Page 27 of Convenient Rivals

“So why didn’t you say anything?” asked Jason. “If we hadn’t come home, would you have told us?”

Gregory hesitated. The last thing he would do was lie outright to his friends. He could be selective about the truth, but not this. The hesitation was all it took for Jason to snap.

“You promised we’d always have a home here. That’s what you said when we all moved in. No matter what happened, we’d always have somewhere to call home. Charlie’s gone. Langdon’s got Eric. We all know how it’s going to go with Paolo and Max. You’ve got enough money to do whatever you want. What about me? Tossed out again, unwanted. You promised, Gregory. You promised me when I came back here.”

“Jason, I promise you, I’m not selling the flat.”

“Please, can you move out of the way of the door?”

“Jason, just let me explain.”

He didn’t give Gregory a chance as he stormed past, wrenching open the door and running out in just a T-shirt.

“I’ll go after him,” said Gregory.

“Just leave him be,” said Langdon. “He just needs time to himself. You and I need to talk.”

“Not right now, Langdon.”

“Do you want me to send an SOS to the group chat?”

That’s the last thing he wanted. Charlie’s puppy-dog eyes, and Paolo’s soft-spoken and understanding voice. He felt guilty enough without those two as well.

“Right, fine, but promise me you won’t kick off and try to fix things and be all big brother.”

“What’s happened?”

“Promise me, Langdon.”

“Okay, I promise.”

“My brother owes a million quid to Grant Kincaid. If I don’t pay it by the end of the year, my brother’s going to die, and my parents will never speak to me again.”

“What the fuck? Let me call Grant.”

“No, Langdon, you promised.”

“Yeah, but this is Grant, and he’s fucking around with my family.”

It warmed Gregory whenever Langdon referred to him as family. He had his own history with Grant, going back years. They’d made their peace, but things were still a challenge between them. The last thing Gregory wanted to do was to destroy all that.

“Look, I can get the money out of the flat and that’ll be the end.”

“Will it, though?”

“What do you mean?”

“I know Grant, and once Barty pays up, he’ll have no problem lending him money again. Then what will happen next time? You’ll have to sell the flat then. Why are you doing this for a brother who hates you?”

“It’s not that simple, Langdon.”

“It is Gregory. They abandoned you when you came out and left you to fend for yourself, when you’d grown up in a life of privilege so had no idea what the real world was like. And look what you did. You built this amazing company that helps people, and made a shit ton of money. They lose their own money and want yours, and out of some warped sense of duty, you’re willing to lose everything just so they’ll speak to you.”

“That’s not fair.”

“I’m just being honest. This is your flat, Gregory, so you can do what you want with it, but don’t kid yourself that this will be the end. They won’t stop until they’ve taken everything from you. Just think about that before you do anything you’ll regret.”

Langdon walked away towards his room, and then turned back and pulled Gregory into a hug. Neither of them were huggers like their brothers were, but it felt comforting in this moment, even if Langdon was still shirtless. Langdon smiled at him before going to his room, leaving Gregory to contemplate the two choices he had in front of him.

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