Page 64 of The Chameleon

There was only one thing that Ares could do.

Let Matteo go.

He needed to.

He had to keep Matteo safe. Matteo deserved the best life imaginable, but that could never be possible if he was around. He would always be a constant threat and barrier to Matteo’s happiness.

Breaking up with Matteo was going to be one of the hardest things he had ever had to do. Matteo wouldn’t give up without a fight. He was going to have to be mean. Be cruel. He needed to get Matteo to hate him. That was the only way that the stubborn Italian would ever walk away.

That was the only way that Matteo would be free… of him.

At some point during Ares’s daze of torture, he had packed up his duffle bag and placed it next to the hotel room door. He wasn’t going to sneak out while Matteo was off buying groceries for their anniversary dinner. He wasn’t cruel like that. Matteo deserved a face-to-face goodbye. Ares just had no idea what he was going to say or how he was going to do it.

Sitting on the couch, Ares lost himself in all the things he was giving up by ending things with Matteo. He loved him.He’d never met anyone so full of life. Matteo challenged him and loved him and knew just the right things to say when Ares was battling with a tough decision.

But in the end, Matteo would never be safe as long as they were together. He had to let him go.

“Is everything okay?” he heard Matteo say. Ares hadn’t even noticed Matteo returning from the grocery store.

Silently, Ares sat there, trying to muster the courage to break up with the love of his life.

He needed to be cruel…

Present Day

That was one of the hardest nights of his life.

Letting out a sigh, Ares chucked his smoke over the railing of the porch and went back inside the cabin.

Where the fuck was Matteo?

21

ARES

It was just after one a.m. when the front door to the cabin creaked open slowly.

It was about fucking time.Ares was just about to call in a favor and have Matteo’s phone tracked—not that that was something Ares did regularly. Because that would be crazy and possibly stalker-ish. Right?

Ares locked his phone and placed it down on the counter.

“It’s about fuckin’ time,” Ares growled. “Where the hell have you been?”

Ares walked into the hallway and stopped when he realized that Matteo wasn’t alone.

“Come on in,” Matteo instructed, gesturing for his companion to enter.

The boy froze in his tracks when he caught sight of Ares standing in the hallway.

“Wh–who are you?” the boy asked, staring up at Ares.

The kid looked like shit. A black eye and bruised cheek. Looked like he hadn’t eaten in days.

Peeved that Matteo had disappeared for hours, then came home with some boy toy, Ares let his inner asshole loose.

“I’m the guy staying here. Who the fuck are you?”

Giving Ares one of his friendliest “go fuck yourself” glances, Matteo held the door open and gestured for the boy to come inside once again.

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