The Protective Heart ✔️

22. Protecting her from her anger

Declan's POV

"Hello, Crystal." I looked up at her father. The same blonde hair and blue eyes that I had gotten to know so very well was mirrored in this man. He stared at Goldi with fixed concentration, not seeming to notice me at all.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Goldi stood up and balled her hands into fists. Her eyes were ablaze with hatred and disgust as she stared him down.

"I heard about your mother." His voice had just a tinge of the same tone as his daughter.

"Like you ever gave a shit about her." Goldi spat at him, anger dripping from her words.

"At one time, Crystal, I did." Goldi rolled her eyes at him and then grabbed my hand.

"Let's go, Declan. I have nothing to say to this asshole." She pulled me forcefully as I stood up but I didn't make any motion to start walking. As much as I wanted to go with her, I had an overwhelming feeling that we needed to stay.

"Goldi, I think you should hear him out." I said cautiously. Her eyes widened in shock and then turned to anger once again.

"I don't owe that mother fucker anything!" She yelled at me but I could see her eyes water with sadness and pain. I held a little tighter to her hand, trying my best to give her comfort. I knew she was having conflicting feelings. Hell, I was having conflicting feelings.

Why was he here after all of this time?

It didn't make any sense. Even though their mom did pass away, it still didn't add up. He obviously hadn't cared about the three of them all this time so why did he care now?

"Crystal, you have every right to hate me but I wanted you and your sister to know that if you need anyth-"

"Don't! Fucking don't! We don't need anything from you!"

"Crystal." Her dad's voice was cracked with pain and regret.

"What's going on here?" Bridget's said from beside us. It brought all three of us to look at her. Grant, Ray and Bailey all stood with her as they watched the interaction between Goldi and her father.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing is going on here." Goldi snarled out before walking past both me and her father. Everyone watched her as she made her way through the crowd until she was out of sight.

"We'll go after her." Bridget said and then tugged on Grant's hand. Bailey and Ray followed them and then it was just Goldi's father and I, alone. I slowly turned to look at the man who had affected Goldilocks so much that she ended up hating men. A mix of emotions swarmed me as I stared at him. I needed to keep my cool but the anger that was swirling around in my gut was uncontrollable.

"Do you have any idea how much you hurt your daughter? How much you put her through?" I asked. He sighed and brought his hand up to his forehead, closing his eyes tightly like he had a headache.

"Yeah, I know. At the time, I was so consumed with my own problems that I didn't care. And then when I finally got myself together, it was too late. I knew I couldn't go back and make everything ok again. They were better off without me at that point. So I stayed away. I didn't want to do anymore damage than I already had. But when I found out that their mother passed away, I couldn't help myself. I hired a private investigator and had him watch the girls. I needed to know that they were alright."

"Well, they are, so why did you show your face?" I felt my own anger and protectiveness of Goldi come over me like a tsunami. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't keep the resentment out of my voice.