Casanova (Minnelli Family Series Book 1)

Casanova Pt. 2

Amiri Minnelli
South of France

"You got time bruh? I gotta talk to you about something." I stopped by Antonio's office after getting in from Tahiti. He looks up from his binder of information in intrigue. "Take that look off your face." I laughed and reached for a hug.

"What you doing here bruh? I'm surprised you even decided to stop by." He checked his phone. "Without even letting me know first." He pulled out his best scotch and hands me a glass.

"I think I'm falling in love or maybe I'm just tripping." I readily admitted. "And Sicilia came to visit."

"Fuck that bitch want?" He wrinkled his whole face in disgust. "And fuck you mean you in love? With who? Sicilia?!"

"Nah, Zippy. I can't get her out my head bruh. Like she could be the one!" I started to think about how she looked in Tahiti and got hard all over again. Antonio sat quiet for a minute.

"Are you serious about her?" He zeroed in on me uncomfortably. He's the only person that could do that.

"I think I am." I shrugged. "I'm too old to be this indecisive." I mumbled taking a sip.

"My brother, you can't half ass this. If you want Zipporah, you need to keep it a buck with yourself about it. Give her that much."

"How did you let your old ways go?" I asked. Antonio kept quiet for a long time, stroking his beard.

"I knew Missy wasn't with the bullshit. My life at the time wasn't what she wanted. I just wanted to be better." He ended with a shrug. "Plus, these hoes wasn't hitting on nothing once I had a taste of her. Not just her body, but her mind. The way she still keeps me in check. And she didn't need me for shit. I needed her. Once I accepted that I needed her in my life, everything else came that much easier." Antonio was making so much sense. I hadn't even thought of calling another woman for sex since I started with Zippy heavy.

"I'm gonna think on it." I stood to leave.

"Remember what I said. If you ain't ready for a serious relationship with Zipporah, don't even pursue it. I'm serious. She deserves more than money and dick." Tonio started to laugh at my expression. I gave him the bird and left.

"Pops! You busy?" I stepped in his home office. He took his glasses off.

"Not for you. What's up?" He gave me his undivided attention. I went through the whole spill about Zipporah.

"I mean, she's just different..." I ended with a shrug.

"What do you want from her? She's told you what she needs from you. Can you rise to the occasion?"

"I don't even know...I just know how I feel at this point."

"Based on what you said, feelings don't do much for her. She needs tangibles."

"How did you change for Ma?"

"It actually started when Dionne was born." He stopped. "I knew she needed stability, but freedom. So I got out the game for good. And started courting her again. Then she chose me. BUT not without hard work. I knew she was what I wanted. Period."

"I want Zipporah."

"Then, make sure she knows that. Check your ego at the door."

That night, I met with Sicilia at one of the restaurants I owned.

"I'm glad you met with me. I'm divorcing my husband." She sat down in front of me. I blinked my eyes trying to find a care in the fucks I know I didn't give.

"This is significant why?"

"I thought about what you said about how we ended and just how wrong I saw. Amiri I still love you. I was just hurt over Angelo."

"Again. Why is this significant?" I asked again. The waiter interrupted the conversation to bring us the food.

"We're older now. More wise." She batted her eyes. "I'm serious. I miss you." I knew she was lying but in the moment, I just didn't care. We left the restaurant and headed back to the house.

"Face down. Ass up." I smacked her ass. Ripping the condom package open, I covered myself and watched her prepare for me...

Zipporah St. Victoire

"Baby it's you! You're the one I LOVE..." I was in my studio working on a new line of dresses, blasting Beyoncé. I always liked the Love on Top song but now my smile was way bigger than usual.

"Somebody must be in love..." Popper sat on one of the stools with an iced coffee in hand. "Casanova must be something serious huh."

"Yeah, he is." I blushed again.

"Are you going to see him before the show or what?" Popper asked, taking inventory for me.

"I plan on it but I have to finish my task at hand first."

"My dawg is in love. How does it feel?"

"It feels damn good." I smiled again. Popper's smile suddenly faded for a moment. I watched her curiously.

"So that means you're open to opening your heart up? Are you really ready for that?"

"I think I am. I deserve to be happy...I hope I'm right about this Popper. Sometimes it feels so right but I do have my doubts."

"Like what?" Popper asked as I sat next to her and away from the dresses I was working on at the moment.

"It could be too good to be true or maybe I'm overthinking this to some degree."

"Not everybody is like Marcus and you have to let that go..."

"You're right Pop..." we hugged and I got back to work.