I have so many thoughts about what L&P could say if you involve Patricia and her Deagle to take on Aiden who is just a kid. So, as you say, that it would come to a cost for Sophia if Morello does something for her wich yeah, that makes sense, then the other option with enough power would again be Carl, maybe he has contacts that could put a block on Aiden's uncle without a cost for Sophia, maybe just Carl flirting with her again but that's way harmless than Morello.
Hahaha, I know what Patricia did to the thugs in the ally way, though for the record, in my playthrough I decided to keep Sophia safe from them so I avoided that event for my general storyline. However, I do have a separate save file of the assault at the subway station because...well, hehe being a pervert
(as we all are here) I wanted to see what happens

but not staying with that choice for my main game.
I absolutely agree. It has to be for some reason without making it a waste of resources if we discard the sensei and Sophia, then the only reason that so far makes any sense is to fight Aiden.