I was aware that the judge had started to speak, but I couldn’t concentrate on anything other than Oakley. The way her face paled, turning a shade of grey. That fluttering pulse under my finger quickened.
“I’m here,” I whispered, hoping I was enough to keep her calm.
I wasn’t sure she heard me until she reached across with her other hand and held onto my arm.
“Fifteen years imprisonment.”
Wait, fifteen. That was it?
He could spend the last ten or twenty years of his life in a cosy retirement home. He didn’t deserve shit.
“What?” Jasper roared, leaping out of his seat. “How thefuckis that justice? That sick bastard needs to rot—”
Oakley’s jaw dropped at Jasper’s outburst. She reared back, letting go of me. Jasper was to my side, so I yanked his arm and made his arse hit the seat.
“Enough,” I snapped. “Not here. Don’t do that to her!”
This was not good. There were no cameras allowed in the room, so thankfully, no one could take pictures, but the press were going to love this. It would be on the front page tomorrow. Online in a matter of hours.
“Let go!” he shouted, snatching his arm out of my hand, and turning to Frank. “Just wait until you get out, you sick bastard.” Jasper’s face was red in anger. His eyes looked so dark; rage had completely taken him over. “I’ll be waiting.”
Oakley stood shakily, but she managed to push past me, grabbing her brother and shoving him towards the door. Yes, the sentence was shit, but she didn’t need this. I was right behind them, glad I wasn’t him because she was not happy.
“What’s wrong with you?” Oakley hissed at him, throwing her arms up.
Jasper spun around and faced her. His tortured face was the only thing stopping me from laying into him.
“Do you really want to go to jail forthat? He’s not worth it, Jasper. Damn it!” She pushed his chest again.
He frowned. “I don’t care about me. I want to kill him. I want tofuckingkill him.”
“Stop it, Jasper. Just stop. You can’t change a thing. It’s over. It’s done. Do you really think that, even if you did kill him, it would make anything better? Do you think throwing your life away and going to prison will magically make this go away? The justice system isn’t always fair, but there’s nothing we can do about that!” she shouted at him. “I don’t want to lose you, so just stop.”
His face softened, and I knew she’d gotten through to him.
Linda appeared next to us, as if she could bloody teleport, her face stern but not surprised. “Jasper, there will be no action taken for your outburst, but I suggest that you leave immediately. Go home and cool down.”
Sarah pushed Jasper towards the door. “I’m so sorry, Linda. Out, Jasper. Come on, Oakley.”
“One minute, Mum.”
Sarah looked between Linda and Oakley and then walked through the door, her hand firmly on Jasper’s shoulder.
Oakley turned to Linda. “Thank you so much. Foreverything.”
Linda smiled. “You’re welcome. You take care of yourself.”
“Thank you,” I said to her. It seemed too weak for what Linda had done for Oakley, but it was all we had.
I took Oakley’s hand, and we walked to the exit, leaving court behind us. “How do you feel about the sentence?”
She shrugged. “I wanted it to be longer, but there’s nothing I can do about it. I’m not going to dwell on it. He’ll be on the sex offenders’ register for life and, hopefully, closely monitored when he gets out.”
Hopefully, he’ll be murdered in prison.
“It’s officially over. No more court. God, I feel like I’ve aged about a hundred years this month.”
“Nah, you still look perfect to me.”
