‘We have taken the liberty of making up separate beds for you,’ Johanna continued. ‘The accommodations are large. And during our tour I will point out where there are additional guest bathing facilities, should you not wish to share the head.’

Maybe Charlie would protest more if she weren’t so dumbfounded by their surroundings. Johanna led Charlie and Dan through automatic sliding glass doors into a behemoth salon, richly upholstered in white leather with walnut accents. There was a sectional that seated twelve and additional armchairs and love seats for at least another dozen, specially commissioned sets of classic board games, an entire wall of first-edition novels, hardcover photo books of past celebrity cruises, and a mounted projection screen. Opposite the television were two Warhols and a Lichtenstein. They continued through the salon and outside to a staircase that led them to a lower sundeck featuring a gym with enough equipment to rival an Equinox, a spa locker room complete with two massage tables, steam, sauna, and hot and cold plunge pools. Adjacent to that was a sort of miniature beauty salon with a stylist’s chair, mirrored vanity, and equipment for providing facials and manicures. Somewhere around the third teak sundeck that was outfitted with a resistance lap pool, Charlie lost track of where they were.

‘Charlie, are you seeing this?’ Dan shouted when Johanna allowed them a peek into the storage unit at the bottom of the boat where the owner kept his ‘toys’: four jet skis, water skis, wakeboards, snorkel and scuba gear, and two tenders that would ferry the groups to shore or take them out to play on the water.

‘I see it,’ she said, a little embarrassed that Dan was acting as excited as she felt.

‘Incredible. Just incredible,’ he murmured, taking it all in. Charlie knew he must be thinking of his parents back at their home in Virginia, just as she was picturing her father in his one-bedroom guest cottage that could most kindly be described as ‘rustic.’ The whole thing felt so surreal.

But even she could barely mask her awe when Johanna escorted them into their cabin. A king-sized platform bed with a leather headboard mounted to the wall sat atop a white silk area rug. A single handheld remote controlled the cabin lights, temperature, window shades, window tinting, and bathroom floor heat; a separate command unit with its own touchscreen could summon the drop-down television from its hiding place in the wall and offer a menu of more than a thousand movies and nearly two hundred TV series. The music selection included over twenty thousand songs and could be played overhead, in a pillow speaker while sleeping, or in the shower. One of the walls contained a hidden handle that pulled down to create a twin-sized bed. It was already made up exactly like the king, and it included a push-button panel that could be raised or lowered for privacy, creating a nearly separate sleeping nook for Dan. Charlie relaxed.

‘Please feel free to take the afternoon at leisure,’ Johanna said, sweeping her arms. ‘Lunch is a cold buffet on the third-floor aft deck, available whenever you please. We are still waiting for guests to board this afternoon, so we won’t be launching immediately. Should you need anything at all, please don’t hesitate to pick up any phone extension and you’ll immediately be connected to a steward. Is there anything I can do before I leave you?’

Charlie glanced around. ‘I’d love to fit in a workout before everyone else gets here. Would it be possible to have my luggage brought down?’

‘It’s already been unpacked. Folded clothes have been placed in drawers, shoes are in the storage units under the bed, toiletries in the bathroom, and hanging clothes are currently being pressed and will be placed in your closet. Which reminds me, just leave any laundry in the basket and we’ll collect it each morning. I do apologize that we are unable to offer daily dry cleaning, but if you have something that requires it, we’re happy to bring it ashore whenever possible.’

‘Thank you,’ Charlie managed.

Johanna smiled and closed the door behind her.

‘What a dump,’ Dan said, sitting down on the edge of his pull-down bed.

‘No dry cleaning? What kind of shitty yacht is this?’ Charlie said.

‘I want a refund.’

The two of them convulsed in laughter. Charlie had to wipe the tears from her cheeks a full minute later. She couldn’t remember laughing that hard in weeks. Or had it been months? Each individual muscle in her stomach ached and she could feel the makeup smeared across her face, but she didn’t care at all.

Their eyes met for a single moment before Dan quickly looked away. ‘You’re going to work out?’ he asked, grabbing a book.

‘Yeah, I think I’ll get that in now. Then probably shower and grab some lunch.’

‘Sounds good. I’ll see you later.’ Charlie tried not to stare at his exposed abs when he pulled his sweater off. She looked away the moment his T-shirt came down to cover the skin, but his eyes caught hers.

‘Have fun,’ she called out, ducking into the bathroom to change into workout clothes. She shut the door firmly behind her and waited to come back out until after his footsteps had receded into the hallway.

There was a collective inhalation among the women – especially the middle-aged wives of the billionaire philanthropists, the ones who had yet to see him in the flesh – as Marco joined the group, barefoot, on the aft deck for sunset cocktails. He was freshly showered, his hair still wet and swept back off his face, his pink button-down casually untucked over a pair of tight-fitting navy chinos. His teeth and toenails looked like they were glowing against his intensely tanned skin. Charlie glanced around at the women – all freshly scrubbed and tanned and turned out themselves – and could see from their expressions that there wasn’t one among them, married or otherwise, who wouldn’t fall into bed with Marco if given even the smallest window. It took him nearly ten minutes of being admired and courted and flirted with before he made his way to Charlie.

‘Hey,’ he said, leaning over to allow her to kiss his cheek.

‘Hey, congratulations on Stuttgart,’ she said, trying not to notice that his greeting was no warmer or more affectionate than he’d given any of the women. And then, because she couldn’t help herself: ‘I don’t think I’ve spoken to you since then.’

‘Thanks, love.’ He looked around. ‘So pretty, isn’t it?’

Charlie was just about to ask him how the flight in with Bono had gone, when Dan materialized beside her. He, too, had just showered and looked handsome in a blue linen shirt and white pants. He had nowhere near Marco’s sex appeal, but he cleaned up well.