TAYLOR* I was the only one in the office today for the first time in weeks. I can admit it's pretty nice, though I miss seeing Connor and Wade. Aaron and I have met with my parents a couple of times to agree on who gets Mark and when. I never met up with him unless someone was with me, and he has acted like a complete saint every time. We have agreed on Aaron having Mark every other weekend and on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He and I may have issues, but I will not keep Mark away from his father. I sometimes feel like I'm being watched, like he has his watchdogs watching my every move. So Connor, Wade, and I don't get together unless Aaron has Mark. Aaron, however, has stayed away from me for the most part unless it's something to do with Mark. I hope he has decided to let bygones be bygones, but I wouldn't put anything past him. The silence from Aaron is somewhat defining. I had put my earbuds in and listened to Stained and was trying to find some old files in my filing cabinet when strong arms lifted me and threw me face-first into the filing cabinet. There was a ringing in my ears beyond the music. I'm surprised I didn't get knocked out, but my vision was blurred. It had to be Aaron; how did he know I was here alone today? Oh, right, his minions must have told him. Aaron pulled the earbuds from my ears and slammed my head into the filing cabinet once again. "Your little boyfriends are gone; there's no one here to save you now," Aaron forced out. "You've been cheating on me all along, haven't you, Taylor, so what makes what I do so bad, huh. I wanted to give you the world, and yet you leave with my son and act as if we haven't spent the last ten years of our lives together. I'm going to ruin you and this company; they will wish they had never allowed you to come back to work for them," Aaron seethed as I heard the zipper of his jeans and some rustling as he worked to free his cock. "I'm going to knock you up again, you're mine, and I will be damned if those fuckers take what's mine," "No, Aaron, please get off of me. Don't do this," I screamed as Aaron shoved my jeans and underwear down and positioned himself at my entrance. My head finally cleared enough to think clearly, and all of my self-defense training came back to me. I was thankful that I had put my dress boats on this morning that had a pointed one-inch heel on them. Instead of impaling him in the foot, I missed, and the heel of my boot dug into Aaron's shin. Aaron growled and let go of me; I turned around and socked him in the eye. "Fuck Taylor, what's wrong with you? I was only going to take what's mine," Aaron growled as he lunged for me once again. I dodged him and grabbed the first thing I could, which was the company landline, tore it from the wall, and knocked Aaron out with it. He laid on the floor, not moving; shit, I killed him. It was self-defense; he was going to Rape me. What do I do? Blood started oozing out from Aaron's temple, where I had hit him with the phone. I reached for my phone that had fallen out of my pocket when Aaron shoved my pants down and was about to call 911 when Aaron groaned. "You little bitch you assaulted me," Aaron said as he began to get up, and I stood and backed up into the filing cabinet. "Don't come near me, or I'll make sure I kill you this time," I screamed. "Get ready to hear from my lawyer, you my dear, are about to lose everything you hold dear, and at the end of the day, you will have no choice but to come back to me," Aaron yelled as he stumbled out of the building blood dripping from his temple onto the floor. I immediately called Connor, but he didn't answer. Then I called Wade with the same outcome. When I called Blaze and still couldn't reach anyone, I racked my brain, trying to decide what I should do next. I couldn't call the police; this would be a case of he said she said, and I had hurt Aaron more than he had hurt me. Everyone would be on his side. I would be known as the woman who cried wolf. Why the hell did I ever go back to him? I knew that my parents would be on my side and the Cunnigham family, but beyond that, I had no proof that Aaron had tried to rape me. I cleaned the blood up from the floor then decided to text Connor and Wade and let them know what had happened since I had been trying to call them all now for the last thirty minutes. *** "I'm going to kill that ass hole. Where do you think he would be right now?" Connor yelled and then punched a hole in the wall. "Well, I knocked him out with my office landline and punched him in the eye. So my guess is he probably went to the hospital to get stitches. He was bleeding pretty bad from his temple," I said as I looked at the hole in the wall. "Damn Taylor, I'm so sorry. I thought to lock the door when we all left this morning, but I didn't; this is all my fault," Blaze said as he paced in my office. "We need to call the police and file a report. If push comes to shove, my dad could be your lawyer. He's the best in the city, along with Connor and Wade's dad, of course. I'll call my dad now and make sure he knows not to represent Aaron in any way," Blaze said as he walked over to his office across the hall. "What do you think he's going to do?" Wade asked as he checked me over for any injuries. "He's most likely going to file assault charges on me and try to take Mark away from me. He told me to get a lawyer because I was about to lose everything and would have no choice to come back to him. I already told you what happened, but he didn't have a chance to enter me. There's no proof that he tried to rape me. I've got bruises on my face, and that's it. I don't know what angle he's going to use," I said as I looked to the filing cabinet that had been pushed a few inches from its original spot. "Well, Connor is calling the police; they should be here any minute now. File a report and let them know word for word what happened. We will all protect you, Taylor. Aaron will not win this; I promise you that," Wade said as he hugged me tightly and kissed me on the forehead, none caring as to anyone who might see. *** I filed a report and recanted everything that happened, just as Wade had asked me to do, but I didn't feel like it would help me one bit. Most likely, Aaron had also filed a report, but maybe not. I would have been arrested for assault by now if Aaron had filed a report, but I know nothing about how these things work. Connor and Wade refused to let me be alone tonight. I had called my mom to let her know what had happened, so she had picked Mark up from school for me. I wanted him somewhere safe if anything happened to me, and I damn well don't want Aaron to get his hands on Mark right now. Connor and Wade followed me home from work and inspected the parking garage for any signs that Aaron or his minions may be staking out the place. Wade stayed with me while Connor went out to get us some beers and take out. I don't drink much, never have, but after the day I had, I needed something to help me unwind. Sleeping between my men as they both cuddled me tonight would also be a significant help. I couldn't help but think that after tonight my life was about to take a turn for the worse. I knew that Aaron would stop at nothing to take the Cunninghams down, even if it meant taking me down right along with them.