
saw all the shattered plates and glass on the floor. “
Buon
Dio
,
che
cosa
è
successo
?” she asked
looking for Renzo.

“Mrs. Cipriano, how are
you?” asked Linda who was helping with cleaning up.

“I should be asking the
same of you, my dear, where’s my son?”

“He’s in his office.”

She walked to the back.
She had no doubt her son was going to be mad. She had told him when he had
decided to marry that girl that she was nothing but trouble. It was a shame he
had to finally see how just how conniving Melanie could actually be. When she walked
into his office, he was on the phone. He looked at her, got up and helped her
to a chair.

“Thank you, goodbye.
Sorry about that, trying to order some more plates and glasses.”

“Oh, my darling, are
you all right?” She held his hand.

“No worries, Mom. I’m
fine, just a bit angry at Melanie for putting a scare into my patrons and trashing
my place like she did and worried about Jaslyn.” Grabbing his glass of scotch,
he drank it down in one gulp.

“Jaslyn, what does she
have to do with what happened?”

“She has plenty to do
with it. For some reason Melanie thinks we are going together. She went to her
shop and even confronted her on the street. That’s why she came here breaking
everything. It seems they had words. Of course she didn’t like whatever Jaslyn
had to say.”

“Good grief, so where
is Melanie now?”

“In jail, where she can
cool off for the time being until she gets out. Jaslyn is at some appointment
from what Delia said.”

Filomena shook her head
in displeasure. She could only imagine how her son must be feeling. Looking at
her son’s exhausted glare, she gave him a hug. It was all she could do to hold
her tongue. She felt good when he held her while her small hand rubbed his
back. “I know you’ll get everything squared away. Walk me to the door because I
have things to get ready for next Friday.”

“Next Friday, what’s
going on next Friday?”

“Oh yeah, that’s right.
I’m having a formal party at the house. I’ve just given out the invitations
today. It’s nothing too big, just a couple of friends enjoying a good evening.”
They walked back up front.

“So that’s what you
were thinking up when we had the dinner.” He smiled. He saw his brothers
helping to clean up.

“Yes, I haven’t had a
formal party in forever, so I just decided to have one. Don’t worry about the
food that has already been handled.”

“She really did a job
on your place, bro,” Simone said sweeping up glass.

A frustrated sigh escaped
his lips while he looked around his restaurant. At least he was happy she
didn’t do any more damage than what she accomplished. He didn’t know what
happened between Melanie and Jaslyn, but whatever it was, it must have been one
hell of argument.

* * * *

The restaurant was
empty when Jaslyn frantically knocked on the door. Renzo ran to see who it was.
When he saw her standing there, he quickly opened the door. “Please come on
in,” he said. He watched her looking around, not saying a word.

She walked over to a
half empty plastic garbage bin still standing near where the fiasco occurred.
She turned and looked at him and he could see the concern in her eyes. “She
didn’t hurt you did she?”

“No, she didn’t. I was
more worried about you than myself.” He noticed she let out a sigh of relief.
It made him feel good she showed some compassion for him.

“I was having massage
therapy with Chi and she found out, then Delia called me about what happened
too. I didn’t know she would go off the deep end like she did.”

“Chi, you mean the lady
who gives massages? Why do you go to her? Please come and sit down, would you
like something to drink?” They walked over to a table.

“Ice tea would be
fine.”

He walked over to the
workers’ station, went into the small fridge, and brought out a pitcher of ice
tea. Grabbing two glasses, he poured their tea before making his way toward the
table. She grabbed one of the glasses from his hand. “Thank you, I go to Chi
for my back. I’ve had problems with it for years; I was going to a therapist
back home. She works wonders since I can’t take the pain meds the doctor gave
me. So what happened here?”

“You first, tell me
what happened out in the street,” Renzo said taking a sip.

“Well, I was walking to
my car so I could go to my appointment, and that’s when someone bumped into me
so hard I fell against the wall. I turned around and Melanie was standing there
in front of me. We had words, and then she had the nerve to tell me to stay
away from you. She basically thought we were together and was trying to warn me
about you. I told her I knew what she was up to and didn’t appreciate it one
bit and that if I ever saw her again, I would call the cops on her quicker than
she could say Holy Mary Mother of God.”

That made him cough, which
quickly turned into a laugh. He could only imagine what Melanie’s expression
must have looked like when she told her that. “I honestly wish I was a fly buzzing
around to see that happen. I know the look on her face was priceless.”

Jaslyn was glad to hear
him laugh because she could only imagine how frustrating his day had been.
“Listen, I’m sorry. If I hadn’t said anything to her she wouldn’t have messed
up your place.”

“No apologies
whatsoever. It wasn’t your fault at all. Melanie has done this before when she
thought I was dating someone. Made that girl’s life a living hell, as well as
mine, and she
was
only a good friend of mine.”

He moved in closer
toward her, observing her lovely hands and taking one of them in his own. It
had been a long time since he held a woman’s hands like this. Especially, those
of a woman he was interested in.
My God
her hands are so delicate
. “Whatever she got from you she deserved it and
then some. Just as long as she didn’t put her hands on you then I’m fine.” He
looked into her eyes, eyes that reminded him of honey jars glistening in the
sunshine. His thumb rubbed lightly against her cheek then softly against her lower
lip, so plump and full he could nibble on it for hours. Renzo quickly took her
into his arms, thinking that maybe she would resist him, but was surprised to
feel her welcoming his embrace. “
Lei è
una
visione
di
Dio
,” he whispered.

Renzo had never felt like
this before. His muscular arm held her around her waist while his hand touched
her face. When he touched her skin, every sensation in his body increased to
where he found himself overheated by the moment. He wanted to know how she
would feel in his arms.

Her hand rested on his
arm while he softly rubbed his scruffy cheek against her own. But, this wasn’t
what almost made him lose his senses. It was the smell of her alluring perfume.
A soft whimper could be heard when his lips touched her neck with feather-light
kisses. The haze of lust was interrupted when she felt him pulling her onto his
lap. “What the hell are you doing?”

“This is much better
now with you on my lap.” He rubbed her back as he looked into those eyes of
hers. “You can touch me if you want. I won’t bite, at least not hard, but I
will nibble.” She rolled her eyes. He went for her neck again making her
squeal, which pleased him to no end. His teeth lightly bit her neck under her
ear. She held him tight. Feeling her fingers running through the back of his
hair had his passion rising. Grabbing her face, he quickly kissed her lips.
Their tongues played games with each other and he could feel her arms wrap
around his neck as she accepted his kiss even more. His hands groped the back
of her blouse so hard he could have torn it to shreds. He wasn’t about to let
her go now that he had her in his arms. Soon they stopped kissing, resting
their foreheads against each other. “Look at me, Jaslyn.”

She opened her eyes and
gazed into his. “God, you taste delicious. Do you know that?”

“You’re the first to
tell me, but I’ll take your word for it. I do have a question though. What was
that you said to me in Italian?” Her fingers softly touched the nape of his
neck while he held her waist.

“You mean when I said ‘
Lei è
una
visione
di
Dio
’
?”

She nodded.

He smiled and
translated, “It means you are a vision of God. Would you like for me to teach
you some Italian right now?”

“Yes, please. I’d love
that.” Jaslyn smiled.

“Okay here is
something.
Sarò
sempre
tesoro
di
questo
momento
in cui
si
hanno
le
mie
braccia
. This means, I will always treasure this
moment of having you in my arms.”

“Teach me some more?”

“
Ho
intenzione
di
baciarti
e a
tenere
baciare
fino
a
quando
non
riesco
a
ottenere
abbastanza
del
sapore
delle
tue
labbra
.”

“Now that’s a mouthful,
what does it mean?”

“It means, my darling,
I'm going to kiss you and keep on kissing you, I can never get enough of the
taste of your lips.” A smile crept across his lips as he kissed her, tasting
and gripping her body once more. Their touch alone made the moment between them
more intense. He wanted all of her. He had to have more than just kissing. His
hand traveled down the front of her shirt and fondled her breast. God, she felt
like heaven. His hardness was protruding inside his pants, hurting him while
she innocently rubbed up against him. She had awakened him completely as he
continued to caress her breast. Her hips rocked back and forth into him. She
had to have known her effect on him for he was getting harder by the moment.
“Bite my neck a little, baby. God you don’t know what you’re doing to me,”
Renzo demanded.