Page 66 of Convenient Rivals

“I was hoping we could have another visit to your ‘relaxation room’ if you wanted?”

Gregory chuckled. He referred to his playroom as a relaxation room. It was adorable, and kind of accurate because he used it to relax as well. Oscar noticed Gregory’s body language change immediately. His confidence was back, which was a major turn on. He wondered if he’d get more of the intimate and tactile side of Gregory tonight.

They chatted about anything and everything for the rest of their meal; the serious topics of conversation were done. He asked Gregory about his view on Josh’s resignation, and he’d suggested just watching carefully to see how he interacted with others, which might give him a clue who he was leaving because of. It had to be linked to a person, although it could be a personal matter. There was nothing Oscar could do about that, but if it was linked to someone at his firm, he needed to know about it.

After their delicious meal, which cost less than thirty quid for both of them, they walked down Old Compton Street towards Gregory’s flat. Oscar wanted to take hold of his hand, but they were walking down the street and he didn’t think Gregory would be a fan of PDA, regardless of who it was with.

They were a few yards from the flat when someone appeared in front of them. The guy was Oscar’s height, but twice as broad. He looked like a mean son of a bitch as well. Were they about to get mugged?

“Mr Kincaid has requested your company,” he said to Gregory, who immediately tensed.

“What’s this about?” asked Oscar.

“None of your business,” replied the goon, because that’s what he was. Some hired muscle sent to intimidate a guy who was a quarter of his size.

“I better go. Will you wait here for me?” asked Gregory.

“Like fuck. I’m going with you.”

“Mr Kincaid wants to see Mr Balfour only.”

“Well, get on the phone and tell him Mr Montgomery is coming as well.”

There was a brief staring contest before the guy took out his phone and walked away from them. Could they run for it? He looked around and noticed there were two other guys standing slightly back from them. They had the same trademark all-black clothing on. Running wasn’t an option, and Grant knew where Gregory lived so it would only delay things.

“Mr Kincaid agrees with you both attending. Follow me,” he said before walking away.

Oscar looked at Gregory, who had gone white. He was terrified. Oscar was nervous himself. Grant Kincaid was a scary man, but if he’d wanted to really hurt them, they wouldn’t have been approached on the street outside Gregory’s flat. He took hold of Gregory’s hand and gave it a squeeze. He responded with a small smile before they followed the goon. Oscar wasn’t sure what was about to happen, but he knew better than to leave Grant Kincaid waiting.

CHAPTER17

GREGORY

The Blue Lagoon was a seedy club masquerading as something respectable; the fact it was owned by Grant Kincaid said enough. Gregory hadn’t heard of Grant until a few months ago, but he was part of Langdon’s past, so he’d made it his business to find out as much as he could. Even more so when he discovered Barty was indebted to him. The man was involved in anything and everything related to organised crime – the kind you see on TV and think is grossly over-exaggerated for entertainment. But no, it was very real, and Kincaid was at the top of the tree in the UK, even though the police had pinned nothing on him. According to records, he’d been arrested a few times but released within hours as the authorities couldn’t make anything stick.

Langdon was tight-lipped about Grant, and his line was always that it was in his brothers’ best interests if they knew nothing. It was also clear Grant had a connection to Jason somehow, but nobody knew what. They had both lived in Liverpool, so it was possible their paths may have crossed. This was the last place he wanted to be right now, but he’d made a deal with Grant so he could clear his brother’s debt, and now he was about to find out what the price was.

“Oscar Montgomery. Nice of you to join us.”

Grant extended his hand, and Oscar shook it. He wasn’t stupid.

“Gregory. Always a pleasure,” he said, shaking hands. “Shall we have a seat? This won’t take long.”

The room they were in was at the back of the club, and there was a small board table, which had six seats around it. The room itself could have accommodated a much larger table, so it looked like someone had just moved into a bigger place and dumped their old furniture in here before they bought something new.

“As you will have guessed, I’ve brought you here to confirm the favour you agreed to do for me.”

Oscar looked at him with a frown.

“I see you haven’t told your boyfriend everything.”

Despite the situation they were in, Gregory had a warm feeling throughout his body when Oscar was referred to in that way.

“Let me catch you up, Oscar. Gregory came to me, on his knees, begging me to help him.”

Gregory snorted without thinking.

“Fair enough,” said Grant with a smile. “I just like to paint a more dramatic picture when the reality is rather dull and grey. Gregory asked for an extension of the deadline to pay his brother’s debt. We agreed to extend it to the end of February, on condition that Gregory did a favour for me, to be determined later.”

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