Page 75 of Tainted Love

‘It’s great.’ He takes a can of Pepsi from a double-door fridge. ‘Want one?’

‘No, thank you.’

‘You know I was irritated at first; I wanted to just sell the game, make my millions.’ He laughs, a warm, soft chuckle. ‘Gregory was right, though;Black Diamondswasn’t my big break. I’m working on some really exciting stuff and Gregory has the technology to help me do it. Some of the stuff here…’ he shakes his head and gulps from his can, ‘…it’s real high quality. Innovative. Tech I’ve never worked with or even seen before, only heard of. And London’s growing on me, too. I’ve got a more permanent place, finally, after four months of being here.’

‘Well, that’s great, Stuart. I’m glad you’re enjoying it and settling in. But listen, you know I’m trying to register the intellectual property inBlack Diamonds, don’t you?’

‘I guess that seems obvious.’

I lean my head to one side. ‘Right. So you understand that I’m trying to register the intellectual property you sold to Gregory, to Constant Sources.’

‘Sure.’

‘That means you don’t own it any more.’

‘Yes, ’course.’

‘Stuart, before you sold the game to Constant Sources, did you try to sell it to anyone else? Did you try to license it to anyone? Did you give anyone access to the source code?’

‘I, er, no. Why do you ask that?’

‘Well, it looks like someone is trying to register the game, or an identical knock-off, at least, as their own.’

‘Scarlett, I swear I never sold the game to anyone. Well, not before Gregory.’

‘Could the source code have been reverse-engineered?’

He shrugs. ‘It’s encrypted but I guess there are ways and means.’

‘Did anyone else help you make the game?’

‘No. It’s mine. Just mine.’

‘It’s Constant Sources’ game now.’

‘Sure. I mean itwasmine.’

I pull the stool closest to mine out from under the bench. ‘Sit down here for a second. My lawyers in China and the US said you were slow to get the information to them that they needed to file intellectual property applications. Why?’

‘I know, they emailed me a couple of times but I was busy here. When I get into something, it just takes over me; it’s like a part of me. I find it difficult to concentrate on other stuff.’

‘Stuart, not giving them the information on time has allowed somebody else to file an application before us and that’s a big problem.’

‘I didn’t realise. I’m sorry. But Gregory doesn’t want to use the game anyway, right? He just wants to make sure it’s off the market so it doesn’t compete withJail Run. So does it matter if someone else filed?’

Is he playing dumb?

‘Well, yes, Stuart. There’s no point in him takingBlack Diamondsoff the market by buying it from you if someone else puts the game on the market, is there?’

‘I get it. So have I messed it up for him?’

Taking a deep breath, I stand from my stool. ‘I hope not.’

‘Hey, you’re engaged?’ he asks, clocking the obscene ring on my finger.

‘Erm, yes.’

‘To Gregory, right?’