6. Oscar
CHAPTER 6
OSCAR
“You fucked Gregory Balfour!”
“Jesus, Abby. Why don’t you say it louder? I don’t think they heard you in Manchester.”
Oscar was catching up with his best friend, Abby. They’d met at university and she was the first person he’d come out to. Their friendship was like siblings, and she came from an excellent family, so his mother approved. Not that his mother should dictate his friendships, but life was easier if she didn’t disapprove of something.
“Sorry, it was just a shock,” she said. “You’ve always hated each other.”
“Correction. He’s always hated me.”
“Semantics. How did it even happen?”
“I’m not going to tell you that.”
“Oh. My. God!”
“What?”
“You like him.”
“What? Don’t be ridiculous. It was just a bit of fun. I don’t have to share everything about my sex life, you know.”
“You told me in explicit detail about the time you got Eiffel Towered by those Star Wars geeks at Comic-Con.”
Oscar felt his face heating. He had told her about that, but it had been exhilarating. Nowhere near as amazing as what had happened with Gregory, though, and Oscar felt gossiping about that would demean it somewhat.
“Look, it was just a one-off... well, two-off, but it won’t happen again. He’s made that clear?”
“What a minute. Hold the phone!”
“Okay, you really need to stop watching Drag Race . You need some other references, dear.”
“Don’t dear me. Cheeky fucker.”
Oscar chuckled. Abby was very well spoken, so hearing her potty mouth always made him laugh. It was like hearing one of the royals swear, which they no doubt did, just not in public. Oscar was convinced Queen Camilla had a potty mouth.
“Yes, we hooked up twice. Once in his office, and the other at his brother’s birthday party. Now, that’s all you’re getting from me.”
“How hung is he?”
Oscar’s face felt like someone had thrown scalding hot water on it.
“Say no more,” said Abby with a smile. “I know you said he doesn’t want it to happen again, but what do you want?”
“That doesn’t matter, does it? Takes two to tango.”
“And you complain about my references.”
“Yes, of course I want to do it again. It was the best sex I’ve ever had.”
“The best, eh? Better than the actuary with the playroom.”
Oscar groaned. “Why do I tell you anything?”
Abby cackled before asking the server for their bill, and Oscar glanced at his watch. They’d been here for almost three hours. The time just disappeared when they got together. Abby worked in the city as a senior underwriter. Her father had been CEO of one of the biggest Lloyd’s syndicates, and her ambition was to become CEO of a FTSE100 company. She’d not used any connections to get into the market, but applied for a grad programme straight out of university. She had a plan to be on the C-suite by the time she was thirty-five and was well on her way to doing that.
“Why don’t you just talk to him and see if he’d be up for a friends with benefits arrangement? Or enemies with benefits in your case.”
“He’s not my enemy.”
“So you say, but I bet the sex wouldn’t be as hot if he didn’t hate you so much.”
“Way to make a guy feel good about himself.”
“Just keeping it real.”
“Well, I need delusion please, bestie. And besides, he’s ignoring all my calls.”
Abby howled with laughter, which got them looks from other tables. Thankfully, they weren’t anywhere posh, so nowhere their parents frequented. The woman had no filter.
“You got ghosted? You, Oscar Montgomery? A walking sex god. Wow! I guess we’re all fucked.”
Their cute server arrived with their bill at that precise time, and tried his best to suppress a smile but failed. Oscar banged his head on the table, wanting the apocalypse to hurry and take him.
“It’s my turn, isn’t it?”
Oscar nodded, his head still on the table. His face was on fire, and he couldn’t look the server in the eyes. He wanted to get out of here as fast as possible and never come back, which was a shame as the food had been delicious.
“You can look up now. He’s gone.”
“I’ll get you back for that,” he said, looking her dead in the eyes.
She shivered. “How do you do that?”
“I learnt from the best.”
She laughed. “How is Victoria?”
“On a mission to get me married before my thirtieth.”
“Does she seriously think you’ll meet someone, fall in love, and get married in the next two months?”
“I don’t think the falling in love part is important.”
“Imagine if you married Gregory Balfour. Oh, to be a fly on the wall if that happened.”
They both laughed. Although their mothers were best friends, they were also each other’s mortal enemies – the bizarreness of the upper classes. The idea of them being related, albeit through marriage, was too much to comprehend. Weirdly, the idea of being married to Gregory didn’t make him shudder in the way the general idea of matrimony did. That must be his libido talking. The idea of getting dicked down every night by Gregory made his skin prickle all over.
“Where did you go?”
“What?” he asked, realising he’d zoned out.
“Thinking of that Greg D, weren’t you?”
“It’s Gregory. He doesn’t like Greg.”
“Aww, look at you. Defending your man. Being all butch.”
“Fuck off!” he said, laughing.
When they’d both finished laughing, they got up, and he linked her arm with his own like he always did whenever they were together. That he was more than a foot taller than her meant they probably looked like a bizarre couple, but he didn’t care.
They said their goodbyes outside the restaurant as she headed home to her flat in Chelsea. Oscar lived in Knightsbridge, so they’d had lunch in South Kensington. Given it was December, the temperature was still twelve degrees, and the air was crisp, so he walked back home. He had no plans for the rest of the day. He was seeing his mother tomorrow, which would no doubt mean more talk of setting him up on dates. The only thing he’d concluded from this mission she’d been on since his last birthday was that his mother had terrible taste in men.
Victoria Montgomery was having tea with Lavinia Balfour when Oscar arrived, which just made him think of Gregory. Oscar kissed Lavinia on the cheek politely and said he’d leave them to it, then went into the kitchen to see Flo, who ran the house and was like a second mother to him. As soon as he walked in, he was hit with the delicious smell of freshly baked bread.
“Hello Mama,” he said.
She was startled for a second and then rushed over to Oscar, pulling him into a big squeezy hug. Flo was only five feet tall, yet she could squeeze the air out of Oscar without breaking a sweat. He’d never had hugs like that from his own mother. Not that she didn’t love him, she just wasn’t openly affectionate; it was the Montgomery way.
“I need to talk to you,” said Flo. She looked serious.
“What is it?”
“Not here. Let me get these in the oven and we’ll go for a walk.”
She brushed his cheek affectionately, but there was concern in her eyes. Oscar immediately tensed. Flo was rarely like this, and if anyone had hurt her, they’d have to deal with him. He wasn’t a violent man, but for Flo he would make an exception.
He helped himself to a freshly baked muffin, whilst she finished the cake mixture she was working on, dividing into it different sized tins. Was she making a tiered cake for a random Sunday? No doubt at his mother’s request. The kitchen was Flo’s domain, and he knew better than to question anything.
Flo was in her seventies and had been around since Oscar was a baby. She had a self-contained annexe on the grounds where she lived, and had done his whole life. If Oscar ever had the need for a full-time housekeeper, he’d poach her in a second, although his mother would never forgive him. The one thing his parents had never done was take Flo for granted; she was part of the family.
“Good, aren’t they?”
Oscar looked up, his mouth full of moist chocolate deliciousness. He smiled and nodded.
“I’ll box some up for you to take home. I’ve got lemon in the oven as well.”
This woman was the reason he went to the gym five days a week – worth it. Oscar popped the last of the muffin in his mouth and grabbed her coat from the cupboard, helping her put it on. He went into the hallway to grab his own, and when he got back, she had her gloves, scarf, and hat. He could barely see her face, she was so covered up.
“It’s not cold out.”
“For a young thing like you, perhaps.”
He followed her out, and they walked down from the house and into the gardens. Neither of them said anything for a while, just enjoying the fresh air. After a few minutes, it was Flo who spoke first.
“It’s Gregory Balfour.”
Oscar immediately tensed.
“Now, I know you two aren’t as close as you used to be.”
Of course Flo remembered them as kids, no doubt causing her headaches by bothering her for baked goods all the time.
“I just think he needs your help.”
That made Gregory stop walking. Flo realised and stopped slightly ahead.
“Come on, let’s keep walking. I shouldn’t be telling you this. It was something I overheard, and you know the rules.”
The rules! Plenty of staff had been dismissed over the years for repeating what they’d overhead. His mother was a big gossip, but hated if any of it was about her.
“I heard your mother speaking with Lavinia earlier. That Barty is at some health spa recovering from his injuries. He took quite a beating.”
Oscar had heard the story as well. This happened when you tried to rip off people like that. You only had to watch any mobster film to know how it worked. Barty was an idiot and why Gregory kept bailing him out was a mystery.
“Apparently, Barty owes them a lot of money.”
“Do you know how much?”
“She didn’t say, but said it was more than last time.”
The last amount Oscar was certain Gregory had paid.
“What’s this got to do with Gregory?”
“The debt has been transferred to him.”
“What? He agreed to that?”
“No. It was Rupert. He went and spoke to this Grant person and got him to agree to getting the money from Gregory instead.”
“Does Gregory know?”
“I don’t know, but I heard he was going to have to sell his flat to pay it off.”
The flat. The place Gregory lived with his best friends. It had to be worth at least two million, given its location and the spec it was renovated to. Why would he sell it, though? From what he understood, it had been created as a home for all of them.
Flo shared what she knew from the conversation she’d overheard. He immediately wanted to go to Gregory and offer to help any way he could. Perhaps he could loan him the money, so he didn’t have to sell the flat. Gregory’s business was hugely successful, so there was no risk of not getting it back, and even if he didn’t, what did he care? His trust fund had never been touched as he’d created his own wealth. It was just sitting there doing nothing.
“I’ll speak to him. See what I can do to help.”
“You’re a good boy, Oscar. I always liked Gregory. Such a sweet and clever boy. It was a shame you two drifted apart. You were joined at the hip when you were little.”
Oscar smiled at the thought. They had been inseparable as kids, but he’d fucked things up. It was something he’d always regret, but he couldn’t change the past. All he could do was support Gregory as best he could. The challenge was getting him to accept Oscar’s help.
Oscar pressed the buzzer and wondered if he was making a big mistake. He wasn’t even sure if Gregory would be home, and coming round to the flat was like entering the lion’s den. This group of friends was very protective of each other. Hopefully, Langdon wouldn’t be here – that guy scared the shit out of Oscar.
There was no greeting over the intercom, just the sound of the door clicking open. He’d never been here before, but from what he knew, their flat occupied the top two floors of the building, so that’s where he headed. Before he could knock on the door, it swung open. Jason was on the other side, looking at Oscar with amusement.
“And to what do we owe this pleasure?”
“Is Gregory home?”
“Why don’t you come in and find out?”
That didn’t sound ominous at all. Jason held the door wide for him, and he walked in. The flat was stunning. Huge open living space, with each area zoned off, so it was clear which was the kitchen, dining room, and lounge. There was a set of wooden stairs heading to the upper floor. It was stylish and yet felt really homely.
“What the fuck is he doing here?” came a growly voice.
Fuck. It was Langdon.
“He’s here for Gregory,” said Jason, a smile on his lips.
“Gregory isn’t here, so he can fuck off.”
Langdon folded his arms across his solid chest, his inked arms looking both sexy and intimidating at the same time. There was a handsome ginger guy sitting nearby, looking at Langdon with hearts in his eyes. It looked like there was nobody else at home.
“I better get going,” he said, not wanting to get into it with Langdon.
“Make yourself at home. Gregory will be back soon.”
“Jason!” Langdon barked.
“Look, sorry I came by. I just need to speak to him. Will you please ask him to call me?”
Before they could respond, he turned and went to reach for the front door handle, almost colliding with it as it opened. Gregory walked through and looked shocked to see Oscar before his eyes narrowed.
“What are you doing here?” asked Gregory.
“He was just leaving,” said Langdon.
“Don’t let me stop you, then,” said Gregory, stepping aside so Oscar could leave.
“We need to talk.”
“I’ve got nothing to say to you.”
“Just five minutes.”
“You need to leave.”
“You heard him, Montgomery. Fuck off,” said Langdon, who started walking over.
“It’s about Barty,” said Oscar, lowering his voice. “I know about the money.”
Gregory’s eyes widened for a second. He looked over at Langdon, and a look of panic came over his face.
“Fine, you get five minutes.”
“Gregory, just tell him to fuck off. Or let me escort him out.”
“Can you call off your guard dog?”
Gregory smirked. “It’s fine, Langdon.”
“Shall we go somewhere more private?”
Gregory looked over at Langdon and Jason, who both had their arms folded. Langdon looked all growly, but Oscar knew Jason wouldn’t hesitate to scratch his eyes out either.ure, I know somewhere we can go.”
Gregory walked out without looking back at his friends. Oscar looked at Langdon and Jason again, and without a word, the warning was very clear. Little did they know, he wasn’t here to hurt Gregory. He only wanted to help him. And if Gregory went for his idea, it could help them both.