Grateful | Fragile Hearts

chapter 20

As soon as the words left Uncle Cairo's mouth, I only saw red.

"What the fuck did you say?" I growled out, my hands seemingly close to the closest knife on the table right now.

He played it off. "I mean how can you know you're a father after so many years? How do you know she's not just a money hungry whore?" He asked me seriously.

And in that moment, he knew, he fucked up.

Within seconds, my brothers, father and I each had a gun pointed directly to him.

The Ashford men didn't fuck around.

"Say it again" Rehan dared him as he had a killer look on his face. He was the one who had a light personality, but mess with his family and you better run.

"You guys are being dramatic" Aunt Thea said as she rolled her eyes, annoyed.

"Exactly, I'm just trying to protect you from being scammed" Uncle Cairo added on.

three strikes, and you're out.

Before anyone could stop me, I got out of my seat and grabbed Uncle Cario roughly and slammed him against the wall. Sure, he was 6 foot and had a medium build, but it had nothing on me.

I could break his neck in a couple different ways without blinking an eye.

"First of all, you do not come to my house uninvited. Strike one." I told him in a calm, scary voice as I held him pinned against the wall.

"Second of all, how dare you show up and disrespect me like that?"

"Last but not least, don't you EVER call my daughter a fucking whore again. Go fucking apologize" I sneered to him as I shoved him towards her.

He sacredly scrambled to her and muttered some lame apology.

"Now get the fuck out" I told him.

He scrambled out and Aunt Thea caught up behind him.

My mother always taught me to respect women and elders. However, it was a mutual thing. You only got respect if it was reciprocated.

And I certainly would not let some person come to my home and insult my daughter.

As they left, I turned back around. I looked straight to Charlotte. She was looking down in her lap, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

I immediately went over to her, ignoring the stares from my family.

She lifted her head up and faced me. "I-I'm not a whore. A-and my mom w-wasn't either" she said as she started to sob. I pulled her head into my shoulder and rubbed her back gently.

"Shhh, it's okay" I comforted her.

My heart clenched every-time a sob erupted from her.

The worse part of being a parent is seeing your child cry.

I pulled away from her and cupped her cheeks. Her red eyes focused to me as I wiped a couple tears away with my thumbs.

"Char, I promise no one thinks that at all." She nodded. And I pulled her to me again. This time, I pulled her onto my lap and held her close.

I continued to whisper comforting things to her, ensuring her that she was safe, and nobody felt different.

It was in this moment I understood why parents were protective.

Because the sight of tears makes you want to burn everything down.