Third Person Point of View

"Oh, I remember you," Aurora simpered gently, standing up. "You found my water bottle that one time. Sorry, y-you probably don't even remember..." She embarrassingly trailed off, a strawberry blush accenting her cheekbones.

"No, no, I do," Santiago grinned, and Aurora was amused by the richness of his Spanish accent. His dimples indented and he ran a hand through his rich, dark long hair.

"You know, I just had a feeling we'd run into each other again," He smirked. "I've been meaning to ask you anyway, where I can get a cute little lavender water bottle."

Aurora giggled just under her breath at his silliness but still felt quite nervous.

"Come," Santiago beckoned. "I've got a little study arrangement in the back by the computer lab."

Aurora quickly grabbed her backpack and followed him. She was quiet, a bit intimidated to speak up. Biting her lip, she decided to say her 'thank-you'.

"Professor Haldrin said you made special arrangements to be able to take me," She said as she caught up with him. "T-thank you, I know it's really late in the semester, I'm just really nervous about this. I've never needed a tutor before."

They settled onto a table and sat down. Santiago looked sincerely at Aurora.

"In Argentina, we have this saying: Buscarle la quinta pata al gato. It means, we are always looking for a reason to be worried, a reason to distrust someone. Do you distrust me, Aurora?"

She gulped, meekly meeting his dark, enigmatic eyes that bored into her. She honestly didn't have a reason to.

"N-no."

"Good, because there is no need to. I'm a good guy. It seems like you worry excessively for no reason often, is that true?"

Her face blushed beet red. How was he able to pick up on her so easily, was she that easy to read? Aurora thought of herself as someone hard to perceive and felt embarrassed that her anxiety was so transparent.

"Kind of. I do that easily. I-I'm not diagnosed or anything but I think I have an anxiety disorder. But wow, I didn't know you were from Argentina."

"Born and raised," He winked, removing his bag onto an empty chair next to him. "But here, please, there is no reason to be worried or distrust me. I can sense you're nervous, but I promise, you can trust me. I'm not here to judge you as your tutor. I'm here to help."

Damn, was he a good actor.

Aurora gave a small, shy smile but still felt a bit tense.

"Why don't I tell you a little bit about me...and then you'll tell me more about you?" He offered.

Aurora nodded softly. "Okay."

Santiago grinned, opening his laptop.

"So, sí, I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina to my abuelita, mom and sister. I saw many animals growing up in Argentina: Gunacaos, cougars, armadillos in the pampas and sand dunes of Central Argentina. We came to the States when I was in middle school, moving to San Diego. I always had a passion for animals, I felt I had to be the voice they did not have. Especially seeing how many endangered animals exist here in the States...the red wolf, Florida panther...it breaks my heart. Thus, I began my studies. I am a gentle guy, Aurora, as you can see. I don't bite. Now, tell me, do your professors know about your anxiety?"

Aurora bit her lip.

"I'll take that as a no. You know if you tell them, they can make accommodations? Give you longer on exams? It may help you succeed."

Damn, he was giving himself chops. He was really good at pretending to be a tutor.

Aurora looked more at ease as she took a deep breath and exhaled the last of her anxieties.

"Maybe I should tell them, it wouldn't be a horrible idea if it helps me succeed. B-but I just wanna say, I admire your story. You're clearly so passionate. M-my friend was telling me in the car earlier to focus on my passion, and my academic success will follow."

Santiago laced his hands together and rested his chin on top, eyes squinting as he scanned her face. He wondered if that "friend" was Arlan. He forced a smile.

"Tell me about why you love animals, Aurora. Tell me a bit about your background."

She swallowed nervously and cleared her throat, evading his gaze before building the courage to look back into his eyes.

"W-well...I didn't have a lot of friends growing up, so I would research animal videos on my computer when I was lonely," Aurora felt a bit embarrassed to say. "And I just really enjoyed learning about them, it was fascinating. I also want to be a voice and stand up for animal rights. And then I stopped eating meat when,"—

Aurora cut herself off and Santiago looked at her expectantly, raising up a brow.

"When...?" He asked, waiting for her to continue.

Aurora licked her lips and awkwardly cleared her throat.

"I stopped when I finally was able to quit bacon. It's just really hard to quit, you know?" She mumbled, taking out a notebook and pen.

Her 'tutor' rubbed at his small beard.

"And your family, they were supportive?" Santiago inquired.

"What?" Aurora asked, a little taken aback by such a personal question as she looked up.

"Your family," He repeated, examining her carefully. "Were they supportive?"

She looked a bit uncomfortable and he shook his head.

"Sorry, not the point. I shouldn't have asked such a personal question. This is a tutoring session."

Just as he and his team suspected, Aurora was a fragile, anxious thing. No wonder Arlan had been able to manipulate and kidnap her so easily. Santiago knew it would be easy enough in time for him to complete his operation, and Aurora had no idea who he was. She wasn't facing him during their mafia meeting when Arlan brought her, so she clearly did not know Santiago was in the mafia. And further than that, she wouldn't go running to her kidnapper, Arlan, telling him that Santiago was alive.

Santiago had been an undercover student at the university for a while, much like Arlan was an undercover high school student. He had just so happened to pick a random, easy major which happened to be Aurora's. He wasn't even a tutor until he hacked into the grade system, saw her grades and specifically requested her.

In fact, he was surprised she was even still alive. Clearly his last fiasco of stealing and drugging her water bottle didn't work. He needed something stronger.

He lifted a small bag of powder from his jean pocket and hid it under his hand on his chair.

"Why don't you grab us a textbook, Fourth edition, from the shelf in the back and we'll get started?" He recommended, smiling warmly.

"Oh, I already have my textbook," She clarified, bringing it onto the table. She smiled proudly at him.

He gripped the drugs in his hand with aggravation and forced a patient smile back with a laugh.

"Of course you do, so prepared. How about a highlighter, to mark up important sections for the exam?"

"That's not a bad idea," Aurora nodded. "I should've thought of that..."

"No worries," He eased her anxiety quickly. "But the front desk in the back should have one."

Aurora nodded quickly and stood up, going to get them. He counted to ten, carefully eyeing she was out of eyesight. Then, he quickly rose up and tore open her backpack.

Digging through the main area of her backpack and fishing through the pencil case, notebooks and other textbooks, he didn't find her water bottle. In the back pocket, it wasn't there either. What the hell?

He tore open the two bottom zippers, though he knew it was a lost cause, because they were too small to fit a water bottle. He quickly zipped them up, looking up to make sure she wasn't coming.

Finally, he noticed a third zipper at the very top of her backpack. Zipping it open, bingo!

In all its glory: the purple water bottle.

Unscrewing the water bottle's cap, Santiago unzipped the bag of drugs and tapped his finger along the ziplock bag until all its contents were in the water. He screwed the water bottle cap back on and shook the bottle discretely under the table. When the drugs dissolved, he quickly put it back in her backpack, zipped up the backpack and set it down. Santiago quickly seated himself to look comfortable, resting his chin in his laced hands.

Aurora returned beaming and holding two yellow highlighters up high in the air. Santiago grinned and tapped one finger on top of the other.

"Amazing, look at you!"

She blushed and settled down and they began flipping through the chapter, Santiago pointing to certain sections and her following through and highlighting. He anxiously waited for her to take a water break but it seemingly never came. He suggested a few times she take one, but she always shrugged it off and he was growing on edge.

After two hours of studying passed, Aurora exhaustedly slumped against her seat.

"I'm beat...I'm sorry," She laughed, wiping her tired eyes. "And I haven't eaten all day. But this was great, I really do appreciate it. You know so much about this stuff, it's unreal. We should do two hours once a week, if that's okay."

"Twice a week, I suggest."

"A-are you sure...? I don't want to waste too much of your time."

"Aurora, midterms are quickly approaching and you don't have much time to fix your sinking grade. You need all the help you can get, and I don't mind."

She reached for her backpack

and Santiago's heart raced. Only, she unzipped the second zipper.

"It would definitely put my mind at ease. You really know what you're talking about here," She put her textbook away. "I already feel like I've learned so much, seriously. I feel like my grade is destined to go up."

"Well, that's what I'm here for, no? Otherwise I'd be pretty shit at my job," He laughed.

"Right," She giggled, unzipping her top zipper. "Ugh, I'm, like, so dehydrated now."

"Oh boy, yeah, I bet," He kept his cool as she took her water bottle out, unscrewing the cap. His heart raced tripled in speed as he drummed his fingers along the table.

Aurora raised her bottle up to her lips but paused, lowering it. Her face looked upset. Santiago gulped lightly, confused. Did she know? How would she know?

"What?" He questioned softly.

"S-sorry," She said, setting it down on the table. "I just see someone I know studying here with...someone."

Behind Santiago, Aurora saw Beck and the girl from the bonfire, giggling and studying for whatever class they had together. Her glossy black hair was tied in two pigtails with yellow scrunchies. The two were always laughing so much, what was so funny all the time? Aurora wanted to know.

Aurora had already forgotten her name but squinted to see it written on her notebook: Peyton Kimiko. Beck was grinning as he leaned over Peyton and erased something on her notebook before flipping his pencil to the writing side and writing something in. Aurora couldn't help but pout and feel jealous that his body hovered so close over hers.

"Oh...?" Santiago asked, confused.

"Sorry, uh, I kinda wanna get out of here," Aurora quickly gathered her stuff. "Thank you and I'll see you next week," She hurried out.

"Aurora, WAIT!" He yelled, holding up her water bottle. He called her name several times while holding her water bottle but she didn't turn back.

"Fuck!" He hissed, twisting around and setting the water bottle down.

He quickly shoved it into his bag. Good thing he was going to see her twice a week. It wasn't over. Not just yet.

Obsidian Wrath HeadQuarters

"Please," The young, blonde man tied against the chair shook and flailed. "I'm not who you think I am," tears filled his eyes.

Arlan crossed his arms menacingly as Dominick was pacing and flipping through a binder of information.

"2007, Miami Beach, you invested stock in the Wallford Bank Enterprise to cover up the fact you were in the mafia,"-

"Please!" The man cried out, shaking from the knots that tied him.

"The same year, you try to hit up every drug cartel negotiating with Obsidian Wrath. You tried to interrupt every operation O.W took, month after month," Dominic interrogated, closing the binder seamlessly and facing the man.

"Okay, y-yes I'm in the mafia and not an actual investor, it was a cover up, we all have cover ups. I'm not denying my affiliation with Grim Linings Mafia. B-but back then I was a rookie, a new guy, I had no idea what I was doing, so I targeted the biggest mafia on the map. I-it was stupid. But the Grim Linings are not coming after you now, please!" He pleaded.

"Boss," Dominic sighed, rubbing his own forehead stressfully. "I don't think it's him."

"SHUT UP!" Arlan roared, pointing a knife at the blonde tied up mafia boss as both him and Dominic flinched. The captive had fresh beads of sweat leaving his temples as he hyperventilated.

"Arlan, please, i-it's been fourteen years, I haven't come after you since. I-it isn't me, please. What incentive would I have to come after you? We're still a small, locally known mafia. W-we wouldn't make enemies with the strongest mafia in the country," He pleaded, sobbing. "I have a wife, man, please."

Arlan grimaced painfully as he stared, thinking, the knife to the man's neck. Roaring aggressively, he tossed the knife to the ground, it clattered loudly.

"FUCK!" Arlan screamed.

Dominic sighed and came forward, untying the blonde man.

"You're free to go."

"Thank you, thank you!" He pleaded, running out as fast as he could.

Arlan had his back to Dominic as he pulled on his hair steadily. When Dominic closed the door, Arlan turned to him.

"Everyday we don't find the mafia coming for us is a day we're not getting our money back, you understand?" His voice trembled, holding two fingers to his nose. "We're growing WEAK, Dominic."

Arlan had usually just referred to him as his last name, Demario, so this new reference shocked Dominic. Arlan was truly scared. Dominic could see it.

"I understand boss," Dominic recited cautiously, stressed but not as much as Arlan.

Arlan shut his briefcase and exhaled loudly, shaking his head.

"Figure this shit out, Demario. I have to go pick up Aurora."

John Roberts Community College

Aurora hurriedly ran out of the library, hoping Beck hadn't seen her in her tutoring session. She didn't want to feel embarrassed in front of him and his new love interest, Peyton. It was clearly a regular thing now.

When Aurora opened Arlan's car door, his jade eyes glared at her aggravatedly as a burning cigarette lazily hung from his lower lip. She gulped, clicking her seatbelt in and sinking into her seat.

"You're a couple minutes late," He grimaced.

"I know, I-I'm sorry. I need a tutor now for one of my classes and it went a little over time..." She trailed off as his brows drew together and he plucked the cigarette out, blowing smoke to the side of his mouth.

"A tutor? Who is he?"

"S-she. She's a woman. Isabella."

The rest of the car ride was quiet, which Aurora was silently thankful for. Arlan seemed clearly in distress, his hands gripping the wheel until his knuckles were white and he blew nearly every red light. He went through a couple cigarettes quickly by the time they had rolled into the driveway.

When they got home, the maids prepared them rice and seitan with bread rolls and sweet potato. Aurora quietly began eating across from Arlan. He stared at her intently. He was a beast at work and just wanted to unwind, get his aggression out.

Even with her just in his T-shirt and a tight pair of skinny jeans, he was tempted to squeeze the soft flesh of her skin and hold her hips like he had before. His eyes zeroed in on her very obvious hickies, which really just looked more like blatant black and blue bruises. The fact that everyone at her school saw them on her drove him crazy with satisfaction and he felt himself go hard. Just watching her innocently poking around at her dinner it was impossible to not hear her moans in his head.

"Aurora, get upstairs."

Aurora froze just before her fork entered her lips, mouth ajar. Her blue eyes slowly followed up to meet his, timidly. He was agitated and she didn't know why, she hadn't done anything wrong.

"Why?" Her lily-soft tone answered.

"Because I want to fuck you," He snarled aggressively, slightly panting.

Aurora frowned. "But...but I just started eating."

Arlan sighed heavily and shifted, drumming his knuckles on the table and tapping his foot.

She looked at him with concern before eventually putting the sweet potato in her mouth and chewing. He was clearly on edge and it was uncomfortable for her to be around. She had just had a long tutoring session and seemingly forgot to eat all day, she needed dinner. Nonetheless, she wasn't ready to put herself through the excruciation of 'being' with Arlan again. He wasn't just rough- he was riotous, brutal. His fantasies were sick and sadistic.

"How was work?" She tried, gently.

"It was fucking great," he said under his breath, biting his lip. He looked up to see Aurora looking quite afraid. He sighed.

"I'm under immense pressure right now, and I should just go upstairs." Arlan muttered and backed out of his chair, tossing his napkin to the table.

Aurora began to grow worried that she had denied his advances as he headed for the staircase. She still didn't know why her bags were packed and she felt her face pale as she nervously gripped her fork.

What if his agitation would make her punishment come that much sooner, that much more severe?

"W-wait," Aurora called, her face growing red and tears threatening to leave her eyes.

Arlan turned back from heading up the stairs to face her, his eyes so cold and cruel and his face so rugged with his beard and long curls framing his neck.

Shakily, Aurora stood up, and removed his shirt over her body, leaving her cold and exposed.

Arlan turned his whole body to face her before stalking towards her like prey and she nervously hugged her body. She was already so bruised, so sore, would he be as aggressive as the first time? Could her body take more?

She hoped he had gotten all the past sexual aggression out of his system and maybe would be more docile and understanding.

His fingers found the side of her neck and she flinched, anticipating the choking. His head cocked to the side, and his lips grew into a smirk.

"I know you love me. You're just too afraid to say it. But I love you," He captured her lips in his and kissed them fervently until he pulled away, leaving them red and achy and sore. "Come on," he led her away.

For the next week, Aurora and Arlan continued to sleep with one another, and the punishment with her packed bags seemingly never occurred. Unbeknownst to her, there was no punishment with her packed bags-just Arlan who had considered letting her have freedom, which was a long gone thought in his mind. His insatiable need for her was only growing stronger.

Santiago and Aurora met twice for tutoring, Aurora even showing him a few quiz scores which she did excellently on, thanks to his help. Only while she was succeeding, he was failing.