Becoming the Whiskey Princess
Page 46

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 have 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.”
“I did, and those words are still true. I love ya, Amberlyn.”
“Good,” she says with a wink. “Because I still and always will love you.”
In the crook of Declan’s arm, I listen as Mr. O’Callaghan boasts about how the trial went. It did go well, but I’m not going to lie and say it was easy. I was a wreck when Declan was up there and they were attacking him, basically saying he caused Casey to go off and try to kill him. Like the man he is though, he kept his cool and didn’t falter at all. When Lena got up there, though, all his strength was gone. He was a nervous mess and I tried to comfort him, pointing out that Lena could hold her own, but the poor guy didn’t see that. He saw that his sister was under scrutiny, reliving the horrible events she went through, and of course, he wanted to save her. Can’t blame him though. I, too, wanted to pull her down and just hug her.
I just couldn’t imagine.
I had such an easy life, shielded from all the bad people. But then again, while I didn’t have to battle the demons Lena does, and even Declan does, I have my own. Stupid drunk drivers and cancer. Two things that I have no power getting rid of.
“That gobshite will go away, no doubt about it. Good show, yous did wonderfully,” Mr. O’Callaghan says, sending us big, happy grins. I look toward Lena to find that she is looking out the window, completely ignoring her father’s happiness.
“I loved the part where Amberlyn talked about your honor, so sweet.”
“And true,” I say, taking my gaze from Lena. “Everything I said was true.”
“Still so beautiful!” she coos with a wave of her hand.
“So tomorrow, Burke gets on the stand—”
“Probably lie through his teeth,” Declan adds and Mr. O’Callaghan nods.
“Of course, and then the jury decides. After today though, there is no way they wouldn’t go in our favor.”
I look out the window and let out a breath. I feel good about today. I told the truth and believe he should go to jail, but looking into his eyes really did gut me a bit. It was like he was reading his letter out loud to me, begging me not to testify, but I couldn’t let him get away with this. His mom will be fine, and surely he won’t do too long. Hopefully, time in jail will fix him, and he’ll come out a good, upstanding citizen, meet a sweet girl, maybe have some kids, and grow old. I can only hope, but still, I feel bad for his mom.