Page 88 of The Chameleon

Massimo let out a roar.

“Be right back,” Skyler blurted.

Smiling, the ninja acrobat did three backflips before landing with his legs wrapped around some dude’s neck.

Letting out a moan, Skyler twisted his legs, snapping the poor man’s neck. They both fell to the floor. One smiling, one not so much.

Ares was starting to see why Patrick was smitten with the boy. The man was like a lethal gazelle. Both graceful and deadly.

“Damn,” Ares exclaimed. “Where did you learn that?” He was impressed by the fact that gravity didn’t seem to apply to the young man.

“Twelve years of gymnastics,” Sky responded as he turned to his right, firing off three more shots and watching two more men die.

“Can you untie me, you idiot?” Matteo shouted, still stuck in the chair and doing his best not to make contact with any of the bullets flying at him.

“Oh, shit. Sorry, babe.” Ares snorted, rushing over to free his love. “I was distracted by a gazelle with a gun. Did you know that that warrior-ninja is Patrick’s husband?”

“Who’s Patrick?” Matteo huffed, ducking his head and narrowly missing a bullet. “Fuck, give me a gun!”

“Here.” Without thinking, Ares passed Matteo his own.

Great, now he had no weapon.

Not unless he counted his dick.

Oh, perfect—dick jokes while you’re getting your ass shot at,some inner voice scolded,bringing Ares’s thoughts back into focus.

Pain exploded from Ares’s nose as the cold, hard edge of the gun he had just given Matteo cracked across his face.

“Ow! What the fuck, Matté?” Ares growled, covering his nose and blinking back the moisture that threatened to drown his eyes.

“You got my parents killed!” Matteo shouted, turning his gun and firing two shots at Edwin, who was running toward the exit like the coward that he was.

The boy let out a cry when both bullets pierced his thigh. He stumbled, falling to the ground in pain.

“Oh,” Ares choked out. Of all the times to be having this conversation, now was not the best. “Babe! I’m sorry! I never meant for them to get hurt.” He reached for Matteo’s arm, hoping he could get his attention and show him how sorry he truly was.

Another burst of pain. This time across Ares’s lip.

“Fuck! Can you stop punching me in the fucking face!” Ares snarled. Yes, he had been harboring this huge secret fromMatteo, but now was not the time to be beating his ass up. Whose side was Matteo really on?

“How could you!” Matteo ducked behind the table briefly before jumping up and shooting at two other men hiding behind boxes. “It’s because of you that I lost both my parents. Fuck! You didn’t even have the decency to tell me to my face!”

A bullet zipped by Ares’s ear, nearly giving him a piercing he never asked for.Shit, that was close.

Desperate, Ares grabbed Matteo by the collar and pulled him down behind the table.

“Look! I’m sorry! I never meant to hurt you!” Ares began, shouting, growling, and spitting as he talked.

Fuck, now was so not the time to be having this conversation.

“I was young, dumb, and way too ambitious for my own good. I was betrayed by someone I thought I could trust, and because of that mistake, I got your parents killed.”

Ares watched as Matteo heaved in and out. Good. The anger and adrenaline would keep Matteo on his toes. Alert and willing to do what it takes to survive.

A piece of wood exploded by Ares’s head.Fuck, these guys were really trying to murder his ass!

“Look, I’ve spent every day since then hating myself for what my mistakes took from you. The guilt has been eating me alive all these years. That’s also why I didn’t reach out to you right after your parents died. I couldn’t bear seeing the hurt in your eyes, knowing that I was the cause of all that pain.”

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