Page 22 of Privilege

Renzo’s jaw stiffened. “Like I don’t do it every other day?”

Lucia didn’t miss the bite in his tone if the way her smile faded was any indication. Maybe he took a little bit of satisfaction in that, but he wasn’t about to admit it. Renzo wasn’t the type to be an asshole just to be an asshole. But here he was.

Something about this chick made his nerves stand up on fucking end. Like little hairs that felt something annoying or bad, and were reacting to it being too close.

He knew exactly where Lucia Marcello came from, and she was nothing like him. A privileged little girl who probably never knew what it was like to struggle, or walk the streets day after day because she wouldn’t eat otherwise.

He doubted she knew any of that kind of shit at all.

And for some reason, it just irked him like nothing else that she was so willing to stand there like she was and act as though there was no difference between the two of them. As if the two of them were somehow on level ground when it came to the rest of the world. Like she wasn’t wearing designer and silk while he was running around in frayed jeans and a leather jacket that he’d won from a bare fist boxing match three years ago.

Like her heels didn’t have red soles.

And his combat boots weren’t scuffed all to hell.

He was the poor kid from the Bronx.

She was the trust fund baby with mafia connections.

Oil and water.

Lucia seemed to pick up on his hesitance to take a ride from her, and she shrugged. “It’s just a ride, you know. You seemed angry inside, and I thought maybe I could make it a little better.”

Renzo arched a brow high. “Better?”

“That’s what I said.”

“A ride isn’t going to make my life better, Lucia.”

He didn’t miss the way her throat jumped when he said her name, or how her pretty mouth drifted open a little more. He was noticing too much about this chick, and at the moment, his brother was getting heavier by the second on his arm.

He figured, why not let Diego decide? His kid brother always had a better feeling about people than Renzo did. It was a talent, really.

“What do you think, Diego,” Renzo started to say, “should we ride with her?”

Lucia huffed a bit.

Diego just smiled. “Yeah, Ren.”

That was that.

“Guess we’ll take a ride,” Renzo muttered.

Lucia’s hazel gaze glittered when she smiled brilliantly all over again. She even did a little bounce on her feet that only added to her sprite-like joy.

Yeah.

He was noticing way too much.

• • •

Renzo did well with silence. He liked it when things were quiet because that meant no one was yelling at him or demanding something. It meant the day was over, and he could try to relax a bit. Silence was his best friend, really.

Lucia was not the same.

He wasn’t sure if it was the fact that he was quiet, or because Diego had somehow fallen asleep in the back seat in the span of two blocks, but the woman wouldn’t shut up. She just chatted on like she was having a full-on conversation with him even though he hadn’t opened his mouth to say anything at all.

Renzo didn’t even know what she was talking about because he had started to tune her out about a block back even if she did look so animated about whatever the hell she was talking about.