Arlan's Point Of View

I gathered Aurora's sensitive, ravenwood locks in my large fingers and yanked them to wake her. She woke with a startled whimper and large, teary blueberry eyes under her bangs. I stripped the covers off her and she yelped, exposed in my white T-shirt and bare legs.

"Get up," I commanded in a raspy tone, pushing the covers aside my body and walking to my dresser in just sweatpants.

Aurora slowly propped herself up, rubbing her almond shaped eyes. She was tired and confused. Usually, I let the little Dove sleep in while I quietly slip off to work. Today was different. Aurora needed a wakeup call, and not just in a literal sense. I had no bullshit attitude.

When I pulled my sweatpants down to just my boxers, I turned to her. She was pathetically gripping the covers, looking at me with those mortified, doe eyes.

"Are you deaf, Aurora Mulven?" I growled.

She flinched and pulled the covers aside, slowly stepping off the bed.

"W-why?" She whispered as I put on a pair of work pants, not understanding why she had to be awake.

"Because," I zipped the pants up, "today's gonna go a little different. You're not gonna sit in this little room and continue to disobey me," I sneered. "You need a wake up call. You're coming with me to work."

She opened her mouth.

"And if you say anything other than 'Yes Sir', I'm spanking you."

Her mouth closed.

I turned away from her to finish getting ready. Running my tattooed hands through my ringlets to get them out of my eyes, I open my silky black dresser drawers and pull out a black hoodie. After being fully dressed, I spritz on cologne and start to put on my rings on my tattooed fingers one by one. I had told Sanitago that I was going to finally start working with his men *quote on quote*. Really, we were fucking with them, tricking them, and today was the day I finally fucking take him down for having Jake killed. I was thrilled but calm, confident, and ready. My pokerface was impeccable, and he'll have never seen it coming. Revenge was sweet and a long time coming.

Turning, I see little 5'0 Aurora looking at the ground and silently crying, playing with her fingers. Pathetic thing. She's scared shitless, no doubt, of being around a mafia for the first time. I approach her and she doesn't look up, she's terrorized by what I've told her, her precious face red and teary. Giving a quick peck to her forehead, I go to brush my teeth.

"Go get dressed," I coldly ordered. She doesn't move for a few seconds, but then her little bare feet pad to the basket of clothes Elise bought for her.

I glance at my face in the mirror as I vigorously scrub my toothbrush in my mouth. It's been a few weeks since I've shaved, the stress of this operation and my new life with Aurora getting in the way. It gave my face an even darker, rugid, more haunting look. I crane my neck to peer at the room to see the progress Aurora's made, and feel my face soften, my tooth brushing slowing down.

Her back is to me and she's just in white cotton underwear that sculpts her cute little bum perfectly. I've never seen her so exposed, so much of her skin, and my blood rushes to...well, you can guess. Her slender shoulders are elegant, the slope of her back is alluring and sexy, her legs are everpresently delicious. Every fiber of my being wants to dominate her little body, claim her. She crouches down and quickly plucks a pair of leggings and sweatshirt to dress quickly so I won't see her. Only unbeknownst to her, I already have. I turn away, vigorously brushing my teeth again and spitting, looking up at my face. I was getting Aurora to submit to me and getting rid of my enemy today. Oh, it was gonna be a good day.

She's silent from the walk down to her putting her shoes on, but I do notice a little bit of light in her eyes when we finally step outside. Aurora seems a bit shell-shocked to see nature again, to breathe in fresh air. I quickly lead her to the car so it won't last long.

When we're in the car, I light up a cig and give her my spiel with it between my teeth.

"I don't usually do this-invite outsiders," I lean my head back and exhale a profuse amount of smoke, then look to her, "but I'm the boss, so I can do whatever I want," excess smoke from the drag curls out from mouth as I speak to her. She coughed.

I turn the engine on and roll up the black tinted windows. She looks around at them, then coughs again. I'm too stressed with this operation to stop smoking around her.

"Stay behind me, or sit on my lap, whichever you want; I don't care, just don't be distracting. No crying, no talking, you're essentially like a coffee table. Just exist and absorb. Think of it like a business meeting-because it is one. Before my men and I go into any sort of real, dangerous situation, I'll walk you to the car beforehand in a secret location so you'll be far away from it, okay?"

"Yes sir," She whispered just barely enough for me to hear.

I smirked, gripping the wheel tighter.

When we pull into parking lot after half an hour, Aurora looks all around her, and I can tell she feels creeped out. There's no one around and the area is sketchy, covered in graphic graffiti. In another tinted car parked in front of us, she sees Nate exiting, his hood pulled all the way up to cover his face before unlocking the door to a building. I roll down the window and blare my horn.

"HANDS UP!"

Nate flinches, and turns quickly, before seeing its me and I burst into hysterical laughter, slapping my wheel. I flip him off and he flips me off right back, shaking his head, before entering our quarters. I turn to Aurora, who doesn't seem amused at all, just more panicked than she even was this morning. She's about to freak out and my face drops.

"Now, like I've said, you're not gonna be distracting," I grip her face and squeeze her cheeks painfully with my fingers. "That means no crying, no pleading to get out, no nothing. This is your punishment, Aurora. This is going to whip you into behaving. And being a good girl for me."

"S-so, am I your girlfriend or am I j-just your slave," She bitterly stammers under her breath, looking at me.

I growl and squeeze her cheeks even tighter, my cold rings against her face.

"Why would you even ask something like that?" I spat venomously, lowly. "Of course you're my fucking girlfriend. I just operate differently than most men. My rules are different."

Her brows scrunch together on the word 'rules'.

"Yes, rules. Now, let's go. You're already on my nerves."

"Arlan, please," her tiny voice breaks. "Don't make me, I-I'm really scared. I'm sorry, I'll do whatever,"-

I slam my door and cut her off, leaving her mouth ajar, shaking my head in anger that she was still pleading. We were already fucking here!

I open her door and throw her seatbelt off, picking her up and carrying her like a child. Her limp legs shakily curl around my hips and I grasp her bum to boost her up. Her tiny head ducks into my chest to not look around at what's around us. An angry dog barks aggressively from across the street and she flinches, gripping me tight.

Oh, now she sought protection from me? Now I'm her little source of safety? Not when I fucking saved her from living in a dead end foster home with deadbeat Agatha and creepy ass Dustin?

Angrily, I send all my rage into a smack to her ass and she jumps and whines.

"You're the biggest brat I've ever met in my God damn life, and you're on my last damn nerve," I pinch her side and she yelps. "Don't make a fucking sound for the rest of the day. Not. A. Fucking.Word."

She's silent.

I raise my hood over my face to conceal myself as I punch in the combination at the door and take out my key, twisting it and shutting the door behind us. We're now encased in darkness. She whimpers and again, she grips me tightly, full of fear. I punch in another combination and a small red light appears that lights up a staircase. She lifts her neck out of curiosity and peers at the red-lit staircase, squinting at the light. I take us up the stairs, punch in another code, and enter an elevator, setting her down. Reaching into my bag, I take out noise canceling headphones, which she peers at confusedly. I set them over her head and her eyes enlarge. I obviously can't have her hearing anything going on, I'm not that stupid. When the door opens, a red-lit room appears and I see my men, dressed in sleek black, laughing, smoking and talking. All of whom instantly shut up in obedience when I enter the room.

"Hi boss," They say in unison, their respect impeccable.

Stepping out of the elevator, I enter the dimly lit office and seat myself at the head of the table. My men respectfully bow their head down for three seconds, then look back up at me, as per part of the ritual to the mafia boss. Aurora is softly hyperventilating behind me and they begin to look at her with some confusion.

"Everyone, this is my girlfriend, no further questions," I curtly snapped.

---------------------------------------Third Person Point of View---------------------------------

20-some intimidating, fully tattooed men eye Aurora before dropping their gaze at Arlan's words, some taking a drag, clouds of smoke filling the red room. Aurora felt her chest tighten more as the seconds went by. She saw some mouths moving but heard no noise, just her own breathing.

She peered around and met Nate's brown eyes, his gaze annoyed at her presence. She dropped his gaze. What was he mad at me for!? She wondered. She couldn't help being at this meeting. It made her sad he disliked her so much, and harbored so much resentment towards her when she was helpless in her situation.

There were multiple empty seats but she did not want to sit next to a stranger, let alone a mafia stranger, so where-

Before she could weigh out her options, Arlan gripped Aurora's waist and positioned her to straddle his lap. This was humiliating and terrifying to her.

The doors opened once again and more men started to file in. Seats were being taken, cigarettes and scotch offered. Two mafias, one moritifed Aurora.

"Silvercreek," Arlan greeted fake-cordially. Then, with an even more forced tone he said, "Santiago."

"Hello, Arlan, glad to be here," Santiago replied oh-so happily.

"Oh, believe me," Arlan's arms reached around Aurora's body to light his cigarette, making her tense up. With the snap of the lighter, the cigarette lit up. "The pleasure is all mine." He exhaled leisurely, rubbing Aurora's back. Arlan cleared his throat before beginning.

"As always, under the oath of Obsidian Wrath Mafia established 1983 in Shilstreet, California, every and any syllable uttered in this room, recognised and heard in the name of God, is confidential. If broken, a man understands his justifiable death."

"Yes, boss," Everyone says in unison.

"So, I see you've come to our agreement about taking down Blake Eckerberry's cocaine adminstration down, together," Santiago begins with a smirk, folding one sleek black khaki-covered leg over the other, swirling his scotch. "It's a smart move on your end, Arlan. Their system is intricate...smart and tricky, like we've never seen before. It targets males 14 to 21. Males who are naive, curious about drugs, and willing enough to pay for them. Eckerberry's administration makes a fuck ton of money, simply put. Money you and I, as well as our men," Santiago gestured to the table, "...could put to use." He swirled his scotch and took a sip after explaining. Arlan's grip tightened on Aurora in agitation.

"Yes," Arlan said through his teeth, "I'd like to work together. It's time we....turn a new leaf."

Aurora tried to distract her panicked thoughts by concentrating on the most innocent thing she could think of-Dacie. She pretends she's playing dolls with her, both in their pajamas. Aurora misses Dacie, she wonders if she's okay without her, if she can sleep without Aurora reading Sleeping Beauty every night. Aurora pictures herself reading it to Dacie now, every word memorized in her brain.

"Right," Arlan says as he suddenly rises with Aurora in his hold. She gasps, clutching him. Where were they going!? Were they escaping danger?! Aurora whimpered lowly.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, my girlfriend isn't feeling well, so I'll be taking her back to the car before we confirm negotiations."

"Of course, boss."

He set her down, gripping her hand, and they were walking, and Aurora noticed they were back in the elevator. She was beyond relieved to get out of there, she could cry. But then it dawned on her-Arlan said he would only bring her back to the car before a dangerous situation was about to happen. What was the danger?

Arlan was going to hurt someone...was he going to kill someone?

No. Arlan wouldn't do that. He wasn't that cruel. Aurora could not be living with a murderer. Aurora gulped.

"I love you," She blurted out to him.

His face dropped with shock. He looked to Aurora with wide, jade colored eyes. He didn't smile, he didn't gasp, he just looked...alarmed. He slid the noise canceling headphones to the back of her neck.

"I love you too," He instantly replied, and kissed her harshly, wildly, feverishly.

She gripped Arlan's shirt in the elevator to steady herself, even tried to push him off, but he was relentless. When the elevator button dinged, he parted from her and breathlessly looked to the opening doors. They walked back to the car, and Aurora's head was spinning. She couldn't believe she could say such a lie, but hoped it would soften Arlan up. He was incredibly aggressive with her today, it must be because something bad was going to happen today. But hopefully now, maybe not. Maybe he'd change his mood.

Only when Aurora reached for the car door, it wasn't the case. He spun her around, caged his arms on either side of her on the car, muffled her mouth with his hand making her screech.

"You BITCH!" He seethed with sheer, fiery rage, shaking her body with his free hand. She whimpered in fear.

"You don't fucking love me, you're just saying that because you're relieved you are out of there! Ungrateful bitch! I can't believe you would fucking throw that word around like it means nothing, like I MEAN nothing to you, it's disgusting! You disgust me!"

Aurora screeched at the top of her lungs, wriggling around, hoping someone would hear her. He slammed his hand even more against his mouth, muffling her sounds more. He leaned in, nose against her, breathing against her cheeks.

"But I don't care, I honestly love you. I have from the day I saw you in Chemistry. And one day, you'll love me so much it sickens you," He forced another kiss over her mouth while tears simultaneously splashed down her face.

"Come on," He gruffed. "We're making a pit stop."