Page 57 of The Chameleon

“Oh, yeah. That was a fun trip.” A strange smile spread across Ares’s face as he seemed to lose himself back in whatever memory he was temporarily reliving in his mind. It was probably some weird sex thing they tried while trying not to be heard by other campers sleeping in the area.

“Yeah, up until I got that nasty rash from whatever it was that I rubbed up against,” Matteo muttered, reliving his own trip down memory lane.

On the last day of camping, Matteo had gone for a morning hike while Ares slept off his hangover. When he returned, he was itchy as hell and covered in golf-ball-sized red patches. He must have rubbed up against something that he was allergic to and not realized until he was back at their campsite, scratching up a storm. Ares spent the remainder of the day rubbing ointment on Matteo’s arms and legs and laughing his ass off. Because that was Ares—an insensitive prick.

“Here.” Ares passed Matteo the skewer and continued to make his own.

Matteo held his marshmallows near the fire and watched as they began to darken—kind of like his heart when they broke up.

It’s funny how it only takes just the tiniest bit of hurt and mistrust to spread across one’s heart, totally consuming it until it is covered in nothing but sorrow.

“You know, your parents would be proud of you.”

Matteo’s breath caught in his chest. Over the past few days, he had been so distracted that he hadn’t thought once about his parents or their upcoming anniversary.

Staring into the fire, he wondered if Ares was right. Would his parents be proud of the man that he had become?

No, he wasn’t perfect, but neither were his parents. Yes, Matteo made money off the secrets he conned from his rich and powerful guests.

But his parents were no better. They provided financing for the sale and distribution of drugs across Western Europe. So, really, could his parents pass judgment on him?

“You think?”

A rough hand landed on Matteo’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Without a doubt. Look at everything that you’ve accomplished. You took over the estate at such a young age, you’ve helped so many queer men get clean and back on their feet, and you’ve created this crazy and loyal family—even though some of them keep getting kidnapped by psychopaths…” Matteo chuckled. “You’ve even created this amazing place where LGBTQ+ people can come and be who they are. I only wish that I had the guts to come to a place like that when I was younger.”

Matteo glanced up at Ares. That had been one of the major pain points of their relationship. The fact that Ares had been closeted and needed to keep their relationship a secret. That wasone of the reasons why they spent so much time hidden in this cabin. The cabin was in a remote area just outside of a small town in a part of the world where hardly anyone knew of Matteo or Ares.

But deep down, Matteo always knew that he didn’t want to live his life in the closet. He was never ashamed to be gay and never felt the need to hide who he truly was. He kept their relationship a secret because it was what his love wanted. And so, he kept their relationship secret, choosing to love in the shadows and envy those couples around him.

“I hope they are,” Matteo responded, holding up his skewer and blowing out a flame on the tip of his marshmallow.

“Can I ask you something?” Ares asked in one of his serious yet vulnerable voices.

Matteo was the only one who ever saw this side of the big brute. In front of everyone else, Ares was always strong and unyielding. Judging by the tone in his voice, Matteo knew that this was going to be a personal question. Something he probably wasn’t going to want to answer.

“Why do you hate me so much?”

Matteo turned to look at Ares, caught off guard by the question.

“Are you fucking serious?” Rage and anger spilled over Matteo, fueled by the audacity of his question.

Seriously? He had no fucking idea why?

Ares sat quietly, patiently waiting for him to answer.

Fine, guess we’re doing this.

Matteo sat up and glared at his ex. He couldn’t believe that he had to explain this shit to a man who created an empire based on lies and deceit.

“First off, you fucking told me that you didn’t love me anymore after two years of dating. Then my parents die, and you fucking disappear from my life. No phone call to see how I wasdoing, no visit to see if I needed anything. After two years of dating, you just disappeared the moment I needed you the most! Yes, I get that we were broken up, but you don’t just abandon someone who you supposedly had feelings for during one of the darkest moments of their life. Christ! I lost both my parents in the same night. You just… vanished.”

The look of guilt in Ares’s eyes said it all. Ares lowered his head and remained silent.

Good, you should feel guilty, you prick.

Was this really all news to him? Who the fuck goes from being in love with someone for two years, then breaking up with them and totally abandoning them when their parents die a few months after their breakup?

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