Cassidy sighed and irritably tossed the wallpaper samples on her desk, folding her arms over them and laying on them. Her phone lit up and she looked at the display. "Hey,love,are you coming home soon,I miss you?" she smiled, left it as read and hid her face in her hands again. Her phone again indicated a message. "Did I do something? Why are you ignoring me?" she giggled and put it back to read. "How can such a big and strong man be such a baby?" Cassidy mumbled tiredly.

A noise from the front room caught her attention and Cassidy frowned, thinking all the workers had already left. Her phone started ringing and she picked it up, not looking to see who it was, getting up and going to check who it was. "Cas, love, why aren't you answering me..." Jason's almost tearful voice came out. Cassidy froze. "You?" her voice cracked and she dropped the phone. Her scream echoed through the empty, half-renovated room, and the thump of her back against the wall echoed dully through the empty walls.

"Did you miss me?" Cassidy tried to catch her breath, but his fingers dug into her throat even harder and he lifted her effortlessly, dragging her back against the wall. "Wha...do you...want?" she gasped and the man chuckled. "I heard you got married and you didn't invite me?" she shook her head desperately, trying to touch a foothold with her feet. "Very rude of you, don't you think?" Cassidy coughed, feeling like her lungs were on fire. Her eyes searched frantically for something to defend herself with, reaching out she tried to hit him, but he grabbed her wrist, clicking his tongue.

"Very naughty" he threw her and Cassidy landed on one of the wooden work tables. Clutching her throat, she tried to get up, her eyes fixed on the phone. "Jason..." her throat was torn, but the name came out more like a whisper than a call. "Tc tc tc,sweet little Cassidy, is that his name,Jason?" he crouched down next to her and grabbed the back of her hair, bringing her face close to his. Cassidy whimpered in pain and tried to push him away, but only managed to graze his face before his slap sent her back to the ground.

"You were very naughty, Cassidy" he lifted her further and Cassidy clung to his arm. "And naughty girls should be punished, right?" his second slap made her head snap back and the tears she had been holding back flowed against her will. "Why do you always act like this, Cassidy? Why do you always make me angry?" he stood up and the toe of his shoe drove into her stomach, sending her through the broken table to the opposite wall.

He shook his head, watching as Cassidy tried to stand up. A sharp pain shot through her back low at the waist and she reached up touching the spot and gasped in pain. A warm sticky liquid clung to her fingers and she stared at her hand in horror. "Look what you're making me do,Cassidy" she tried to push away with her legs, the pain in her wrist shooting through her and her ears squealing. "Please..." she cried, horrified staring at the ugly evil smile lighting up his face.

"What are you asking me for, Cassidy? To stop? To continue?" he grabbed her throat again and lifted her up. "Why did you do that,Cassidy?" he hit her again with the back of his hand, his ring leaving a deep scratch on her cheek. "Why did you try to run away?" the third slap made her head feel heavy and her throat hurt from trying to breathe. "Did you really believe I wouldn't find you, huh?" another slap, her vision began to blur and all Cassidy could do was whimper and cry.

His fist drove into her ribs, once, a second time, into her stomach, again into her ribs, into her face. Cassidy could hear the cracking of bones, but she didn't have the strength to react. Again and again, she was no longer crying, hardly breathing, her eyes were slowly closing and she could feel the dizziness deepening. "Damn, you got away with it this time, Cassidy!" headlights illuminated her, her body slid down the wall and fell unnaturally. She heard the impact from the glass door, felt the taste of blood.

Jason slammed on the brakes in front of Cassidy's studio and saw a tall black haired man jump out from inside, looked at him for a moment and then ducked around the corner. Jason was shaking with fear and anger, but he didn't have time to chase him, Cassidy's screams and cries on the phone were still ringing in his ears. He ran to the studio and flew inside, finding himself facing a veritable pogrom. The broken pieces of the work table were everywhere, there was blood, a lot of blood.

"Cassidy!" his blood ran cold, and for a moment Jason was unable to move or react, looking at the half-lying, half-sitting bloodied body of his wife, propped and wedged to one side against the wall. "God, Cas..." he still managed to move, his body shaking, his heart refusing to beat, until he made sure she was at least breathing. He crouched down and tried to pull her up, but his hand froze in mid-motion as her scream of pain echoed so loudly that he heard the glass wall rattle.

"Baby...I have to look baby, I'm sorry, I know you're hurting, I'm sorry my love" he whispered, gently pulling her body down and letting her lie on the ground. He tried to move her a little to the side with a hand under her neck and on her waist, but she screamed again and he pulled his hands away in a startled manner. Blood ran down his fingers, her blood, his eyes darted, but he soon realized it was coming from her back.

"What the…" Jason cursed and pulled out his phone calling an ambulance. "Come on, love, stay with me" he gently moved the hair stuck to her face and his anger took unprecedented proportions. "Who did this to you…" a tear rolled down his cheek and he angrily wiped it away, looking for a moment at the wet mark on his fingers and then at Cassidy's scarred face.

"Cassidy…" Jason was on edge, if his father thought he would do such a thing to his wife and then find a place to hide, there wouldn't be a demon capable of protecting him from the rage to his son. No one was allowed to touch anything of his, ever! That was the final straw. If Anthony had had any chance of survival up until now, that chance had vanished the moment he had assaulted Cassidy.

"Cassidy, love, please just hold on…" his eyes watched desperately as the blood stain at her sides grew larger. Jason was anything but cowardly. Now, however, he was dying of terror, trembling, and every nerve in his body was screaming with pain and fear. "I'll kill him, Cas, I swear!" he took her hands hard in his, it seemed to be the only part of her body that wasn't hurt, and kissed them. "Even if you hate me afterwards, I'll kill him!" sobbed Jason. "Just live, please, just live!" he looked up at the sound of sirens.

"They are here, my love, just hold on!" he gently let go of her hands and stood up, running to meet the medics. And God help them if something happened to her on the way to the hospital! "This way!" he stood in front of the door, directing them and glancing back nervously. Cassidy didn't move, didn't even flinch, and that scared him the most. With such pain, she should at least let out a moan now and then, but she was absolutely lifeless.

Helpless. Jason Mallory was helpless, unable to do anything. It didn't matter how much power he had, nor how rich he was, it didn't matter how scary he was. He was helpless as he watched the three medics examine his wife and then put her on the stretcher and into the ambulance.And he suddenly realized just how dependent he had become on Cassidy over the past almost six months. It didn't matter if he carried out his grandfather's will, it didn't matter if he found and killed his father. Nothing mattered if she didn't wake up.

Jason didn't ask if he could get in the ambulance with her, didn't ask what and why they were doing to her, he didn't care. All that mattered was her and the warmth of her hand in his. All that mattered was the fact that she was reacting to something they had done to her on the way to the hospital and Cassidy squeezed his hand lightly. It mattered that the monitor was reading her pulse evenly.

And if Jason had ever thought of himself as anything, it was the moment the medics wheeled her through the huge double doors of the emergency room, pushing him back, just as her eyelids twitched slightly and her lips formed a 'Jason " he understood. It doesn't matter how much he loves her or is obsessed with her, because if she wasn't there for him, he was absolutely nothing!