Taking Risk Series Read online

  Chapter 23

  Declan

  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.

  “My sister is up there, going through something no one should have to live through twice, and you’re playing on yer fucking phone?” I whisper loudly.

  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 br