The Secret (Boston's Best 1)

Chapter Sixty-Five

Matt

Fuuuuuuuck.

Shit. When Amelia, Maddie's lawyer, warned us that with the amount of attention the case has been getting that there would probably be a bit of a crowd outside the courthouse...well shit, let's just say she greatly underestimated the size of the crowd that would gather in lovely 'ol Dublin this fine July afternoon.

At least fifty people, probably more, are gathered outside of the courthouse pulse two news vans.

I mean what the hell?

It isn't like they're the fucking Kardashians or anything.

Maddie isn't known at all and that fucktard is the grandson of someone famous. I mean he isn't even the famous one, he's just famous by default.

Maddie looks like a deer caught in headlights though. She's pressed against the nearly illegal tinted glass looking at the crowd surrounding the steps up to the courthouse basically hyperventilating at this point.

This is going to be a long day for so many reasons, but this is just perfect –sarcasm– like she isn't letting any of our friends be near her until after the verdict is over because she's scared she'll just burst out crying.

Not even Aebhín. It's so bad that she won't even let her best friend of like fourteen years be allowed within ten feet of her. Maddie said that for our other friends it's different because she didn't even tell them herself so it doesn't feel quite real that they know, but Aebhín lived through it right with her. So, that makes it more difficult for her to be with her right now.

"Miss O'Brien?" The driver calls out from the front of the car. "Do you want me to do another lap or will I pull out up front if you're ready now?"

Maddie releases a breath, "Just pull up, please."

"Okay, then, kiddo."

He starts up the engine and pulls the cab to the front of the steps. Civilians move out of the way if only so that they don't get hit, but the second I open the door and step outside a microphone is basically shoved in my face.

"Matthew, how do you feel about the allegations that your girlfriend is making here today?"

For fucksake, really? Is that actually a question?

"No comment."

I grab Maddie's hand and shield her face with my jacket and we practically run up the steps to the front door and away from the mob.

But our clear disinterest obviously isn't clear enough because they all follow us up the stairs still shouting out disgusting questions and accusations, some of which are so vile I won't even bother repeating any of them.

I slam the door behind us as we get inside and instantly Maddie finds a chair and sits down on it.

Her head is in her hands and she's breathing pretty heavily by the time I kneel down in front of her.

"Maddie." I hold on her knees. "Are you okay? What can I do?"

She looks up at me, "Nothing, this is stupid." She sighs, "I think I just properly realised for the first time that I'm going to have to face the wanker today. Like he's gonna sit there all smug-nancy and he'll probably win cause he has daddy's money and this will all have been for nothing."

"It won't all have been for nothing. Because you stood up for yourself and you fought as hard as you could, but also because he's not gonna win."

"Okay, let's pretend by some miracle I do win. He'll get, what, a few hours of community service and a smack on the wrist. Nothing actually ever happens in these types of cases, the systems fucked. That's why so many women don't come forward and tell anyone when they get assaulted or raped, nothing ever happens and the guy gets to go on with their life like nothing ever happened and we're shunned by our community for accusing one of their precious angel boys."

"You're right. The system in most places is old and dated, but this new age of people I like to think are more progressive than previous generations and maybe something will change. Hell my parents were doing some good, and Pen wants to be a lawyer, she'll obviously wreak havoc on anyone. Things are changing, slowly but surely."

"Yeah I guess. I'm sorry I've been such a mess lately. You have enough to deal with instead of calming me down off a ledge every five minutes."

"Maddie, I don't mind, it's my job as your boyfriend to calm you down off ledges and braid my hair and gossip whenever you want."

She grins, "I can plait your hair?"

"Whenever you want, babe."

"I'm gonna hold you to that." She sticks out her hand, "Pinky promise?"

I laugh and hook my finger around hers, "Pinky promise."

I stand up and kiss her. "I'm gonna go to the toilet. You fine here by yourself for a few minutes?"

She waves me away, "I'm on the verge of a mental breakdown, I'm not a child, I can be left alone for a few minutes."

I walk around for a few minutes trying to find the mens room and when I finally find it I do my business and get out.

If I was to guess then I'd say I was gone for well under ten minutes. Like well under.

So, when I walk back out into the waiting room and see a tall dude with black hair and a buzzcut and only one ear pierced cause he's clearly too cool to have both ears done, up in Maddie's face I nearly blow.

I mean he's seriously up in her face, like less than two inches away from her nose and he's whispering shouting at her. And Maddie herself is just standing there wide-eyed like she's seeing a ghost.

Seeing her expression, I take what I'm assuming is a pretty good estimate of who the fucker all up in my girlfriends face is.

And his face matches his ugly personality. That's all I'm gonna say on that matter.

I walk up to them and hear him call Maddie a "pathetic whore" so I take that as my cue to jump right in. I hang one of my arms around Mads' shoulders and her whole body relaxes the second we make contact.

"Hey." I make sure to look him up and down really slowly. "Senan, right?"

He pulls away from Maddie and his jaws lock, "Seán."

"Is that not what I said?"

The shithead rolls his eyes, "And who are you?"

"This gorgeous girl's boyfriend. Matt." I hold out my hand, "It's not nice to meet you."

The idiot actually tries to shake my hand which I instantly drop, I don't want him to touch me.

I look down at Maddie, "What were y'all talking about, babe?"

She refuses to meet either of our gaze, "Nothing important."

"Really? You sure?"

She doesn't say anything and I just keep on going. "Because if this fucker even so much as said "boo" to you then didn't your lawyer suggest that you move forward with that restraining order and that yous having any sort of negative one on one contact would only be bad for his side of story, not yours?"

"Yeah..." She looks up at me with questions in her eyes, as I am making this up. Though I do think she should've gotten a restraining order months ago. "Yeah, she did say that."

"I thought so." I look Seán over once again, "Now, I think it best that you get the fuck out of here before I lose my control and punch you right in the face. That good with you, pumpkin?"

Seán looks like he's about to say something but someone calls him and he rolls his neck and pisses off, with one final scathing look over his shoulder.

Instantly, Maddie pulls me into a hug, "I hate him so much."

"What did he say to you?"

She shakes her head, "Nothing new. Just the usual speech about me being a whore, and lying, and blowing all of this out of proportion for attention. Nothing I haven't heard before."

"Maddie. If he so much as looks at you again, I'm going to have us on the next flight out of here before he can ever blink."

"I appreciate that, but stop." She pulls off of me and smiles, "Everything's fine. Everything is going to be okay."