Chapter 34
Savina~
To his credit, Dr. Heche was turning out to be one of the good guys. After taking my blood, doing a full physical examination, and the x-rays, no doctor in his right mind could argue that Ashton Oliver hadn’t been an abusive sonofabitch. Nonetheless, I didn’t know what kind of man Dr. Heche was under pressure, and I knew that Ashton’s parents were going to come after me.
Three hours later, Nero was back home, and Aurelio and I were back in the private room, waiting for me to sign my discharge papers. While I knew that Aurelio wanted to lose his shit on me, with all of the interruptions, it would have been pointless. In fact, he was just going to have to find a way to get over it because I wasn’t sorry. If faced with the same choice, I’d do it all over again.
When the door opened again, the same nurse that had been tending to me walked in with some papers in her hands, but she also looked nervous. Granted, Aurelio did that to people, but she’d been getting an eyeful all night, so whatever had her nervous, it wasn’t Aurelio.
However, I got my answer as soon as Detectives Willows and Lakelet walked in behind her, and there could be only one reason that they were here. Now, while I hadn’t paid any attention to the news or had been scrolling through my phone, Ashton’s parents had to have heard about what’d happened by now, and like all men that held power, he’d made his wishes known.
Aurelio immediately walked over to stand behind me, and even though we were in O’Brien territory, it wouldn’t surprise me if they already knew who Aurelio was. In fact, every law enforcement agency in the state probably knew every player in the Sartori, O’Brien, and Kotov organizations. Aurelio’s face was probably pinned to some corkboard in a war room that was dedicated to organized crime syndicates. At least, it should be.
“Ms. Valentine,” Detective Willows greeted. “Dr. Heche has assured us that you’re finished here. Correct?”
“Uhm…” The nurse stepped forward. “If you’ll just sign these three pages, you’ll be free to go.” As she handed me the papers, she added, “He recommends that you follow up with your primary doctor, and copies of your bloodwork, x-rays, and diagnosis will be emailed to you. We also have an online patient portal that you can log onto for your results.”
“Thank you,” I said as I signed the papers. “You’ve all been really great.”
“Of course,” she muttered, clearly uncomfortable.
The second that she exited the room, Detective Willows said, “Did you know that the security feed in your house was having issues?”
Before I could respond, Aurelio said, “Well, that was quick.”
Detective Lakelet looked his way. “Let’s not insult one another, Mr. Provenza,” he said, confirming my suspicions that they already knew who Aurelio was. “Congressman Oliver has lots of friends on the police force, and we’re treating this homicide as a top priority.”
Aurelio’s hands came up to rest on my shoulders. “Homicide,” he repeated. “That’s an interesting word choice.”
“Congressman Oliver doesn’t believe that it was self-defense,” Detective Willows remarked. “He’s adamant that his son would never have harmed Ms. Valentine.”
“Yet, the photos, x-rays, and current circumstances say otherwise,” I retorted. “I understand grief and denial, Detective. However, how much more proof does the man need?”
“What about the security feed?” Detective Lakelet asked. “It’s rather convenient that it started glitching during the event in question.”
My back straightened under Aurelio’s hands. “I disagree,” I told him. “In fact, since you’re throwing words like homicide around, I find it very inconvenient that the cameras at the brownstone are having issues.”
“Ms. Valentine-”
“Let me stop you there, Detective,” Aurelio said, cutting Detective Lakelet off. “If you guys are here to arrest Savina, then I suggest you reconsider.”
“We don’t answer to you, Mr. Provenza,” Detective Lakelet replied haughtily. “In case you’ve forgotten, this isn’t Sartori territory.”
“I don’t need to be on Sartori territory to instruct you on how to do your job, Detective,” Aurelio fired back. “In case you’re unaware, there’s a bigger issue at play here, something that you might want to remind Congressman Oliver about. Or would you rather I remind him.”
“And what issue is that?” Detective Lakelet bit out, obviously the bad cop in this scenario.
“Congressman Oliver has two choices in this situation,” Aurelio told them. “He can bury his son under the guise that this was all a very unfortunate accident, or he can bury his son as the press hound him with the evidence that his son was an abusive bastard that deserved what he got.”
“Are you threatening to release the details of this investigation?” Detective Willows asked, a little bite in his voice as well.
Before Aurelio could answer that, I said, “No, he’s not. He’s merely reminding you that I have the right to defend myself against false accusations just as Congressman Oliver has the right to try to avenge his son.” I looked between the two detectives. “Despite what you may think of me, I’m not one of those women that believe the abuse was my fault. I’m not one of those women that believe this is my shame to carry. Now, while a lot of people are going to judge me as stupid for remaining in an abusive relationship for so long, I don’t particularly care what people think of me. Yeah, I might have been stupid, but I’d rather go down in history as being stupid than to be remembered for being an abusive asshole.”
“Ms. Valentine, I’m not sure that you realize what you’re going up against,” Detective Willows said, changing up roles, trying to pretend like he was on my side.
“I’m not sure that you do, Detective,” Aurelio replied, not letting me speak. “Savina was a Sartori way before she ever got involved with Ashton Oliver, something that you might want to remind the good congressman of.”
Done playing games, Detective Lakelet said, “We have to arrest her.”
“Over my dead body,” Aurelio snarled, not caring that they were cops.
“That can be arranged,” Detective Lakelet sneered.
“Stop it,” I snapped.
“You’re out of your mind if you think that I’m going to allow them to arrest you,” Aurelio said, anger lacing every word.
“Let them arrest me,” I told him. “It’ll be splashed all over the news and the internet, something that Congressman Oliver will not be able to run from. It’ll follow him wherever he goes, including his next campaign run.”
“I’m not letting you get arrested,” Aurelio repeated.
“Let them do their jobs,” I argued. “I’m sure that they’ll have no problem making a statement when they’re questioned over why they took a battered woman into custody, even after being made aware of the facts.”
Aurelio’s dark eyes scanned my face as he read between the lines, knowing that getting arrested could only help my cause. Right or wrong, in this day and age, the truth didn’t matter. Women’s groups everywhere were always eager to pick up a cause, and the second that I let it be known that Ashton had been abusive, they were going to start making picket signs, then descend on the police department and Stewart’s office.
“Baby…”
“Let them arrest me, Aurelio,” I repeated. “After all, it’s not our graves that they’re digging.”
For a second, I thought that he might give in, but I should have known better. Despite it being a good idea, there was no way that a man like Aurelio Provenza would allow such a thing. Plus, we still had some unfinished business to attend to. Aurelio needed to yell at me, and I needed to let him do it, or else the rage would eat him up inside.
“They’re not arresting you,” he finally said. “And if I have to call The O’Brien, then I will.”
Both detectives stiffened at that. “Surely, you’re not talking about Declan O’Brien,” Detective Willows remarked.
Aurelio arched a brow. “Do you honestly believe that I’d be in his territory without him knowing?”
It was funny what a difference the details could make. Only moments before, they’d been ready to do Congressman Oliver’s bidding, and now they were questioning what to do next. It was one thing to stand up to the Sartoris when we weren’t in their territory, but it was quite a different thing to go up against an O’Brien while standing in O’Brien territory.
I watched as the Detectives eyed each other, then finally making a decision, Detective Willows said, “We’ll be in touch, Ms. Valentine.”
“I’m sure you will be,” I retorted.
With that, they left, and though Aurelio was using a tender hand to escort me to the car, I knew that he was just waiting until we got to his house to unleash on me, and hats off to the man’s willpower.