Will & Rosie

Chapter One

🌹Rosie🌹

"Not guilty."

The courtroom remained silent out of respect for those unhappy with the jury's decision, though it did very little in adopting subtlety. Onlookers silently celebrated their warped victory as shared glances of appreciation were thrown left, right and centre; each one as unsettling as the last.

"This is bullshit!"

I turned to face my furious cousin, Ben and fixed him with a poignant stare. The last thing I needed was for him to cause a scene and as unjust as he thought the outcome was, there was simply nothing we could do about it.

"Let's just get out of here," I begged, though disguised it by throwing it out there as a suggestion.

His ice-blue, slightly chilling gaze blared into mine with so much intensity, I momentarily contemplated breaking eye contact first. I'd never seen him so angered before and with a nervous twitch in the form of an aggressive jaw clench; I encouraged him to hightail the hell out of there, hot on his heels. He wore a navy blue suit and filled it rather well with his 6 foot height and sturdy frame. Being a personal trainer made keeping in shape his daily ritual and with sandy blonde locks atop his beautiful head, it was no wonder he had women throwing themselves at him non-stop. Not that this mattered. His heart belonged to one woman and one woman only.

Zoe.

"You ready for this?" he asked, to which I simply nodded.

We smoothly made our exit through the huge double doors and were inundated by the press upon our doing so.

"Miss Montgomery, can you tell us how you're feeling at this present time?"

"Do you feel cheated by the UK's justice system?"

"Is your Father's death being overlooked due to Will O'Connors's celebrity status?"

Question after question flew at me with no regard for my mental wellbeing what so ever. Thankfully, Ben pushed past the many vultures and dragged me along with him, his overprotective nature for his 'baby cousin' certainly kicking in. It didn't matter that he beat me only by seven months or that I was twenty-two years of age. I was the little sister he never had and he made damn sure I was not to be messed with.

"Rosie, car keys. Now," he demanded, fighting off the swarm of photographers.

I fished around in my bag until I found the bulky accessory and yanked on it until it brought with it my car key. People teased me for my insistence to use a million and one keyrings but it surely had its advantages.

"We need to get out of here," he instructed, ignoring Jason Maverick's pleas to 'hear him out'.

Maverick had ensured a positive outcome at the price of a stodgy bank loan or two. Given he was the only lawyer willing to take on our case; we didn't have much of a choice. We hardly had our pick of the crop once everyone caught wind of Will's celebrity involvement but to practically guarantee a guilty verdict whilst knowing the unlikely possibilities was a move deemed cruel by all accounts. Though, in his defence, Will hadn't got off scot-free. A speeding fine saw him £6000 poorer and the judge ruled that he have his driving licence revoked- a kick in the teeth as far as my cousin was concerned.

"Waste of money, he was!" raged Ben, fighting a losing battle with my keys. "I'll make sure he pays us back every damn penny."

The crowd of cameras suddenly flocked to the building's entrance and snapped picture after picture of a remorseful Will emerging from the extravagant archway. His cheeks lacked colour and the rest of his downfallen face remained hidden as his gaze fixated firmly on the ground. He, too, was tall and certainly gave Ben a run for his money with regards to physical attributes. Both men were no stranger to the gym; only Will's carved muscles lay hidden beneath thick, black ink. His many tattoos had been actively covered up and his hands, although big, sunk deep into his trouser pockets as his two front teeth worried his bottom lip.