Randy was in some trouble for his actions at the diner, but he didn't regret them. It was that final bullet that the cops said was overboard. It was that heat of the moment action that had the word manslaughter being thrown around. Thankfully, he had a good lawyer and he stood in front of a judge quickly, signed his own bail, but he had to stand trail.

He didn't want to tell Mia about that. He didn't want her pain to linger, but he didn't want her living in the security free apartment that she lived in either. He didn't want her returning to that diner to work and he wanted to know she was okay if he served a sentence. But mostly, he wanted her away from Roman, who would sweet talk her with his kiss and caress until she was in his clutches again.

"Mia, I love you." he whispered, pulling her close.

"I love you too, Randy."

Mia couldn't believe the words had escaped her lips, but she did. The heat of the moment, what he had done, charged her in a way she had never imagined. She was enamored with her hero and somehow being saved by the man she had married in Vegas had erased all the feelings she had felt for Roman. Funny. She had screamed for him as she was being dragged through the kitchen and into the office. Not Roman. Not for the man she had been romantically involved with for almost six years, but for Randy, his best friend, her best friend. The one she could always count on. And he had come. Somehow he had come.

She kissed him. Initiating. Wanting him as close as two people could possibly get and he immediately obliged, peeling off her clothes while she removed his. He carried her to her bedroom, laid her down and they got lost in each other. He was hungry for her. He needed her in a way she had never been needed before and she melted. Just as she had always done with Roman. And by the time Randy had spent himself, completely and sighed his satisfaction, it hit her. What was she doing?

"Damn it, girl. You are so amazing." Randy grinned from ear to ear. Happy and she was going to have to break his heart, but she was too vulnerable. She wanted to be loved so badly that she let any man's soft touch over power her. But she realized, she wasn't in love with either of them. She cared about them, but that was the extent of it.

"Randy, this isn't going to work." She told him.

"Please tell me you're not going back to Roman. He's never been faithful to you."

"I know. I guess I've always known. But this isn't right either."

"Baby, I don't like where this is going."

"I am moving out of this hell hole, but I'm not moving in with you. I'm not breaking up a friendship. You and Roman are too close. I won't be what comes between you."

"He'll get over it." Randy swore. "We are tight. He'll come around and it will be fine."

"It won't be fine for me. How can I hang around with two men that I've slept with? That will be awkward all the time. No. This ends here, Randy. I care about you both too much and I guess you two have both really been just my friends and that's where it should have ended. I'm sorry all my insecurities led to all of this."

"You're blaming yourself? Mia, you always do that."

"Maybe. I think after all that has happened today, I need to just take some time for me. I don't need to be rushing into anything."

"I'll go home." He promised, raising from the bed. "Give you sometime to collect your thoughts and then we'll see where we are tomorrow."

He left the room, she followed him, watched him collect his clothes from the kitchen floor and dress, then he exited, leaving her by herself.

She took a lot of time thinking. She told Randy the next day that she wasn't ready to talk and told Roman the same. Her class was over soon and she had finally cleared her mind and figured out what she wanted. She packed all her things. Changed her phone number, bought a car, loaded it and headed toward a new future.

Randy stared at an empty apartment. She had never said one word about her plans. Nothing. Not even good bye. Randy leaned on the counter and put his forefingers to his chin. It had been a month. He barely spoke to Mia. Never spoke to Roman. His friend didn't call and he didn't dial his number. He tried to figure what was going on with Mia, but found her number no longer worked. He could feel his heart crumbling in his chest leaving a big hole behind.

Three months later, he stood outside a courtroom, waiting for his lawyer.

"Hey."

"You look good in a suit." Randy said, void of emotion.

"I know." Roman smirked, then they both smiled and shook hands. They sat down on a bench. Any moment, Randy would face the judge for what he had done. "Have you heard from her?"

"Nope, You?"

"Nope. Is it still worth it?"

"Totally worth it." Randy grinned. "I'm positive that if I had left that guy alive, he would have come after her eventually, maybe all of us."

"They've done it before." Roman agreed. "I've had a few run ins with them. I think they targeted Mia. It wasn't a random robbery. I knew the moment I laid eyes on those two. Man," Roman ran his hand through his slicked back hair that was tied in a pony tail. "I should have stepped aside a long time ago. I knew you wanted her. And I held on to her for spite. I'm sorry."

"I wonder where she is." Randy sighed. "She's still my wife." he laughed hysterically.

"What's so funny."

"I'm married and I have no idea where my wife is."

"The good news is, eventually, she will want that divorce. Then, you'll know where she is." Roman patted his back, then it was time.

The district attorney painted him as a monster, leaving out the fact that his victims had robbed and beaten a defenseless woman, but his lawyer didn't leave out any details. He painted the scene almost has it had happened. Randy finding Mia battered and unconscious, his wife, the love of his life. Who just happened to be absent for the courtroom, or so he thought.

Mia walked in escorted by his lawyers paralegal. She took the stand, refusing to meet his eyes. Apparently, they had found her, they had sent her a summons and she was there. Looking gorgeous with a new hair style, make-up applied just right over her delicate features and a black dress made him have to gasp for air. He smiled like an idiot and she avoided gazing his way.

She answered the questions and his lawyer was gentle, understanding, but the district attorney was mean, so mean randy felt his face heat up, his fists clenched and he wanted to leap from his chair and pummel him.

"So, you married him in Vegas? Were you drinking?"

"Yes."

"So, you could say you manipulated him?"

"No."

"and you continued to live with the defendants best friend even after you were married?" he didn't give her time to answer. "You seem to have a way of manipulating men to do what you want them to do. Perhaps you weren't robbed at all. Perhaps it was just another night of fun and when it became more than you bargained for, they became angry. Or maybe you provoked them. And when your husband arrived, you played the victim, causing him to murder two men in cold blood."

she started to shake and he saw the water pools forming in her eyes.

"Stop it!" Randy couldn't take it anymore. "Enough! Mia would never do anything like that!" Randy shouted.

"Randy sit down." Roman reached across the barrier. His lawyer begged him to do the same.

"Just leave her alone." But the jury had seen his temper when it came to Mia being hurt and it had damaged his case. So much so, that they found him guilty and he ended up with a five year sentence.

But he was okay with it. Because it granted him a long embrace from Mia.

"I'm so sorry, Randy." she sobbed.

"Hey, it's not your fault." He smiled, ran his thumb gently down her cheek. "You look beautiful, sweetie." then he put his hands behind his back. The bailiff cuffed him and he walked out like a man.

Mia couldn't believe it. How could he have to serve time when he had been protecting all of them. Not just her, but all of them. No one even called Roman to the stand. He had been there.

"Hi, Mia." it was awkward standing beside Roman. She had left him too. "So, where did you take off to."

"I'd rather not say, Roman." she said politely. "I've started a new life and I like it. I'm happy."

"So, I guess you have a new man in your life."

She laughed.

"Hell no. I think I've had enough of that for the time being."

"You do look good." he kissed her cheek. "Take care of yourself, babe. You got a ride?"

"I drove."

"You drove? Wow, you have been busy." He laughed. He didn't seem bitter or angry at all. She had expected to walk into a lot more drama.

"I still can't believe they put Randy in jail."

"Don't worry about it. His lawyer will get him out." Roman assured her. "You just go back and live your life. He doesn't blame you and you shouldn't blame yourself. This is just one of those complications life throws at us. Randy was completely prepared."

"It almost sounds like your glad that Randy went to jail."

"No." then he sighed. "Well, maybe. He would have never left me alone with you if they had found him not guilty." Then he leaned forward, attempting to seduce her with those lips and she threw up her hand. "Are you serious?" she let him know how disgusted she was by his actions.

"I'm kidding, Mia." He chuckled. "But I can't let this get to me. I have to go on. I have to move on. Randy is my best friend and he's been locked away, Mia. This is probably the worst day of my life, even worse than the day I realized that he and my girl got married and hid it for nearly a year."

"We didn't do that on purpose."

"I know. It was my fault. The truth is, I shouldn't have been with you in the first place. I've always been jealous of Randy and the night we all met, I saw something different in the way he looked at you. I played dirty, Mia. I've never been as good of a friend to him as he has been to me."

"I have to get back. I have to work in the morning." Roman had a lot of issues she had never been aware of. She felt bad for him. He was really a decent guy, but he had some insecurities of his own that he had terrible ways of dealing with. She was glad she lived three cities away. She wanted to put both of them in her past. She hated what had happened to Randy. It wasn't right, but the justice system was not always just. It haunted her sometimes, but she had to go on. That was how she ended up how she was in the first place. Guilt and the feeling of having to be there for someone. This time, she had to be there for herself.

She was doing well in her new job. When they were passing out job offers, the human resources lady had printed off available jobs from the wrong facility.

"Oh, these are for another facility. You guys don't want those." she laughed.

"Actually, I wouldn't mind moving." she raised her hand and by the end of the day the split second decision had changed her entire life. The company even paid for her to relocate because the facility was so short handed. It was a lucky break.

The building had once been a nursing home that also had a floor for rehabilitation. As the need grew, another floor was designated for short term patients, then another and eventually, a new nursing home was built and new equipment was bought leaving only four wings in total along with a large cafeteria and movie theater.

Most of her patients were elderly. Some ended up going home, while some were transferred to an open bed in the nursing facility. She enjoyed it. Loved her residents. Even crying when some of packed their belongings and moved on. She loved to hear their stories. Love to listen about their marriages, jobs and experiences. And she managed to make a close friend who invited her to spend holidays with her. She had no family to go home to. Her parents had died when she was barely out of high school. She had no brothers and sisters and both her parents had been only children, so she didn't even have a cousin. She had never known her grandparents. Not even one. So, it was nice to adopted as Tori's sister. Even her friends mother considered her one of her own by the end of her second year in the city, but she had never told anyone about her life before she moved. As far as she was concerned, she didn't exist before. She had no past, but she had a future.