Becoming the Whiskey Princess Read online

  “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.