James had tried to keep his entourage to a minimum. He really had. After all, Theo was not expecting him, so the security risk was minimal.

Theo Glass. It wasn’t the name James had been expecting, but Livy had confirmed it on the notecards their mother had given James. A quick request to the honours team had got James an address and, well, here he was. In Dagenham.

James had been expecting Mabel Smith. But Theo was standing by the front door, his mouth hanging open. James was standing with his fist raised, just about to knock. A stocky young woman wearing a crimson headscarf stood next to Theo, her arms full of books and papers. Her brown eyes behind thick glasses went impossibly large as she absorbed James in front of her.

James looked between them both, aware of the security personnel hovering behind him. “Ah,” he said, doing his best to smile. “Sorry to startle you. Theodore Glass? We met earlier today.” He offered his raised hand out.

Theo blinked. “Yeah,” he said faintly, reaching over to shake. His skin was soft. “I think I remember.”

He looked different in faded jeans and a T-shirt rather than his obviously off the rack but nicely fitted suit from earlier. His feet were sporting plush Shrek slippers, complete with green horns. James told himself he looked sweet, more like a kid. It wasn’t adorable or endearing or anything else his brain was trying to tell him. If anything, the absurdness put a greater distance between them.

“I’m James,” he said to the young woman, also offering his hand. “A pleasure to meet you.”

“Sal – Asali Indra,” she stammered. “So nice – I’m honoured – Your Honour – Your Grace…?”

“Your Royal Highness,” Theo said quietly. He sounded dazed and he hadn’t taken his eyes off James yet. He didn’t exactly look pleased to see him. More like a wild animal caught in a cage.

James cleared his throat and adjusted his tie. This was a monumentally bad idea. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “I would have called, but I didn’t know whether you would hang up on me or not.”

“Fair enough,” Theo said dryly.

His blond hair had lost some of the product it had been styled with earlier in the day and a lock was curled towards his forehead. Not cute, James growled internally. Why did he have to look so sweet when he was so prickly?

“I was wondering if I could trouble you for a moment of your time?” James said, indicating the interior of the house.

Theo swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his slender neck. “I can go get my nan, if you want?”

“Actually,” James said, doing his best not to clear his throat again. “I was hoping to speak to you?”

“My mum will be waiting,” Asali blurted out, pushing her glasses up her nose. “For dinner. She’s made dinner. So, it was nice to meet you, Your Royal Highness.” She practically tripped in her haste to get off the front doorstep.

“Sal,” Theo hissed, shooting her a quick scowl that James probably wasn’t supposed to see.

But his friend shook her head. “I’ll catch up with you later. Have a nice evening!”

She waved, turned and practically walked into James’s head of security, Dave Mills. James winced. God fucking damn it. Most of Theo’s neighbours were probably hanging out of their windows watching. A gaggle of small boys playing football in the street had stopped to observe the proceedings with slack jaws. James really hadn’t meant to create such a scene.

Asali scampered around the security staff, leaving James and Theo as alone as they could be.

James managed a smile. “So,” he said, attempting casual. He was normally so cool and calm when it came to dealing with people. “Do you mind if I come in? My team will wait outside once they’ve checked the perimeter.”

“Once they’ve…?” Theo repeated faintly. “Can I at least warn my nan first?”

James nodded. “Of course. Absolutely,” he said.

Theo turned on his heel, shaking his head. “NAN!” he bellowed through the house with such ferocity for such a petit man. James almost flinched himself. “We’ve got company!”

James could honestly say he’d never been announced in such a manner in his entire life.

Although it was a terraced house, it wasn’t as small as James would have expected. Not like the rows and rows you saw packed tightly together in central London and up in Northern cities. Decent-sized red-and-cream bricked houses stood together in neat groups of fours, sixes or eights in an intricately planned development from the first half of the twentieth century. It was the largest public housing development in the world, apparently. Dave never went anywhere without researching it first.

James followed Theo past the wheelie bins and overflowing hanging baskets by the front step. They went through the reddish-brown door into the house’s interior with Dave right behind. James glanced back at his car where Manjeet, his driver, gave him two thumbs up. James was glad somebody thought this was a good idea.

Theo stood in the middle of the living room with his arms folded, looking James warily up and down. James was acutely aware of his team inspecting the rooms both up and downstairs.

“I take it your grandmother is home?” he asked, hoping to defuse the tension. “This is her house, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” said Theo suspiciously. “I don’t think she heard me outside. Guess you got our address from the MBE thing?”

“You live here, too?” James confirmed, sidestepping the accusation. It wasn’t like it was illegal, getting the address the way he did. It was listed as the charity’s head office, for one thing. But James had to admit it was a tiny bit creepy the way he’d gone about things. But if Theo hadn’t been so hostile to him when they’d parted, he might have risked calling beforehand.

His plan had been to come here and talk to Mrs Smith first, maybe encourage her to put a good word in Theo’s ear. But that had gone out of the window now. He’d have to wing it.

Theo nodded. “Since I was thirteen,” he replied to James’s question. James put him at mid-twenties, so that was around half his life he’d lived here.

The lounge very much looked like an older lady’s. There were a lot of doilies and china ornaments. James spied at least a dozen photos of Theo on display, as well as a young woman who looked a lot like Theo. There was only one of them together when Theo looked to be about four or five, so James guessed she was his mother, Mabel’s daughter. Where was she now?

“All clear,” Dave said as the other two agents left the property. “Mrs Smith is out in the garden still.”

“She’s probably not even noticed you guys,” Theo said with a roll of his eyes.

“No, sir,” said Dave with raised eyebrows. “It didn’t appear so.”

He nodded at James and retreated out through the front door. James and Theo were once again left to stand awkwardly in each other’s company.

“Look,” said Theo, holding up his hands. “If this is about that vase, I swear I wasn’t stealing it.”

James was quick to shake his head. “No, I’m sorry. That was my mistake. I completely overreacted. I apologise.”

Theo narrowed his hazel eyes at him. “Okay,” he said slowly. “Well…I apologise for sneaking my phone in. That was a proper twat-ish thing to do. I know you can do all kinds of crazy things with a phone and I should have thought about that before my emails.” He chewed his lip. “So…that’s what you came all the way over here to say?”

“Oh, no, actually,” James said. He glanced around at the matching floral-patterned couch and armchairs. “Do you mind if we sit?”

Theo shrugged. “Do you want a cup of tea first?”

James blinked. He hadn’t expected to be offered anything. “Oh, yes, thank you,” he said. “If you’re having one?”

“Actually,” Theo said. “I was going to have a rum and coke. We’ve got beer, too, I think, and gin.” He smirked at James, but there was something playful about it. “Doubt we’ve got any fancy wines, but Nan keeps sherry around for Christmas.”

James felt something warm in his chest. Was this a truce? “I’d love a beer,” he admitted.

Theo turned and walked back into the hallway, presumably to go into the kitchen. James assumed he was expected to follow, so he did.

The kitchen cabinets and appliances were finished in shocking mint-green and rusty-orange colours. A green-and-white diamond paper lined the walls and a brown linoleum was laid underfoot. It was as immaculately clean as the lounge had been. “Wow,” said James before he could help himself.

Theo snorted. “Bet your kitchen doesn’t look like this.”

James was pretty sure he was being mocked, so he said nothing. He was used to people being uncomfortable with his wealth. But he wasn’t sure he’d been to a home of someone like Theo before.

Theo fetched a can of Heineken from the fridge and offered it over to James. James only twitched fractionally, not wanting to be rude. But with a little ‘oh’ sound Theo spun and fetched a pint glass from one of the cabinets. James was perfectly capable of pouring his own beer, but Theo cracked the can and did it for him before he could protest. He probably thought James was completely awful for not wanting to drink from the can, but habits like that had been firmly ingrained in James since birth.

“Thank you,” James said as Theo handed him his drink. It was cold and refreshing and just what James needed to take the edge off his nerves, if only because it gave him something to do with his hands.

Theo poured himself a rum and supermarket brand cola with practised ease, adding a couple of novelty-shaped ice cubes that looked like Lego bricks. He held out his own glass towards James’s. “Cheers,” he said with that almost amused look back on his face.

This was definitely a truce.