Page 59 of Privilege

Renzo smiled. “Nothing—you look good. Happy. Any news, then?”

“Well, I passed the practical, the presentation, and I’m pretty sure the verbal, but I have to wait for confirmation.”

“So, a good night, then?”

Rose nodded. “A great night, Ren.”

“Good.”

He had a million and one other things he wanted to say, too. Like how much his sister deserved this, and that it was no wonder she earned her high marks and praise with how hard she constantly worked. He wanted to tell her that every single piece of art he saw with her name on a small plaque at the bottom made him feel a pride she would never be able to understand. Oh, he was sure she felt that pride, too, but in a different way. She’d made it, after all. He was just getting to watch her benefit from it.

That was good, too, though.

Rose’s smile softened as Renzo stayed quiet—he wasn’t the talking type. Not when it came to emotions, and shit like that. Not that his sister seemed to mind. Without a word, she came forward—still holding Diego—and wrapped Renzo in a tight hug. He hugged his sister back.

“Thanks,” Rose whispered.

“Yeah, no worries.”

Then, with a conspiratorial edge to her tone, his sister said, “Care to introduce me to your friend? I saw her waiting with you over here. Pretty sure I saw you holding her hand when you first came in, too.”

Renzo laughed because fuck, his sister was sly as hell. Letting Rose go from his embrace, he nodded, and turned to Lucia. It was only then that he realized how quiet Lucia had been through the entire exchange.

Her warm gaze met his, and she smiled in that way. Sweet, and soft. Like she didn’t want to take away from his moment, and she was fine with waiting in the wings until he was done with his siblings. He appreciated that, really.

“Rose, this is Lucia Marcello,” Renzo said, offering his hand for Lucia to take. She did, and inched closer to his sister. “Lucia, this is Rose.”

Rose set Diego to his feet on the floor, and put out a hand to shake Lucia’s. Diego bounced at his sister’s heels, and chattered on about all the pictures he had gotten to see while they waited for Rose to be done with her hour. He didn’t seem to mind that no one was talking back to him, though.

“Nice to meet you, Lucia,” Rose said.

Lucia nodded. “And you, too. Your abstracts are amazing.”

A hint of pink tinged Rose’s cheeks. “Thanks.” Then, his sister gave him a look from the side before winking at Lucia, adding, “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever met one of my brother’s girlfriends.”

Renzo stiffened.

Lucia blinked, but recovered quickly enough. “Is that what he is, then? My boyfriend? We haven’t really put titles on it.”

Rose let out a laugh. “He should probably figure that out, then, shouldn’t he?”

It was not lost on Renzo how the two conversed like he wasn’t standing right there. Even if they were teasing him a little, he didn’t miss the truth to the words, either.

“Maybe he should,” Lucia returned.

She said that to his sister, but she grinned at him.

Fucking woman.

He liked it, though.

A lot.

• • •

The quiet, dimly lit street didn’t faze Diego a bit as he darted ahead of his brother and Lucia to jump over a large crack in the sidewalk.

“There’s another,” Lucia called to him.