Page 3 of Zeus: Love of a god

“There’s no, hey. Did you put my fuckin’ phone on do not disturb, bitch?”

Jennifer was taken aback by Aaron’s tone. He’d been disrespectful toward her in subtle ways, but never blatantly.“Um, I did this morning because you were sleeping so peacefully. I didn’t want you to be disturbed.”

Reap dropped his head with his hand on his forehead. This bitch stayed out of pocket. He told his best friend not to fuck with her when she first started snaking around him.

“Bitch, you didn’t want me to be disturbed as long as I was with you. You know I have a wife and child. Your ass shouldn’t have touched my fuckin’ phone, ho.Look, stay the fuck away from me. I don’t want to see your ass anymore.”He was livid. He missed a call about his wife dying because his ho wanted to be shady.

He knew it wasn’t her fault, but it was easier to put the blame on her than himself. Jennifer’s heart stopped beating for a second.“What do you mean? You don’t mean that, Aaron! What happened? Why are you acting like this?”

“It doesn’t matter why. Just know that I don’t want you around me. I swear I’ll shoot your ass in the fuckin’ face.”He threw the phone against the wall before he let out a wail.

He’d never been in so much pain. Aaron thought time would always be on his side. He never thought that he would run out of tomorrows to get his shit together before it was too late to fix it with his wife. Sure, he figured a time or two that she would try to leave him, but he could fix that. He couldn’t fix death.

THE REPAST…

The city came out to show respect to the Queen. Aaron respected the other motorcycle clubs in the city for showing love when they didn’t have to. Kronos Basil even came out of his ‘house on the hill’ as it was called, to show respect. He was the leader of the Mount Olympus Riders or Mount O’s as they were called. The Mount O’s were the premiere club in the area and had been for a while. The club originated out of New York, and they were almost one hundred members strong.

Kadence and Harmony’s parents died when they were teenagers in a car accident, ironically. They had some extendedfamily that attended the funeral, but no one with real closeness. Aaron felt like shit to know that his daughter, who he saw almost every day, had more familiarity with her aunt who lived in California. During the funeral, he tried to take his daughter from Kadence so that she could go to the casket by herself. He was embarrassed when she had a complete meltdown about being placed in his arms. Cynical looks were all that were thrown his way.

“Aaron.”

He was brought out of his daze by the voice of Kadence. He sat at a table alone with a glass of Yak in his hand. Everyone gave him his space today, which he appreciated. It still felt like a nightmare to him. Every night since the notification, he slept in his bed where he used to lie with his wife, wishing he’d done right by her. He regretted that he didn’t make it clear to her that he loved her and their daughter while she was still here.

Kadence sat down at the table with a sleeping Dindi in her arms. She was so beautiful. Even at three, she was the spitting image of her mother. “I wanted to talk to you about Dindi. I know that you didn’t really have a heavy hand in her care, and it’s only for that reason that I insist that she comes to stay with me in California. You will see tomorrow during the reading of Harmony’s will and last testament that it was what she wanted if anything happened to her.”

How many more times would his heart be broken because of news about his wife’s afterlife plans. What hurt more was that he couldn’t even be mad. She was right. He had barely any hands in her raising. His daughter didn’t even know him. He wouldn’t fight this because he knew that it was what was best for his daughter. “I won’t fight you on this because I know it’s what’s best for Dindi. We can work out a financial?—”

She raised her hand. “No need for that. Harmony’s life insurance and trust that she established for her will be fine.Your wife co-wrote many songs with me that you hear on the radio daily, so she had money put aside. The song you guys played during the tribute ride was one of our songs.”

Shock! His wife wrote songs. He knew that she loved to write songs and play her instruments, but he had no idea that she was getting paid to do so. He’d come home many nights to his wife and daughter in the music room in their home that she specialized for Dindi. Harmony played almost any instrument you could think of and was on her way to teaching their daughter.

“That’s fine that she has money set aside. Dindi is still my daughter, so I will, at the least, financially take care of her. That is something that you can’t stop.” Aaron was adamant about that. He had always taken care of his family financially. He may have been a fuck ass in many ways, but he made sure to financially provide.

Kadence wouldn’t fight him. She would put the money that he sent into an account that Dindi could access once she was eighteen. “That’s fine, Aaron. Is there anything specifically that you think Harmony would want me to have from the house for Dindi outside of the list that the lawyer sent over the other day?”

He snickered a bit. A list of things that Harmony wanted Kadence to take with her that belonged to Dindi was sent over, as well as instructions around Harmony’s things. His wife wanted all her things, outside of what she wanted Dindi to have, to be donated to a domestic violence shelter. She wanted all the instruments in the music room to be donated to a local community center that had a music program.

“There is nothing that I could think of off the top of my head. Um, you can come over tomorrow? Whatever you want, you can have,” he told her. He didn’t care about the material things.He planned to sell the home now that his wife was gone. The house was a gift from his father that Harmony picked out.

Kadence gave him a smile before she glanced down at her niece. “Look, Aaron, I know I’ve been hard on you, but you have to understand why. I was the one who sat on the phone with my sister as she cried about how you cheated, didn’t love her, brought her home an STD. You gave me no reason to like you. I’ll make sure I keep you updated on Dindi’s life. I won’t take that from you.”

“I-I never gave my wife an STD.” That was all he could think of saying.

Kadence gave him a blank stare. “All I will say about that is, I’ll send you her medical records. You definitely did. That was when she stopped having sex with you. All of that is neither here nor there.” She stood on her feet. “I will come by tomorrow and let Dindi pick out things that she wants.”

The conversation’s abrupt end wasn’t surprising. That woman never said much to him. Her loyalty was to her sister. “How you doing, man?” Reap was concerned. He’d never seen him this out of sorts. It was to be expected though.

“Man, Reap, my wife is dead. Harmony wanted Kadence to raise Dindi, so she’s going to take her back to Cali.” He put his head in his hands. This shit was all too damn much.

Reap paused for a second to get his words together. He didn’t agree with Aaron allowing anyone else to raise his daughter. He stayed on Aaron’s head about being a better father to Dindi. Reap had two daughters whom he adored from a previous relationship. He couldn’t imagine himself not being active in his daughters’ lives.

“Are you sure you want to miss out on her life like that, man? Yeah, I know I got on you hard about bettering your relationship with baby girl. How are you going to do that ifshe’s across the country?” Reap felt like Aaron was going to the extreme left by shipping her off with her aunt.

Aaron stared off into a daze before his thoughts came back into the room. “Reap, I can admit when someone is better for my daughter than I am. Harmony knew it, and I know it. Dindi going with Kadence is what is best for her. Look, I’m not about to go back and forth about this, Reap. Just let it be what it’s gonna be.”

Reap lifted his hands in surrender. “You got that, man. You drinking that Yak with no food? Let me get you a plate before you be passed out on this floor.”

Both of them chuckled. Aaron knew he was right. He sat there in silence as he looked over the room where the repast was held. His eyes drifted and landed on Jennifer, who sat at a table with other club groupies. The official membership roster consisted of only men, but the groupies created their own little auxiliary to feel connected. When the girls one day came around with vests that read ‘Kings’ Kitties,’ the men were outdone. The wives of the club wanted nothing to do with the ‘Kitties.’

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