7. Matteo

7

MATTEO

I t was Saturday afternoon, and La Maison de M was hosting a winter barbecue cookout. All the regulars were in attendance. High-powered lawyers, judges, politicians, CEOs, and anyone else who enjoyed alcohol, juicy steak, and miles of naked skin running around an indoor pool.

Given that it was early November, Matteo decided to use the indoor pool as the main party area where guests and companions could mingle and play together. They might not be able to use the spectacular outdoor pool and adjoining waterfall, but the indoor facilities that Matteo had available were just as breathtaking.

For this event, the crew decided to open the patio doors and install outdoor heaters and lanterns all around the surrounding area. At the far side of the deck, five massive grills were fired up and grilling some of the juiciest meats and vegetables known to man.

To top it all off, music blared while furry muscle bears roamed the poolside, serving drinks and appetizers to hungry guests.

"Another fantastic party, Mr. Sabarino," one of La Maison's oldest members praised, stepping up next to Matteo. "I love how you paired sexy muscle bears with the whole outdoor, woodsy barbecue theme."

"Thank you, Mr. Chow. I try to bring forth some fresh ideas. I don't want long-standing members like yourself to get bored from experiencing the same old thing." Matteo lifted two champagne glasses off a server's tray and handed one to his friend.

"To old friends," Mr. Chow cheered, raising his flute toward Matteo before taking a sip of the bubbly.

Watching the other patrons as they flirted with the Maison guys, Matteo felt a sense of pride in all that he had built. Here was a place where powerful gay men could come to be themselves and have fun without the fear of judgment or persecution.

"This really is a magical place," Mr. Chow noted, breaking Matteo's train of thought.

"Speaking of magical," Matteo said, grabbing José by the shoulder and guiding him into their conversation. "Have you met José?"

José smiled, showing off his sexy-as-sin smile and flexing his six-pack abs.

"No. No, I haven't," the CEO of China's leading pharmaceutical company replied, giving them both a mischievous smile.

"José is one of our newest dancers. He is twenty-six, Brazilian, and let's just say he carries a beer can-sized assault weapon that is guaranteed to dislocate your jaw and split your hips." Matteo stepped to the side as José moved between them.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," the young buck said with one of the sexiest Brazilian accents Matteo had ever heard.

The man may not be the most erotic dancer on stage, but with a body like his and an accent to match, Matteo was sure he could teach the boy the rest.

"I'll let you two get better acquainted." Matteo nodded his head toward Mr. Chow as he stepped away from the two love birds.

He made his way over to where Jared and Diesel were standing together, chuckling.

"What's got you both laughing like a bunch of idiots?" Matteo asked, turning to face whatever it was that had the guys laughing.

"Nothing. We're just admiring Isaac's swimsuit," Diesel explained, holding in a laugh as he took a swig of his beer.

"What? What's he wearing?" Matteo asked, trying to figure out what was wrong with what the boy was wearing.

Isaac was in a tiny red Speedo with the word "Juicy" written across his ass. Nothing new. He had seen Isaac wearing that same swimsuit before.

"I don't get it. What's so funny about the suit?"

"Nothing," Jared answered a little too quickly.

Isaac was standing next to the pool, chatting with one of their regulars. The man was some sort of a fashion guru or designer. Matteo really couldn't remember. He did remember that the man enjoyed being spanked and humiliated during sex.

Jared let out a giggle as they watched a beagle—one of the guest's pet dogs—trot up beside Isaac and begin sniffing around his legs.

Matteo watched in confusion as the animal, without warning, stuck its nose right up Isaac's butt.

Isaac gave a startled yelp before turning and swatting the dog away.

"What the fuck?" Matteo asked, trying not to laugh when the dog moseyed up to Isaac unaffected and went in for another sniff.

"Yo, what's up, Snoopy?" Isaac huffed, turning around in frustration and trying to shoo the dog away once again.

Again, the stubborn dog trotted right back up to the boy with the "juicy" ass Speedo and began its sniffing campaign once again.

"Like, seriously? What the fuck is wrong with this dog?" Isaac shouted, taking a few steps back and watching in horror as the beast continued to pursue his "juicy" ass.

Isaac turned his butt away from the dog, only to have the persistent creature come after him once again.

"I think the dog likes you," Jared shouted as his boyfriend, the blue-haired skater boy, took off running around the pool with the dog in hot pursuit.

Beside Matteo, Jared and Diesel burst out laughing.

Seriously, what was wrong with these guys?

"Umm, shouldn't you be running off to save the man who you supposedly love?" Matteo asked, concerned about Jared's lack of hero action.

"Oh, don't worry. The pooch is nothing but a little love bug. See how he knows where the magic is?" Jared choked out in between fits of laughter.

At the other side of the deck, Isaac stopped and turned, hoping he had lost the dog. The boy let out another squeal as the dog conducted a sneak-attack poke right up Isaac's clenched butt.

"Jared! Help!" Isaac called out, letting out another squeal as the dog continued its relentless search. "Fuck, this," Isaac shouted, turning and running toward the changeroom doors.

"Seriously. Should I be concerned?" Matteo asked Jared, who seemed to be having way too much of a good time.

"No. No. I spent the morning soaking Isaac's swimsuit in beef juice, then gave it to him when it was dry."

Matteo's mouth dropped open.

"It was payback for what he did to me last week."

Jared and Isaac had this weird fetish where they liked to play pranks on one another. Originally, it had started as a tactic Isaac used to try and get Jared's attention. Usually, those pranks ended with Isaac on his back and Jared slapping Isaac in the face with his dick.

Seriously. His boys needed major therapy.

"The two of you have issues." Matteo shook his head, taking a sip of his champagne and watching the "juicy" ass disappear into the men's changeroom with the dog at his heels.

Three hours later, most of the party had moved into the main hall, with only a few stragglers left lounging by the pool. Matteo took this opportunity to relax and enjoy a little downtime before the madness of a Saturday night began.

Lounging by the pool, Matteo flipped through the pages of Edwin's journal, wondering how long it would take to go through all the entries.

Last summer, it had been discovered that one of Matteo's former employees—a man he once trusted—had stolen client information from Matteo's private files, hoping to use that information to blackmail or extort money from clients.

Using this stolen information, Edwin conducted his own investigations, eventually uncovering unspeakable crimes committed by some of Matteo's clients or people closely associated with them. Edwin hoped to use this information to make some quick money.

Matteo had no idea whether the crimes mentioned in the journal were real. He had asked Chase, the man who was currently dating Levi, to discreetly investigate these allegations and, if true, deal with the client in a manner suitable to the crime being alleged.

He didn't trust Edwin and worried that Edwin may have added false information to the journal just to cover his ass and throw off anyone who might get in his way.

Each case would be investigated, and each crime addressed accordingly. Those were Matteo's rules. He had a reputation to maintain, and he wasn't about to accuse his clients of horrific crimes if they weren't true. Edwin was not to be trusted. That was a truth Matteo sadly learned the hard way.

"So, who are you hunting down next?" Matteo asked the man sitting next to him.

"Huh?" Chase asked, looking up from the document he was currently reading on his tablet.

Matteo held up the journal.

"Oh, we're going after a man named Neo next. He's supposedly running a sex trafficking ring out of his mansion in the Swiss Alps."

"A sex trafficker is one of our clients?" Matteo asked, quickly sitting up in his chair. He wondered how his security team had missed such a big red flag.

Before a person's membership to La Maison is approved, they must undergo a credit and criminal background check. It appeared that Edwin's sleuthing had been much better than the team of professional investigators Matteo had hired for this specific purpose.

"No. No," Chase noted, glancing around to see who might have overheard them.

Matteo looked around as well, realizing that perhaps he had been a little louder than intended. No one seemed interested in their conversation.

"Neo's son, David, is queer. David is the one who has a membership at La Maison . Edwin must have been investigating David when he discovered his father's sex trafficking ring. I doubt David is even aware of his father's activities. They don't seem too close. Marc is putting together a team for the takedown while I'm scoping out the specs for the mission."

Marc was Chase's boss and the person who had been given Edwin's blackmail journal. He had hired Chase, a former police officer, to help him hunt down the men listed in the book and bring them to justice. Justice usually being a bullet to the head or a leisurely swim at the bottom of the ocean.

Matteo didn't care. So long as these monsters were dealt with properly and didn't pose a risk to his family or his business.

"How long do you think you'll be gone?" Matteo asked, leaning back in his lounge chair and flipping through the journal once again.

Chase, who had only started dating Levi a few months ago, had taken up permanent residence in Levi's bedroom. Considering most of the men Chase was hunting down were located in Europe, it only made sense for Chase to live in France permanently, as opposed to his home country of Canada—that, and the fact that he and Levi couldn't stop boning.

"We'll probably be on site for about a week. We'll need to monitor the situation for a few days and learn the perp's habits. Then take 'em down."

"Hmm," Matteo hummed, half listening to the man as he talked.

Flipping the page of the journal, Matteo noticed that two of the pages had been torn out from the beginning of the journal. He flipped back a page and then forward a page.

"Hmm. Profile number four is missing," Matteo said, running his fingers along the frayed edges of the torn-out pages still stuck in the crease of the book.

Chase glanced over at Matteo.

"Oh, that. I asked Marc the same thing when I first started working for him. He mentioned that the entry was about Ares. Apparently, the guy who originally found the journal tore out the pages as a favor to him. Something to do with owing him a favor for saving his ass or something. I've always wondered what dirt Edwin had found on Ares."

Matteo ran his fingers along the frayed edges, deep in thought. Given that it was Ares, the entry could have listed many things. Ares wasn't exactly the most law-abiding citizen in the world.

And if Edwin was looking to score big, who better than to blackmail one of the biggest gun traffickers in the world? Although, if you enjoyed breathing, it probably wasn't the smartest idea trying to blackmail one of the world's most dangerous men.

Matteo didn't exactly know the extent of Ares's reach. He'd heard the rumors, the same as everyone else in the criminal underworld—that Ares's reach was vast and all-encompassing—that he had his hands and ears in all corners of the world. If you whispered his name, he knew about it.

Still, part of Matteo was curious. The intimate pieces of knowledge that Matteo did know about Ares were several years old, and as any criminal will tell you, information older than twelve months was no longer reliable.

Feeling the fibers of the torn pages against his fingers, Matteo couldn't help but wonder about the menacing, dangerous man that so many in the criminal underworld feared. Ares was a ghost, a phantom, a boogeyman. Many knew the stories, but few knew the man.

Ares was a chameleon among criminals. Information about him was always changing; stories varied from person to person, and no one seemed to know much about who Ares was or where he came from.

Yet, somewhere buried deep beneath that monstrous evil soul of Ares's… was a beating heart. How kind it was, no one knew.

Well, he did save your life, that annoying voice that liked to hang out in the darkest corners of Matteo's heart reminded.

Yes, he did.

Jumping in front of that bullet to save Matteo had been a jarring moment in Matteo's life. It was during that moment—watching Ares's blood seep between his fingers—that Matteo realized just how close to death he had come that night.

He could have lost everything. His life, his family, everything he had built at La Maison .

In an instant, everything could be taken away. Just like his parents.

Which was another reason why he was taking this anniversary so hard.

He needed to make contingency plans, just in case something were to happen to him. There was too much at stake. He was the sole heir to a billion-dollar fortune.

He needed…

"I think I'm going to go away for a few days. A week perhaps," Matteo blurted.

Chase lowered his tablet, giving Matteo his full attention. "Like on a vacation or something?"

"Well, in a way… perhaps. I need some time to clear my head and figure a few things out."

Matteo watched as Isaac and Jared flirted with one of the guests who was staying for a week at the club. Now that Isaac and Jared were officially a couple, they had decided that they would continue to strip and entertain guests at the club but would no longer offer one-on-one intimate sessions with guests. Matteo didn't have an issue with their decision.

He wanted them to be happy, and he understood their decision. Matteo was a rather possessive man himself when in a relationship. He never shared and would cut off the hand of any man who dared to touch what was his. And when dating Matteo, you became his.

Watching Jared and Isaac together, he thought about how close they both came to losing each other. Another stark reminder that life was too short.

"Is everything okay?" Chase asked in the same worried tone Levi had used just the other night.

Matteo smiled. "Yes, everything is okay. Just got a few things on my mind."

"If you say so," Chase responded, not seeming convinced in the least. "Just know that Levi and I, and pretty much everyone here at Cock Palace , are here if you ever need to talk or just vent. Take your own advice. Speak to someone if you're struggling."

Here was a man that Matteo had only met a few short months ago, showing his love and concern.

Matteo patted Chase on the arm. "I can see why Levi fell in love with you."