Renzo (The Ciprianos of Kellington)

by Bergman, Jamallah

  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.

  Jaslyn leaned over and did what he asked. His moans turned to cries as he held onto her so tightly he honestly had to stop himself before he burst. “God, I don’t want to stop, but if we don’t I might end up taking you right here on the floor.”

  “I think so, too, because you are getting harder and harder by the minute,” Jaslyn said getting up from his lap. They straightened themselves up before he went to turn everything off. After rechecking everything, Renzo took her in his arms one last time, kissing her soundly on the lips. “We will continue this, I hope, very soon, mia colomba.”

  She nodded. “Mia colomba? What does that mean?”

  “It’s my new name for you. It means my dove, my delicate, lovely dove. ” He held her in his arms for a moment, not wanting to let her go. Outside he walked her to her car where they said their goodbyes until tomorrow.

  Chapter Six

  Jaslyn did something she hadn’t done in years…she had overslept that morning. For the first time in years, she felt giddy and overjoyed. She couldn’t believe that first kiss between her and Renzo in the restaurant the other night. Never in her life had she ever felt such passion in a kiss. When he had her in his arms, everything seemed to be on the table as far as bets were concerned. She had been smiling since she woke up, still staring up at the ceiling. So much for waiting a week, she chuckled. When the phone rang, it was Delia calling to see why she wasn’t in. “Hello?”

  “Where are you, girl, you’ve never been late for work. Is something wrong, are you sick?”

  “No, just forgot to set the alarm on my clock and woke up late. I’m fine. I’ll be there in about forty-five minutes.” She sat up in bed running her fingers through her hair and sighing.

  “Well at least you’re fine. I’ll see you when you get in,” Delia said.

  “See you then. Bye.”

  After getting ready for work and grabbing a banana from her fruit bowl, Jaslyn headed for her car. “What the fucking hell?” Before her stood a pile of trash and eggs piled high on top of her car. Someone had written, FUCK YOU BITCH in what looked like red paint across the side of her car. Her chipper mood from earlier was now replaced with rage. Getting on the phone she called the police and then she called Delia.

  “Hey, where are you?”

  “I’m still home.”

  “I thought you were on your way into work.”

  “Oh, I was until I came out and saw my car, it looks a garbage truck accidentally threw up all over it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Jaslyn could feel the tension in her neck. She had to sit down on the step to calm down. “Just what I said, Delia, someone trashed my car big time.”

  “What! How in the hell did that happen? Never mind. I’m on my way over to wait with you.” She hung up the phone while Jaslyn sat there looking at her car in the driveway. One of her neighbors was walking her dog. She knew as soon as the police arrived, the rest of the neighborhood would be out in droves. This was not how she wanted to start her day—waiting for the cops and having all of her neighbors staring at her. She got up from the step and went inside to get her camera so she could take pictures. Once she got back outside, she took pictures trying her best not to throw up from the foul smell of the garbage that wafted through the air. Then she realized not only was her car trashed the tires were all flat.

  “That skanky bitch,” Jaslyn said underneath her breath while the camera went click. Then her cell phone rang again. “Hello?”
r />   “Jaslyn is everything all right?” asked a frantic sounding Renzo.

  “Yes, I’m fine but my car isn’t.”

  “Listen, I’m on my way over there with Delia. She came by to let me know.”

  Before she could tell him don’t, he hung up. That only made her more aggravated because she didn’t need him coming here. Soon she could hear the police coming up the street with their sirens blaring. They stopped in her driveway. She recognized one of the officers from when he and his wife came into her shop.

  “Wow!” It was the first thing the officer said while slowly walking toward the car, tipping the front of his hat up to get a better look. “Hey, Jaslyn, are you all right?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine, just wasn’t expecting this shit.” She walked around the car with the officer. They both grimaced when they got close to it.

  “Doug, take pictures of the car while I get a report.” But before she could walk into her house, she heard the screeching of tires coming to a halt. She saw Delia and Renzo coming out of Delia’s car and the stunned expressions when they got a good look at her car. The look on their faces said just enough for her to know how shocked they were.

  “Holy shit!” exclaimed Delia. Renzo came up to her, scanning her body as if to see if maybe something else was wrong.

  “I’m fine before you say anything. My car is the issue for now.”

  “Can I ask you a question? Is my ex-wife still in jail?” Renzo asked an officer.

  “Actually no, she got out late last night on bail. Do you think she did this?”

  “Yes, I do. She and I had words before Mr. Cipriano’s fiasco at his restaurant. Let’s all go inside,” Jaslyn suggested. Once inside, Jaslyn, Renzo, and the cop sat on the couch while Delia sat on the loveseat.

  “What do you mean she had words with you?”

  “I was coming out of my shop yesterday, when she bumped me into the wall. She thinks Renzo and I are together as a couple and she told me to stay away from him. I told her I knew what she was up to and didn’t appreciate her playing childish games. I also told her if she got in my face again, that I would call the cops. This was our second encounter by the way. She came into my shop pretending to look around, but I know she was scoping me out.”

  All the cop could do was stand there shaking his head as he got on the radio. Renzo was holding her hand. She looked at him with a small smile and nodded when the officer said, “I’ve got an officer going to her house to bring her in for questioning. I’ve never seen anything as crazy as this, and I’ve been on the force for too many years. Do you know what you need to do to get your car straightened out, Jaslyn?”

  “Well, I already took some pictures of the car for my insurance company. Lord, knows I’ve been out of it. I completely forgot I need to call them up.

  Renzo said, “I’m going to have everything taken care of before the day is through. So that will not be a problem. I’ll have some guys come over to clean up the mess and we’ll get it towed.”

  “Let me know where you will tow it because we need to take more pictures of the car. I’m sorry this happened to you, Jaslyn, I really am. We’ll get in contact with you.”

  “Thank you.”

  He walked out of the room leaving Jaslyn aggravated to the point where she could almost spit. “All I know is that if I see that bitch out on the street I will jump her right then and there.” Jaslyn got up and went into the kitchen to try to calm down and get something to drink.

  Delia and Renzo could only stare at her while she continued talking over and over about what had happened. “Now you know you don’t plan on hurting Melanie, you’re just frustrated and angry right now. Why don’t you come and sit down or we can go to the shop,” Delia suggested.

  “I don’t think I should be going into work…at least not today.”

  “Well you can’t hang around here all day looking out at that car and staying mad as hell,” Delia reminded her.

  “Come on, let’s take you to the shop, Delia. Jaslyn, I know a place where you can go that’s peaceful.” Renzo got up, took her once again by the hand, and grabbed her purse as they all left her home.

  When they got back into town, Delia opened the shop. Whereas Renzo and Jaslyn went to his car and he helped her in. She was annoyed by the turn of events. Never had she been so mad in her life. It brought back sad memories of when her and her ex would argue, how angry she would get with him. She would always end up with a migraine from their shouting matches. It made her uneasy so she shook off the memory, remaining quiet until Renzo said, “I’m sorry about all of this, Jaslyn. If I knew she was going to go overboard like this I wouldn’t have…”

  “You wouldn’t have what, got involved with me?”

  “No, I wouldn’t have let her get this far. I would have put a stop to this from the get go.” They turned up to a long driveway that led up to a beautiful home resembling an Italian villa. They waited for someone to answer the beautiful, iron gate. Taking hold of her waist he said, “Smile for me, Jaslyn, I can’t stand seeing you angry like this. Just let me see you smile before I leave you here with my mom.”

  “All right, if you don’t give me a smile, I plan on doing something I haven’t done in a very long time.”

  She was clearly puzzled, but soon fingers were digging into her sides and she screamed. She slapped his chest and he stopped while she collected herself, “That wasn’t funny.”

  “Yes, it was.”

  “No, tickling me like that wasn’t funny at all, Renzo.”

  “It was funny and you know it,” Renzo whispered.

  She snorted. “No, it wasn’t funny so quit trying to make me smile.” Jaslyn looked at the exquisitely intricate door with its full-bloomed roses cradled with leaves, noticing in the middle of the door was a cursive letter ‘C’ for Cipriano. She was about to touch the letter when she saw Gianni coming to open the gate. “Hey you guys come on in, what’s going on?”

  “Your brother is trying to get me out of my foul mood,” Jaslyn said following him into the main house. The aroma of fish cooking in the kitchen made her head straight toward it. She saw Filomena sprinkling some green herbs into a pot, grabbing a spoon and stirring it. “Hello, Mrs. Cipriano, something smells real good.”

  “Hello, my dear Jaslyn.” Filomena walked around the island giving her a hug. “Why are you here?” She looked over at Renzo and Gianni.

  “Your son thought it would be best I came here to cool off before I went on the war path after your ex-daughter-in-law. It seems she trashed my car and when I mean trashed it, I mean it makes garbage dumps jealous. Is there some place I can make a call on my cell? I’ve got to call up my insurance company, I forget to call them while I was at home,” Jaslyn asked.

  “Sure thing, darling. Gianni, show her to the office so she can have some privacy. When you’re done you can have something to eat with us.” Watching her leave, Renzo got a hard smack upside the back of his head as she heard his mother say, “Stupido, ti ho detto che la donna era nient'altro che guai.”

  “I know, Ma, I know. I didn’t think she was going to do something as stupid as this. I don’t even know how she got so much trash on the car in the first place. Hell, I don’t even think there was a car underneath all that mess. I don’t know why she is doing all of this.”

  “Because she’s a jealous hearted bitch, that’s why. She can’t stand to see you happy and now that you are, she’s making both your lives hell. I feel sorry for that girl, for what Melanie has put her through so far.” She went back to the stove and continued stirring the Pomodoro sauce.

  “Actually, I feel sorry for Melanie. Doing all of this to try and get back at me for something I haven’t even done to her. I honestly don’t even know what I’ve ever done to her to make her act the way she does.” Renzo could only shake his head when he thought about it.

  “Are you staying to eat?”

  “I can’t. I have to go make sure things are straight with her car and that the people I called to clean up are
doing the job. I’ll come back a little bit later on to see how things are going. But let me go and say goodbye to Jaslyn.” Giving her a kiss on the cheek, Renzo walked down toward the office where she was making her calls.

  * * * *

  “Yes, ma’am, I’ll hold thank you,” Jaslyn said sitting back in a leather chair, rubbing between her eyes in frustration.

  “Would you like for me to get you something for your head?” Gianni asked.

  “Thanks, I would like that.” He walked out of the office as she continued to wait for the insurance company’s customer service rep. Thankfully, she didn’t give her a hard time. All she would need to do was email her the pictures she had taken along with the police reports. “If you give me the email address, I’ll do that this afternoon once I get home. Uh-huh, was that a d or a b as in boy? All right a b, okay I have it, thanks so much, ma’am. Have a great day too. Goodbye.” Hanging up the phone she released a deep sigh while resting her head against the chair. Hearing footsteps, she saw Gianni as well as Renzo walking in. Gianni had a glass of water. “Here you go.” He handed her two aspirins along with the water. She got up and downed them both.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. How’d it go?” Gianni asked her.

  “Better than I thought, at least I didn’t get one of those operators who want to give you a hard time. I just gave her what she needed and she told me I can email her pictures. I just can’t believe that this is happening to me.”

  “Well, I’m glad that it was easy on you. I came to tell you I was heading back to work, I’ll be back later on to see how you are,” Renzo said holding her hand. They walked down the hall to the kitchen where Filomena was still cooking.

  “Is everything okay, my dear?”