She had always heard that you had better not tempt fate. All her life she had avoided saying or even thinking, 'could it get any worse?' Despite her best efforts her entire life, fate had caught up to her anyways.

Things had officially gotten worse.

In all of her attempts to be optimistic, she should have realized that things were going too well. It was stupid of her to be so blase with the situation. Roman had lulled her into a false sense of security with merely his presence. He wasn't to blame however, she had let herself get caught in the moment.

It was all over now. Stephanie wouldn't continue to use her. She was compromised. Her sister would find another angle, no doubt.

Shiloh's stomach dropped. What would this mean for her future? Would Stephanie be wary to call upon her again? It was a flip of the coin how this would play out.

She took a deep steadying breath. She needed a drink but first and foremost she wanted to be rid of Randy's shirt. She checked the hallway and once it was clear she swiftly made her exit. She was home free, or so she thought as she rounded the corner to get to the parking garage.

Roman was pacing. Dean was there too, a lit cigarette hanging limply between his fingers.

Of course, she would interrupt them. Of course, the worst-case scenario would fall directly into her lap.

"She wouldn't do that. None of them even came to her birthday dinner." She heard Roman argue.

"Yeah, well now you know why. It was a fucking setup." Dean retorted angrily, "Speak of the devil. Ask her yourself."

Roman turned to face her slowly. She saw it in his eyes. He wanted to believe that she was innocent.

He too had been blindsided by the situation. His chiseled features softened as they often did when he wanted to understand her position on things.

He wet his lips out of habit, "What is this about? Dean said that your sister had some plan? She's using you to get to me?"

She blew out a shaky breath, fresh tears filling her eyes.

He stopped pacing, noticing her attire.

"Why the fuck are you wearing Randy's shirt?" Roman asked narrowing his eyes.

Her face flushed instantly, "I, I'm sorry."

"You said your family didn't care about you." He was rambling, "You lied about them?"

Her head was spinning trying to find somewhere to begin her explanation. She doubted anything she was going to say would even be close to satisfactory.

"No. I didn't." She swore, grasping his arm.

"Sure looked like Stephanie cared back there." Dean argued, pointing back toward the building, "Just tell him the truth, Shi. Don't dance around and bullshit him."

"This was all a misunderstanding. Stephanie was mad about last night. No, she normally doesn't care about me, but I guess finding out that I spent the night with you upset her. She didn't know where I was. I'm sure Randy blew the whole story up too." she clarified through her tears.

Dean rolled his eyes, "You said Roman was your 'mark'. This isn't the first time she's done this. They planned all of this Ro."

"Is that what I was to you?" he asked, setting his lips in a firm line.

She pinched her eyes shut, "At first, yes, you were supposed to be."

His whole face fell, "What the actual fuck Shi? Are you serious? Everything was a lie?"

STUPID! Stupid. Stupid.

He should have seen her coming from a mile away. His judgment was deprived by the sheer desperation she had portrayed to him. Her last name alone was the biggest red flag. He had ignored it in favor of her expressive blue eyes and his inherent nature to protect.

"Please listen to me." she begged, "I was supposed to come and help her figure you out, all of you. Then she planned my birthday dinner without my knowledge. I had no clue about that. Everything after that point has been legit. The only reason I called you a 'mark' was to get Randy off of my case. He threatened you again. I knew this would hurt you when you found out, but I couldn't let him hurt you physically before I could explain everything to you. All of you."

"She set you up! You heard her admit it. Why are you still entertaining this?" Dean bellowed furiously.

He had taken a step closer to Roman, hoping to drive the point home to his best friend. He'd be damned if he was going to let her get away with this.

"Just let me think!" Roman shouted, into Dean's face.

He brushed the long strands of hair away from his brow, "Can you just give us a minute?"

Dean put his hands up in defeat, "Whatever you want."

He fixed his scowl on her, dropping his cigarette to the ground and crushing it with his boot. She watched him warily, her eyes glittering with unshed tears. He scoffed at her as he brushed past her.

She sighed in relief when the door slammed behind Dean, but her relief was only short-lived.

Roman was staring a hole in the ground, lost in the turmoil she had created. His hands were on his lean hips. His chest rose and fell heavily.

He wasn't sure which was worse. The anger he felt toward The Authority for putting him and his brothers in this situation, or the embarrassment from the betrayal. He hadn't realized he had gone soft so quickly. He had let this girl play him like it was nothing. Gullible was an inadequate adjective to describe him at the moment.

She automatically began fidgeting with her hands when the silence wore on, "Roman, I'm..."

"This is my fault." he interrupted her suddenly.

His voice was low, barely above a growl.

She shook her head in obvious confusion, "What?"

He hadn't looked up at her yet, "This would have never happened if I would have minded my business and not cared."

Guilt washed over her; fresh tears pricked the back of her eyes. She had known all along she hadn't been worth it. She had even tried to warn him, albeit in hidden undertones. He didn't deserve this, that was abundantly clear, but wasn't it just as obvious that she hadn't wanted this for him either?

She was just another piece on the board in the chess match between The Authority and The Shield.

He rubbed the back of his neck with a cynical chuckle, "You'd think I would have learned by now."

"None of this is your fault. I should have never involved any of you. I didn't want this for anyone, especially you. I should have just been upfront with you." she swallowed the lump in her throat, "I didn't have a choice, Roman. I've never had any friends or anyone that genuinely cared about me. That's not an excuse, but I guess I was hoping it wouldn't end. I got caught up in the fairytale of it all. I would have found a way to tell you, Roman."

He finally looked into her eyes, "You didn't though. You made your choice for all of us. I just hope you made the right one."

He tore his gaze away from her before the wave of pain crashed across her features. As angry as he was he couldn't bear to see the hurt he had just caused her. He knew how it felt to be alone, with nowhere to turn. He knew the trauma that caused, yet he couldn't get any satisfaction from it.

No wonder she had chosen him. They were two broken ships floating through the ocean of life searching for any kind of safe haven. They would have gravitated toward each other eventually, even without being set up.

He would go back to being cold and uncaring eventually. He always did. He just had to be rid of her. He had to get her out of his veins, from behind his mind's eye.


"Well?" Dean asked when Roman came into the locker room.

"It's done." That was the only response he could manage at the moment.

The pain was still too fresh. He needed time to process the bullshit.

Seth nodded in agreement, "Didn't see that one coming, but now we can focus on ourselves and making our own way."

Dean had filled him in before Roman returned.

Roman clenched his jaw as the pain and embarrassment speared through him again.

"We're sticking together through this and we're going to bring this whole thing down on Stephanies's head. She's going to pay for this, one way or another." Roman swore.

He would get his revenge. This slight would not go unpunished. Randy and Stephanie were his main targets. Anyone who stood in the way would be collateral damage.

They could move or be moved, it was as simple as that.

Evil grins crossed Seth and Dean's faces. They knew it took a lot to push Roman into action. He had the triggers that would propel him there much faster than normal, just like any regular person does, this was just a new one added to the list.

The Shield had made a name for themselves as justice seekers. They would deal with this situation no differently.


Thank you as always for reading. Leave me some feedback. I do so enjoy hearing from you!