Becoming the Whiskey Princess Read online

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Why did you have the gun? Your grandda’s old pistol?”

  “Um,” Casey says, pausing. My da smacks my leg and Kane squeezes my shoulder. Amberlyn is beside me, sitting on the edge of her seat as we wait for him to answer. “Um, for protection, of course.”

  “Protection for what? It’s not common to carry a gun in Mayo. I don’t have one for sure, and I put bad guys in jail. It kind of makes people mad.”

  The courtroom laughs as Casey looks wildly at his lawyer. The prosecution stands in his line of sight, smiles, and asks again, “So please, tell me why you went to the O’Callaghan estate with a gun. Did you plan to use it?”

  “No,” he blurts out. “It was for protection. I forgot I even had it.”

  The prosecution doesn’t say anything for a second, but then he puts his hands back in his pockets. “If it was for protection, what made you want to use it, do you think?”

  “I don’t know; it wasn’t me.”

  “Hmm, but you said you forgot about it. Why do you think you pulled it out and shot an innocent girl?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Could it be because you hate Declan O’Callaghan, and you didn’t have the gun as protection from everyone else, but actually in case Declan came out so you could kill him? And wouldn’t that mean your actions were premeditated? That you took the gun with the intention to do harm?”

  “No, never,” he says.

  “Or maybe it was actually to kill Lena? Maybe with her out of the picture, all the rape accusations would be gone and you could live your life. Because, like I said, no one really carries guns in Mayo, so in order to carry one legally, it would have to be registered. Your grandda didn’t have his gun registered because it was so old, so in turn, no one could trace it back to you. Am I correct?”

  Whoa. I never thought of that. Looking at Lena, I can see her eyes filling with tears as she looks down at her lap. Amberlyn moves her hand into hers, and Lena gives her a watery smile.

  “I didn’t think he could do that. Any of this.”

  Amberlyn nods. “Me neither, but he did.”

  “Yeah,” she says with a nod before wiping her face to look at Casey.

  Looking back at the stand, I see that Casey is just staring at the lawyer, his mouth hanging open, his eyes wide. You can see the guilt all over his fucking face. He was gonna kill my sister if she didn’t agree, or maybe me, who knows. But that wanker wasn’t out his mind; he knew what he was doing. He’s a fuckin’ psycho.

  “I’d never,” Casey promises. “I love her.”

  “Sure ya do,” the prosecutor says. “I have nothing more.”

  When we all walk out of the courtroom four hours later, we are elated.

  Not sure what the jury was doing, eating cake or what, but they were unanimous.

  Casey Burke was guilty.

  The show he put on as they took him out of the courtroom was almost comical. He thrashed around, screaming and crying. For someone who loved my sister, he never looked at her or begged her for forgiveness like a normal human, but we all know he’s a liar.

  Riding in the car, we are all smiles except for Lena and Micah. I don’t know what happened, but during the break while we waited for the jury, they went off together. When they came back, he sat behind us while she sat beside Ma. I don’t see them fight much, but they usually make up quickly, and I hope that’s the case this time. He can be an idiot, but he’s a good guy.

  Once we get back to the house, we gather in the sitting room for drinks and dessert. My ma, Mrs. Maclaster, Amberlyn, and Fiona are sitting by the window, talking animatedly while my da, Mr. Maclaster, Kane, and I sip whiskey and talk more about the trial. I believe that if it wasn’t for the prosecution picking up those small details, Casey might have gotten off. I wanted to kiss the guy, but instead I shook his hand, promising him the biggest bottle of whiskey before he walked away to do the interviews that were waiting for him.

  “My son tells me that we need ya here in the distillery,” my da says, and Mr. Maclaster laughs.

  “I told Declan it isn’t going to happen. I don’t have time.”

  “Maybe part-time, then?” I ask relentlessly.

  A wide grin brightens his face as he shakes his head. “Let me talk to my wife, yeah?”

  “Better than no, I say,” my da informs me. “I heard Cathmor is almost done with beta testing. All is well.”

  “It’s a damn good whiskey. I feel it will sell well,” Mr. Maclaster says, and I’m stunned to silence.

  “I agree. He’s gonna do great things,” my da says, sending me a confident grin.

  “Yeah, he will,” Kane adds, toasting his drink. We all meet our cups to each other’s and I nod thanks before we swig, but I pause when I hear my ma say something that catches my attention.

  “Not anytime soon,” Amberlyn says with a laugh. “We want to live a bit, just us.”

  My ma laughs as she waves Amberlyn off. “Ivor and I married, and two months later, I was pregnant with Declan. We have babies quickly around here.”

  With my brows pulled in, I step over to where they are, placing my hand on Amberlyn’s shoulder as she says, “Well, we are gonna wait. I want to finish school first.”

  “Uni? You’re going to the uni?”

  “Ma, let it be,” I say, not wanting to have this conversation with everyone here, not that it is any of her business anyway. “We are gonna wait a bit, like she says. We want to enjoy each other.”

  “Well, how long?” she asks, her face full of disappointment. I hate that look, but I shrug.

  “Not sure. When we are ready. We aren’t ready yet.”

  “Maybe you will be by the time the wedding comes.”

  Amberlyn laughs. “That’s in a month and a half. I doubt it. I want to finish school first.”

  My ma glances at me and I hold my palms up. “Those are her wishes and I’m good with them. I want to be able to give my kid attention. Let us find our place in the world before we bring our kids into it.”

  “Well, then,” she says, shaking her head, and when she gets up, I squeeze Amberlyn’s shoulder, causing her to look up at me.

  “I think I made your mom mad again,” she whispers and I laugh.

  “Won’t be the last time, yeah?”

  I lean down to kiss her just as someone takes my hand. Tearing my mouth away from hers, I turn to see that Lena is there, tears in her eyes. She shakes her head quickly, stopping my next sentence before she nods her head to the left, indicating the library.

  “Excuse me, love,” I say, kissing Amberlyn once more before following Lena out of the room. Once the door shuts, she turns and the tears start to rush down her face. “Lena, what’s wrong?” I ask, taking ahold of her arms. “Are you hurt?”

  “No, that’s the problem.”

  “What?”

  “I broke it off with Micah.”

  Stunned, I shake my head before asking, “Excuse me?”

  “I told him to leave, that I wasn’t gonna marry him.”

  Swallowing the lump in my throat, I squeeze her arms. “Why? Please don’t say ya still love that wanker and you’re going to wait for him?”

  She laughs as she shakes her head. “Hell no!”

  “Oh, thank God, then why?”

  “I don’t love Micah.”

  Confused, I ask, “What? Really?”

  “No, I don’t even think I ever did. He was just an easy out, and now, I don’t want the out. I want to live the life I want. I want the love you have with Amberlyn. The one I would die for. I don’t want to marry someone because it’s convenient for me.”

  “That’s never a good reason,” I agree, but I have to ask. “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Then I support ya,” I promise and she smiles.

  “Ma is gonna flip.”

  “Oh yeah,” I say with a laugh. “She’s gonna try to talk you out of it.”

  “He already left.”

&nbs