Renzo (The Ciprianos of Kellington)

RENZO

The
Ciprianos
of
Kellington
Book 1

Jamallah
Bergman

Erotic Romance

Secret Cravings
Publishing

www.secretcravingspublishing.com

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A Secret
Cravings Publishing Book

Erotic Romance

Renzo

Copyright © 2013
Jamallah
Bergman

E-book
ISBN: 978-1-61885-796-5

First E-book Publication: September 2013

Cover design by
Dawné
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Edited by Colleen
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Proofread by
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DEDICATION

I
would like to dedicate this book to my good friend and fellow author Jane White
Pillatzke
. Thanks for always lending an ear to listen
as well as to laugh and I can’t say enough about how I am so glad to have you
as a friend and confidant in life. Again I thank you and love
ya
.

Also
I would like to dedicate this book to another good friend Jimmy Thomas for just
being as sweet as he can be and also being such a great inspiration for me as
well as others whose book covers you grace. Thanks hon.

And
as always….my fans and friends….thanks so much for making this journey such a
memorable one for me. Every day is always an adventure for me and I love how
this has all gone. Much Love to you all!

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RENZO

The
Ciprianos
of
Kellington
Book 1

Jamallah
Bergman

Copyright
© 2013

Chapter One

Droplets of rain softly
pelted her head. Jaslyn knew she should have brought her umbrella with her, but
she had been in a bit of a rush. Today, she was meeting with a potential buyer for
a statue portraying a mysterious smiling woman. She had been trying to sell the
piece for the past couple of weeks. It was raining harder than she thought
possible as she entered her shop, Timeless Treasures. Her good friend Delia was
dusting one of the shelves. “Are they here yet?”

“No, not just yet, you
got at least ten minutes.”

Going
into the back, Jaslyn went to make
herself
presentable. Even though she had opened up her shop only eight months ago, it
was the talk of the town. Never would she have thought about moving to
Kellington, Pennsylvania, but she needed a change. Her life back in New York had been
something not even a novelist would want to write about. She was in desperate
need of a new start when Delia suggested she move here. Once she came to visit Delia
for a weekend, she immediately fell in love with the town and the people who
lived there. It wasn’t like the hustle and bustle of New York. No, Kellington really had that
feeling of belonging that she had dreamed of finding. It was like someone had
opened up their arms, welcoming her into the safety and warmth she sought after
her ordeal. Everyone had a smile on their face, always helping out their fellow
neighbor in need. There was always something happening in town, nothing
dramatic, but more positive and family oriented. Jaslyn needed more positivity
in her life and she had hoped the town, as well as the people, would do the
trick.

She
decided to rent an old
store,
moving most of her
antiques from her other store in Greenwich Village to this one. It didn’t take
long for the word to get out and it seemed like things were flying out the door
faster than she could get new stuff in. With Delia helping her out in the shop,
it made working more fun.

Looking
at herself in the bathroom mirror, she shook some of the water from her long,
dark brown hair. When she got home, she would have to touch up her curls again.
For now she had to settle with looking presentable for this particular client,
who was someone well known in town—Filomena Cipriano.

Anyone
who lived in Kellington knew of the Cipriano family. They shaped Kellington
into what it was today—at least from what Jaslyn had been told. When Delia took
her to dinner her first night out, they went to an Italian place called
Filomena’s.
She had been to numerous Italian restaurants when living in
New York, but the food had never been so amazing. It got to the point where she
had to keep herself away for fear of gaining more weight. Even though she was a
curvy girl, she was always self-conscience about her weight, however, never to
the point it took over her life. She knew her limits and never went overboard.
However, when her taste buds feasted upon Filomena’s marinara sauce for the
first time, Jaslyn was completely hooked.

Touching
up her makeup, she smiled to make sure there wasn’t any lipstick on her teeth.
Grabbing a paper towel, she dabbed some water droplets that had fallen upon her
caramel brown cheek. Looking up at the clock, only eight more minutes before
she will be here, she thought to herself. She decided to start making tea,
thinking Mrs. Cipriano would want some after being out in the rain.

“I
hope she decides to buy the statue,” Jaslyn told Delia while waiting for the
electric kettle to heat up the water.

“I
know what you mean.”

“Hopefully,
once she looks at the statue, she’ll buy.”

“If
I know Filomena, she will buy immediately.” Delia smiled, going over to the
kettle to set up the tea.

The
bell that hung over the door rang as someone walked into the shop. Jaslyn went
to greet the woman at the door.

“Hello?” said Mrs.
Cipriano as she took off the rain cap from her straight, long, grey hair, which
was done in a neat ponytail.

“Hello. Mrs. Cipriano,
I presume?”

“You presumed
correctly, my dear. Please call me Filomena.” Her voice had a distinctive
Italian accent, which made her sound as if she was royalty.

“Please, come on in.
I’ve made us some tea.”

“Oh, thank you, my son
should be here soon. He wanted to come with me so he could take a look at this
statue I want to buy.”

They walked over to the
area that Jaslyn used to talk with her clients. Delia had already brought over
the tea. Jaslyn sat down to pour a cup for her. “Would you like one lump or
two?”

“Two, please.”

Putting in two lumps of
sugar, Jaslyn handed her the cup and made her own when she heard the woman say,
“When did you get this statue? I have been trying to find this particular one
for a number of years. That is, if this is the one I am looking for.”

“I came across it like
a couple of months ago. I honestly loved it. It is an unusual piece of work.
Whoever sculpted this statue really took their time making sure every line of
it was perfect. I haven’t seen such work done like that in years. I do know the
statue was made with
Bianco
Buca
marble, which is from Lucca. I don’t know who the woman depicted was, but I do have
to admit that whoever she was, she was very beautiful. Plus, I found it
interesting that the sculptor even went into detail with her smile. They
actually showed her teeth a bit. You don’t normally find something like this.
The gentleman I got it from had kept it in his basement for a number of years.
When I went to the estate sale, I was shocked how well preserved it was even
though he had it under wraps for about twenty-five years.”

Taking a sip of tea,
Jaslyn heard the bell ring once more, guessing it must be the son.

“Where are you, Mom?”

“Over here, Renzo
dear!” she shouted waving her hand.

Jaslyn had heard about
the Cipriano men before—how handsome they were and their reputation for sexual
conquests with most of the eligible women in town. When she saw this particular
Cipriano male coming toward them, she was dumbfounded by how handsome this man
was.

“I brought the umbrella
from the car, even though I know you didn’t want to bring it out.” He smiled
down at his mother.

His voice sounded deep
and smooth.

“Thank you, sweetheart,
why don’t you go and look around while Ms. Whitman and I have our tea.”
Filomena continued to sip on her tea.

The good looking Renzo
nodded and headed into the shop.

“If you have any
questions, Delia can help you out!” Jaslyn called out to him.

“Forgive my son. He
doesn’t like going shopping with me much. I would have brought my other son,
Gianni, but he’s away on business.”

“That’s quite all right.
Most men don’t care for shopping, but they always ask for a woman’s advice on
things.”

“So true indeed, how
has your business been going so far, Ms. Whitman?”

“Pretty good, I can’t
complain.”

“Well, I have plenty of
friends that I will be referring you to, if I like what I see today. Let’s go
and take a look shall we.” Both women made their way to the back of the shop.
When she came over to the covered statue, Jaslyn slowly pulled off the sheet.
She heard Filomena gasp. “
Boun Signore
,
Renzo, come quickly!”

Jaslyn was surprised as
he came from around the corner at top speed. He was wearing a concerned
expression. When he looked at the statue, he appeared relieved and reached out
to hug her.

Jaslyn did not know
what to think when she saw the old woman tear up. She watched her walk slowly
toward the statue, which was that of a young woman holding a flower against her
cheek. Her small delicate fingers touched the woman’s smiling face while she
continued to tear up even more. “
Amore
mio
,” she softly whispered while wiping a tear from her
cheek.

“I’m sorry, Mrs.
Cipriano, I didn’t mean to upset you,” Jaslyn whispered in concern.

“No, my dear, no you
haven’t upset me at all. You’ve brought great joy to my heart. It is
overwhelming just to see this statue again.” She continued touching it while
smiling sweetly. “How much do you want for the statue, Ms. Whitman?” Renzo
asked going into his jacket to pull out a check book.

“I quoted your mother
four hundred fifty dollars.”

Going over to the desk,
he quickly scribbled out the check.

Jaslyn continued to
look over at Mrs. Cipriano, still wondering about her reaction to the statue.
Hearing the ripping of the check, she turned to look at Renzo.

He gave her a dazzling
white smile as he handed it to her.

She had never seen such
a stunning smile.

He was a handsome
specimen of man with broad shoulders and black hair just starting to show grey
around the temples.

His brown eyes sparkled
down at her and she feared she was going to blush. When she looked over at the
check, her eyes almost bulged from her head. He had written her a check for a
crazy amount of money. “This check is for five grand.”

“Yes.”

“But the statue is only
four hundred fifty, why are you paying me five grand for it?”

He chuckled. “You have
to understand something about this statue, Ms. Whitman. When my parents came to
Kellington to make a place for
themselves
here, my
father had a friend back in Sicily make a statue of my mother. He had it
shipped here, but it ended up being stolen. It was very upsetting for my
parents, because my father had it specially made for their wedding anniversary.
It was supposed to have gone in the garden my mother now has today as a
centerpiece of their love and devotion to each other. After years of trying to
find it, we couldn’t pin point its whereabouts anywhere. But my mom has been
persistent with her search for it, and as you can see she is very thankful to
have found it in your shop. You must understand, Ms. Whitman, you’ve made my
mother happy and that is worth the price I have given you for it.”

Filomena came over and
hugged her, catching her completely off guard. Then, she started speaking
swiftly in Italian to Renzo. “I’m glad to have been able to bring some
happiness back to you, Filomena. I can have it delivered to you tomorrow
morning.”

“That sounds just fine.
Again, I want to thank you so very much for bringing a bit of happiness back
into my life.”

Jaslyn smiled as the
three of them walked to the front of the shop and said their goodbyes. Renzo
said, “Please feel free to come by my restaurant anytime you like, lunch or
dinner is on the house.” The two walked out the door, leaving her completely
dumbfounded by what had just transpired.

Delia came into the
shop by way of the basement door. “Did they get it?”

She nodded, handing the
check to her still looking at the front door.

“Didn’t I tell you they
would pay for the statue?” Delia shouted when she saw the amount on the check.

“That you did, and it
was a bit of nostalgia because the statue was of her when she was young.”

“Wow! Such an amazing
story and he gave you five grand for it too? I know she must have been happy.”

“She really was. He
also told me that I could come to the restaurant for lunch or dinner.” Jaslyn
giggled walking over to the register to write up the order for the statue. This
had to be her lucky day even though it was raining harder than ever outside.
This was her biggest sale so far. She remembered the look in Mrs. Cipriano’s
eyes when she saw the statue for the first time in
years,
the amount almost meant nothing to Jaslyn. Just the fact that she was able to
have put a bit of happiness into someone’s life was good enough for her.

“Do you want me to call
Rodger to have him do the delivery?” Delia asked.

“Jesus, I completely
forgot to ask them where to deliver it.”

“What about the check
he gave
you,
it might have his number on it?”

Looking on the check,
she thanked God it did have a number on it and quickly dialed it. Waiting for a
moment, Jaslyn tried to find a pen that actually wrote in the cup next to the
register. “Hello?”

“Yes, Mr. Cipriano,
this is Jaslyn down at Timeless Treasures. I’m sorry for calling, but I need
your mother’s address for delivery tomorrow.”

“It’s 14820 Chancery
Cove and her phone number is 548-3643,” he said while she wrote down the
information she needed.

“I will see if I can
get our guys to bring it over around noon, if not I will call her and let her
know when. Thanks so much, Mr. Cipriano.”

“I should be thanking
you, Ms. Whitman, and please call me Renzo.” The way his tongue rolled the “R”
in his name caused her heart to flutter a bit. It sounded way too good, she
thought as they said their goodbyes.