Mafia's girl

Chapter 12

*Aria's P.O.V*

I held my breath when the footsteps stopped in front of my door. I rested my head on my knees as I refused to move from my spot. I would just not respond to anyone who spoke to me and that would solve all my problems.

"Aria?" Tante Estelle asked softly. "I know that you're here and if you're not then it will be very awkward for me to just be talking to a door," she chuckled softly and I heard her sit down against the door. "Can we talk? Your parents miss you very much," she said softly.

"Maman, I'm telling you that Aria isn't here," Lexi chimed in and I could hear the stress in her voice. She had done a good job covering for me ever since I had moved in with her three years ago but I knew we were always going to get found out. There was just no way a secret this big could be hidden from our family forever.

"Lexi, forgive me for not believing you but the fact that you've told me that you haven't seen hide nor hair of your cousin for three years and that turned out to be a lie makes me not believe you. Her name is on the lease and we sent one of the bodyguards to watch the apartment building late last night. He never saw her leave," Tante Estelle responded.

"He has no proof that she even lives here, just because her name is on the lease doesn't mean that she is always here," Lexi stated.

"So she does live here?" Imo Lilou asked and I heard Lexi sigh deeply at the question.

"Yes but she made me swear on my life not to tell anyone. You don't understand Umma, she was so scared. You should have seen her when she showed up," Lexi stated. I understood her spewing the truth now, she had held my secret for three years and I couldn't expect her to continue to deny it when her mothers had already found out the truth.

"The family would have welcomed her back gladly if she had turned to one of us," Imo Lilou said.

"After you scolded her? After you made her feel bad for not coming running back to the family once she finally got away from it all?" Lexi asked.

"She could have gotten seriously hurt when she ran off, I think we as a family have a right to get onto her when she worries us all," Imo Lilou said.

"Does it always have to be about the family? Why is it never about Aria?" Lexi's questions were loud in my ears and I winced at her words. "None of us seemed to really give a shit about her until she ran off, her own parents cared more about work and her sisters then her. I can't blame her for not wanting to come back just to be pushed to the side again," she said.

"Genevieve and Har-rin never intended to push her to the side. If she had told them that she felt ignored I am sure they would have made time," Imo Lilou insisted.

"When did Aria have time to talk to them? At the family meetings?" Lexi asked sarcastically. "You don't get it, you don't get to judge Aria for her choices when our family can't seem to keep itself from making people feel isolated," she said.

"Don't you dare," Imo Lilou said, her voice sharp.

"What? You don't want to admit that this family is so good at caring about people as long as they're perfect and if they're anything other than that then it's like the end of the world," Lexi said.

"No one in this family is perfect nor do we pretend to be. Don't sit there and judge when you haven't seen what this family has gone through in her absence," Imo Lilou said, her voice rising. "You were shielded from many of the things that happened because you were young. You didn't have to see your sister grieving for her child like she was dead, you didn't have to see the ransom notes. You didn't have to accompany your sister to the morgue to let them know if the body they had was her daughters', don't you dare speak on what you can not possibly understand,'' she hissed, her voice dangerously quiet. I heard her storm off and heard Tante Estelle sigh.

"She says the truth Lexi my dear. You children were shielded from most of what went on," Tante Estelle sighed. "You know that day that the business closed for a week straight it was because Har-rin was out on the street looking for Aria every single day that week. All they want now is to know that she's safe. They even made up a contract that says as long as she agrees to meet them in person to show that she's safe they'll sign off on her getting her inheritance early so that she can live comfortably," she stated softly.

I heard footsteps walking off but I hadn't heard Tante Estelle stand up so I assumed Lexi had walked off to calm down. I hesitantly stood up, smoothing out my pajamas as I turned to my door. I hesitantly unlocked it, opening slightly. Tante Estelle stood up smoothly, turning to look at me.

"That's all they want? To know that I'm safe?" I asked softly, keeping the door cracked only slightly in case I needed to slam the door shut.

"Yes, you can even pick the meeting place and bring people of your choice," Tante Estelle said.

"You can tell them that I'm fine, I need time to think about whether I want to meet them," I said softly. I had no clue why I felt the need to reassure my parents that I was okay but I guess a small part of me hoped that it would get them off my back.

"Of course," Tante Estelle said. "And I must say that it is wonderful to know that you're safe. You made a good choice befriending the Adairs, they're a wonderful couple," she informed me. I nodded at her words, wondering how she knew that I was friends with them and not just an acquaintance.