Page 2 of Privilege

Given the name his father hated when his mother told the man the ones she was considering for him in a dank alley months ago. Given a name that would already make his absent father hate him.

Born poor, to a mother who’d only stopped sucking on a pipe long enough to birth a healthy child she refused to give up, and without a home to keep him warm.

That was the misfortune of Renzo Zulla.

Simply because he had been born.

ONE

The one thing a person could never escape once they were born a Marcello?

Love.

Sometimes that love was soft, and supportive, and everything a person needed to propel them into a world that was ready to tear them to bits. And sometimes, that love was suffocating, and heavy, and everything a person wished they could escape from because there was no growth when people were holding you too tight.

Lucia Marcello liked to call that a double-edged sword. Maybe it was because she was the baby, but she was on the receiving end of that love a hell of a lot more than any of her other siblings when it came to her parents. Like they were scared to let her fly, and so they were just going to keep holding onto her until she broke free on her own.

She thought … maybe it was time to do just that.

“Principessa,” Lucian said, placing a kiss to the top of his daughter’s head.

“Hey, Daddy,” Lucia greeted.

She went back to the binder of information that she needed to study. Apparently, volunteering for a women’s and children’s shelter for the summer wasn’t as easy as simply signing up for the job. Lucia had policies to memorize, schedules, and a bunch more.

It was worth it. She wanted to help.

“Where is your mother?”

“Reading in her room.”

Lucian pulled out a chair at the table and sat down beside Lucia. “I was thinking …”

Sighing, Lucia closed her binder and gave her father the attention he wanted. Lucia, being the youngest child of four siblings, had always been the baby. Her parents seemed to think she needed more attention and care than her older siblings simply because there was such a difference in age. Maybe they figured she felt left out. Lucia never had.

Being the family baby at only seventeen, almost eighteen, meant being babied like one. She needed some breathing room, some time away from her family and room to grow. She knew they didn’t understand, and that they would be hurt by her wanting to leave, so she chose her actions in quieter ways. Like volunteering at a woman’s shelter for the summer.

With her father’s past, she knew Lucian wouldn’t put the brakes on Lucia spending eight hours a day, five days a week at a shelter to help. He was more likely to donate a bunch of money, which he already did, and buy her a car to get to and from the location every day. She wanted to volunteer, too, but it was a small step away from her family and their smothering.

“Thinking what?” she asked her father.

“About college in the fall,” Lucian answered. “Couldn’t you pick Columbia instead of a college out of state? It’s a great school, Lucia, and it has all the programs you want for social development.”

Lucia dropped her father’s gaze. If he could see her eyes, he could see her lies. “But I fell in love with that campus when we visited.”

Lucian made a sad noise under his breath. “I know, bella ragazza.”

“I’ll come back, Dad. Holidays, vacation, and some weekends.”

“You’re not making it better, Lucia.”

She smiled. “I’m sorry.”

“I worry about you being alone.”

“Don’t. I’m an adult. I can handle college.”

“Graduating high school and being almost eighteen does not make you an adult, Lucia.”