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The police officers look at me as if they expect me to be terrified.
“You can’t blame him,” Aria says cheerfully. “He’s just concerned about the wellbeing of our baby.”
The police officers glance at each other as if what I’ve said has surprised them completely.
“We didn’t realize you truly were the father of the child,” the officer says to me. “There has been some rumor and speculation, but we couldn’t just make assumptions.”
“Can he stay?” Aria asks with a kind smile.
“He can stay,” the officer relents. “But he isn’t allowed to say a single word while we take your statement. We can’t have him interfering with what you tell us.”
“You have my word, that after this sentence, I will be silent until you leave us,” I say.
They turn to Aria who looks a little frightened by what is happening. I wish they would have waited just a little longer to get her statement. She’s still so tired and weak. But I suppose they’re under a fair amount of pressure to gather evidence, so there’s no fighting it.
“Right, Miss Morino,” the officer says, handing her a clipboard and some official papers. “If you could just write down, in your own words, what happened at your father’s mansion before we arrived.”
Aria takes the clipboard and paper and pen and stares at it for some time. A few minutes pass and she still hasn’t written anything.
“Do you remember what happened?” the officer asks. “It’s going to be difficult for you to press charges against him without a proper statement.”
Aria closes her eyes for a moment, and then hands the clipboard back to them. “I don’t want to press charges anymore,” she says.
It takes all my power not to say anything. I want to ask her if she’s lost her mind. Her father deserves to be in prison for the rest of his life, we agreed on that not too long ago.
“I know this is hard for you to understand,” she continues. “But our families work differently. He might have done some unsavory things, but I won’t press charges. He was just being who he is.”
The police officers look at each other, and then back at me. I don’t say anything but I simply shrug. I’m as taken aback as they are.
“Are you certain?” the one officer asks.
Aria nods. “What’s important is that Edoardo’s name is cleared. He didn’t kidnap me, and I am happy to make a statement toward that. But when it comes to my father, I have no comment. I’ve already answered all your questions.”
“It’s because of those answers that we assumed you’d want to press charges,” the officer says. “The doctor says you were being held captive at his house.”
“I answered your questions, yes,” Aria says. “But if you remember, I told you that my father’s men attacked first. So, arrest them. As for his crimes against me, I’d just like to move on and put an end to all of this.”
“I don’t understand,” the officer responds, which is precisely what I am thinking.
“I’ve already gone through too much stress,” Aria says. “If I press charges now, I’d still have to sit through how many court days against him. This is far from over, and I don’t have the energy left to do it. I am free, Edoardo is free, that is enough.”
There is an uncomfortable silence in the room as the police officers page through their documents. I expect they weren’t quite prepared for something like this. I know I certainly wasn’t.
“Look, I know you don’t really understand,” Aria says, twisting her hands in her lap. “But I just want us all to move on with our lives. There has been enough damage and heartache. Now, we can all just walk away from this and live our lives the way we choose.”
“I understand, Aria,” the police officer says. “I know it is difficult because he is your father, but you need to do what is right.”
“What is right?” Aria laughs. “Do you remember who my father is? Look at his empire. You want to lock him away in a building that consists entirely of criminals. Imagine the empire he might build there. My father is even more dangerous in prison than he is out of prison.”
The police officers look as if all the color has drained from their faces. They shift uncomfortably in their seats and one clears his throat. She’s not wrong. It’s the same all over the world. Most mafia and gang leaders only grow stronger behind bars. People like that cannot be controlled. It wasn’t like that for me, but my operation was small time then. As more men in this line of work get released, they’re coming to work for me. The Lorenzo family is stronger than it has ever been.
Aria has pleasantly surprised me. At first, I assumed she was trying to take the high road and be a better person and that was awfully disappointing. But now I see what she is doing.
Gabriele will have lost the faith of his men. She wants him to be there as his empire collapses around him. She wants to watch him burn. Behind bars, he has the chance to strengthen himself, she doesn’t want to give him the satisfaction of that.
“He has loyal men in almost every prison in the country,” Aria says. “Prison will be nothing like a strange retreat to him. He has money to have everything he needs in there. It makes no difference, really.”
I know that she will be an excellent mother. She seems to understand the world better than I initially thought. She is strong, and smart, and I’m starting to think that she always knows exactly what she is doing. That is a skill that I have not been blessed with.
