by Toni Aleo
“And I’ll report the day it opens,” I say as we part and Declan takes my hand. We head to the car and I lean into him, feeling so empowered by today. Which is good. I need something to make me feel good. The trial is starting soon and I am dreading it, but when Declan’s lips press into my temple, I know that it is all going to be okay.
Turning my face, I press my lips to his and smile. “Can I ask you something?” I say as we take our seats next to his dad.
“Of course.”
“I want to buy a library for the school.”
A grin pulls at his lips as he cuddles me into his arms. Before he can answer though, his dad says, “First clothes for these kids, now a library? Ya said she wasn’t after ya money, Declan.”
“I’m not,” I answer, but Declan holds a hand up to me, stopping any further words.
“If she were asking for me to buy her cars, clothes, and stuff, then yeah, she’d be after my money. But wanting to help people is different,” he says very sternly. “So please, don’t disrespect her like that.”
His father doesn’t say anything, but I can see in his eyes that he is not happy. “I apologize.”
“Thank you,” Declan says before glancing back at me. He then holds my face as he strokes my lip with his thumb. “Ya want a library for the school?”
I nod. “I do. Don’t you think it would be great for them?”
“I do, and when Amy told me, I thought it.”
“Really?”
“I did.”
“I thought so too,” Lena adds. “Poor kids.”
“It could cost a lot though,” Mrs. O’Callaghan says with a shake of her head. “But I do agree, they need a place to dedicate to the written word.”
“They do,” I say. “It would be so beautiful to do.”
“Then we will build one,” Declan says with a nod. “In your ma’s name too.”
Tears spring to my eyes as I fight to breathe. I never thought to do it for my mom, but how genius is that? It would be perfect. As I reach for him, a stray tear runs down my face and I can only breathe his name, “Declan.”
“Let’s just say it’s an early wedding gift, yeah?”
If that is my wedding gift, then I don’t know what he’ll give me when we are old and gray, celebrating our fiftieth anniversary. Nothing I can say would remotely sum up how I feel for this man or how he has just made my lifetime. He said that he doesn’t know how to make losing my mom easier to cope with, but giving me a library for her is one way to do it. He is the most amazing person on earth, and by some grace of God, he is mine. Dealing with his shitty family I can live with as long as I get to wake up to this gorgeous, generous man. Not everyone would think to include their fiancée’s deceased mother in something they want, but Declan did. Holding him tight to me, I nod my head as I meet his gaze. Then with a watery smile, I agree in a whisper, “Thank you.”
I don’t like seeing her up there.
It gives me the chills and has my heart pumping in my chest.
I already went, already told my side. Of course, the defense tried to attack me, saying that I had some kind of hatred toward the wanker. I didn’t lie either. I told the truth, saying, yeah, I hated him, but he still had no right to try to shoot me or get Amberlyn instead. After I said that, they backed off a bit, and I didn’t even try to hide my disgust for him. I looked him right in the eyes, and he was the one to look away, like the fucking coward he is. But Lena won’t look at him. Her eyes are trained on her hands and her voice is soft. It’s killing me.
When Amberlyn’s hand slides into mine, her fingers lacing with my own, I look over at her to see that she is watching intently too as the defense asks Lena questions. Questions that I know are hard for her. You can read it all over her. She is tense in position; she’s almost pale and on the brink of tears. I want to rush up there, cover her with my body, and shield her from the questions she thought she’d never have to answer again, but I can’t. This has to happen and then Amberlyn will go next.
If it’s this hard seeing my sister up there, I don’t know how I’ll handle the love of my life.
Beside me, my ma is tense. She is picking at her nails, and I can hear her labored breathing. My da is the same, all of us so nervous and scared for the woman whom we see as our sweet little girl. A girl that that fucker ruined.
“So you had a relationship with Mr. Burke, yes?”
Lena swallows loudly as she nods. “Yes.”
“You were in love?”
“I was with him, but not the other way around.”
“Why do you say that?” the defense attorney asks. He is a small man, kinda round, but very young. I thought I had recognized him but wasn’t sure. Maybe I saw him on the telly or something. Either way, I hate him. I don’t like the way he is talking to my sister or the way he spoke to me. He’s an arse.
“Because he never told me so.”
He nods as he leans on the stand. “You were fifteen when you started dating Mr. Burke? He was eighteen?”
“Yes.”
“So is it easy to say that he didn’t tell you, though very much felt those feelings, but he was worried since you were so young?”
“Bullshite,” I mutter as Lena shakes her head.
“No, I told him countless times and he just nodded, saying one day he’d feel the same.”
“But still, he did tell your father he loved you.”
“Yeah, so that we could marry, but he never told me,” she says, finally looking up at the man. “He was after my money and broke my heart in the process.”
“Is there proof of that?” he asks sharply, and I want to rip his fuckin’ face off.
“Yes.”
My brows come together as I wait for the proof. I wasn’t aware there was. “Please enlighten me, because I’ve read over your file many times, Ms. O’Callaghan, and I haven’t seen anything that gives credence to that statement.”
“Did you read in the file where I was left outside my gate with bruises up my thighs, my dress ripped, and my body covered in bite marks?”
An eerie silence falls over the courtroom, and my ma quickly takes my hand as my eyes well up with tears. Like I had so long ago, I want nothing more than to hop up and beat the shit out of that fuckin arse. He broke my sister, raped her, and then almost killed my love. How dare he have the right to stand trial to walk in this world? It almost doesn’t seem fair.
“I did read that.”
“Well, what it doesn’t say in that file is that before that, I asked him if he loved me. He told me no. I asked him why did he tell my da that then, and he said because he wanted to marry me before someone else could. I didn’t understand; I was young and stupid. I fell for his charm, but then he said not to worry my pretty head about it anymore.” Her eyes start to fill with tears, and I close my eyes to hide the view I see. But I can still hear. I wish I couldn’t, but her words rattle my soul as she goes on. “That my da wouldn’t let us marry, so we’d just have fun. Again, I didn’t understand, and he started to take my shirt off. I said no, that I was waiting for marriage. So he said, such a child’s answer, but I understand. Then he said, let’s drink. I didn’t want to seem like a child like he said. I wanted to be a woman, one he would love, so I drank. I got so pissed that I couldn’t even have told ya my name. I passed out, and when I woke up, I was almost frozen and hurt everywhere,” she cries, her tears falling in streams. “You’ve apparently read all this. So please, explain to me how he loved me? I was his responsibility that night, and he basically left me to die after getting me drunk and then raping me. If that’s love, then I want none of it.”
The defense attorney turns from her and heads to the table where Casey sits. Lena looks out at us, and I manage a weak smile to show that I am here, but I know it doesn’t help. When she looks to Micah, I hope that he can comfort her, but I find that he is playing a game on his phone. Letting go of my ma’s hand, I reach over Amberlyn, smacking the phone out of his hand. He looks up, shocked, and I glare.
His eyes are wide and his mouth is moving, but no words are leaving his lips. Sputtering, he reaches down for his phone, muttering an apology before tucking it back in his pocket. Rolling my eyes, I sit up as the attorney turns to look at my baby sister.
“It’s okay,” Amberlyn whispers in my ear, kissing the lobe. “She’s so strong, Declan. She has this.”
I want to believe her, but my sister looks so frail, so little. Even though she is dressed like a million bucks, not a hair out of place, she still looks like a baby. My wee sister.
“You were there with Mr. Burke the night he allegedly shot Ms. Amberlyn Reilly.”
“He didn’t allegedly shoot her. He did.”
“That hasn’t been determined yet.”
“Only because Amberlyn hasn’t been up here. She has the scar from where she saved my brother.”
I feel Amberlyn move, and I look over to where she is rubbing the spot above her heart. Where a thick scar sits. It’s a constant reminder of what happened, something that has been hard to let go of. It still hurts when I see it. I just want to kiss it away or take it off and put it on me. She is forever scarred, and when I said that to her the other night, she told me it was a badge of honor. It was a sweet way to think of it, but I wish she didn’t have to wear it.
“Why did she ‘save’ your brother? Because he physically and mentally abused Mr. Burke?” he says, and my annoyance grows quickly.
“No, Declan never abused him in any way. They don’t like each other, with good reason. Casey gave more than he took.”
“Okay, can you please explain to me what happened again?”
“I already did for the prosecution.”
“I know, but I want to ask some questions and I want to hear it again.”
Sucking in a deep breath, Lena lets it out before looking back down at her hands. “He texted me. First time in years and it said that he had to speak to me. Told me where he was and I went. Like an idiot, but I did—”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Because you still love him?” he supplies.
She scoffs. “Not in the least.”
“So you didn’t tell him you still loved him out there in the alley?”
Her brows come together as my heart starts to pound louder. “No, I did not. I told him I care for him and probably always will, but I don’t love him.”
“Caring for someone is a form of love,” he states, and Lena looks up, glaring.
“Sure it is, but so is wanting to kill someone. So are you stating that Casey Burke loves my brother, but he could never love me?”
“She’s a spitfire,” Amberlyn observes, her face breaking into a grin. “She’s giving him a run for his money.”
“That’s not what I’m implying at all.”
“Okay, then please don’t imply that I still love the guy who raped me and almost killed my brother, but instead shot my future sister-in-law.”
Looking down, I can see the frustration on the attorney’s face. Amberlyn is right; Lena is driving him mad.
“So you went outside in the alley with him?”
“Yes, and he asked me if I still loved him. I said no, that I care for him and his ma. He asked again, and I told him no, that I don’t feel anything for him. I’m getting married next summer; my fiancé is the only one I love,” she pauses, shaking her head before glancing up at the attorney. “He became very upset, yelling at me, telling me to tell my da to back off since my da was trying to pay him to leave due to the fact he causes havoc everywhere he goes. He couldn’t leave though because of his ma, and I understood. But I wasn’t going to tell my da to stop because I believed he needed to pay for what he did to me or leave me be.”
“But he had left you alone. He hadn’t contacted you in years.”
“No, he hadn’t, but when he saw me out, he made it a point to come to me, talking to me about how we should be together and all. But each time I shot him down.”
The attorney bites his lip before waving her along. “Please continue.”
“My brother Declan came out with his fiancée, and then everything went mad. They were yelling at each other for Casey to get away from me, and Casey was accusing Declan of ruining his life, and then the gun was pulled. It was his grandda’s; I had gone out to the field with him once and watched him fire it. It has a very noticeable big stag on the side of the handle. I shouted for him to put it down, but he didn’t. He shot it off, and I screamed as Amberlyn jumped in front of the bullet, taking it above her heart. He intended to shoot my brother; I saw it with my own two eyes.”
The attorney pinches his nose before turning to the table. “That’s all I have.”
“Judge, permission to reexamine Ms. O’Callaghan please?” the prosecution lawyer asks, and the judge nods as the lawyer rises up, heading toward Lena.
“With your two eyes, ya said?”
She nods. “Yes.”
“So Casey Burke shot Amberlyn Reilly but was aiming for your brother, Declan. Do you think he wanted to kill him?”
She looks out at me, and I hold her gaze as she sucks in a deep breath. I watch then as she looks dead-on at Casey and nods her head. “Without a shadow of doubt, Casey Burke wanted to kill my brother. I could see it in his eyes.”
“See what?”
“The rage. The hatred. He hates us, and his last words before he pulled the trigger were, ‘I’m going to ruin your life, like ya have mine’ and then he shot.”
“Do you think he was in his right mind?”
“Yes, I do.”
“So his insanity plea—”
“Is him trying to cover up his mistakes. He does that a lot.”
The prosecution lawyer nods his head. “Thank you, Ms. O’Callaghan.”
And I know we have it in the bag. As long as Amberlyn does as well as Lena has.
The prosecution lawyer doesn’t sit down as Lena comes down, heading toward us. Instead, he reads from his paper and says, “Your honor, I call to the stand Ms. Amberlyn Reilly.”
She looks at me and smiles before my lips meet hers. Pulling back, I smile as she cups my face and heads up to the stand. Taking her spot is Lena, and I wrap my arm around her, kissing her temple.
“I love you,” she whispers and I smile.
“I love ya more,” I answer, holding her tight to me. I notice that Micah hasn’t moved an inch and hasn’t even tried to hold her hand as Amberlyn is sworn in. Once she is seated, I listen as she replays the night over again. Her story equals up to Lena’s, and I’m not surprised when she tells all.
“Declan tried to take me home to hide the fact that he was embarrassed that his dad had just informed me of his deadline of marriage. That’s why we went out the side door. We were in the middle of our argument when we heard Lena and Casey arguing too.”
She continues to tell how it all went on and my heart just beats for her. She is so strong, sitting up there completely confident as she tells her story. She is dressed in a pantsuit, her hair in a high bun, looking exceptionally beautiful.
“So you are sure he meant to shoot Declan and not you?”
“Yes, he aimed right for him, and I couldn’t let him kill Declan. He has so much to live for. I only have him to live for, so I did what any other girl in love would do. I protected my man.”
A collective aww goes through the courtroom as the lawyer nods. “Thank you, Ms. Reilly.”
She smiles a thanks as the defense lawyer stands. “You dated Mr. Burke, yes?”
“Briefly.”
“Why didn’t it work out?”
“Because I was in love with Declan.”
“So Declan stole you from him?”
Amberlyn laughs, and I can’t hide my grin. “If you know anything about Declan, you would know he is very honorable and would never steal someone’s girlfriend. He may h
ave wanted to, but Declan wouldn’t do that. He instead stood to the side and told me that he’d wait. Since I didn’t feel what I felt with Declan when I was with Casey, I told Casey I couldn’t see him anymore. Casey proceeded to get very angry and put his hands on me, forcing me to kiss him. I had to fight him off and knew that I would never ever trust him again. He tried to speak to me many times after that, but I always tried to get away. He doesn’t do well with rejection, I’ve noticed.”
That must have derailed the lawyer because he turns, reaching for a piece of paper, his brows drawn together.
“Counselor?” the judge asks and the lawyer turns, nodding his head.
“Excuse me,” he says before sitting down. “That’s all I have.”
“Judge, can I please reexamine Ms. Reilly?” the prosecution lawyer asks and again the judge agrees as he rises up, heading to Amberlyn.
“I neglected to ask you the same question I did Ms. O’Callaghan,” he says with apology in his voice. “Do you think Mr. Burke was in his right mind when he pulled the trigger?”
“Yes. He was angry, but he knew what he was doing.”
“Do you forgive him?”
Amberlyn looks up and I smile. She is such a beautiful soul. “Yes, I do.”
The room collectively gasps, and some people start to whisper as the lawyer goes on. “Should the jury forgive his crime?”
She then shakes her head. “No. He needs to pay for the pain he has caused me and my family. Everyone was so distraught ’cause I could have died. While he may not have meant to shoot me, he did mean to shoot my fiancé and ultimately kill him. I, for one, do not want that kind of person walking the same streets I do, or even drinking at the pub I work at.”
“Thank you, Ms. Reilly.”
“Thank you,” she says, and as she comes off the stand, I rise, waiting for her. When she reaches me, I pull her into my arms and press my lips to hers.
“I think I told ya once that my life would have no meaning without ya.”
She grins as she holds to me tighter, her fingers biting into my shoulder blades. “Yeah, I think you did before you asked me to marry you.”
