‘I carry it everywhere with me,’ he said, handing the note over to Poppy, who read it in silence, before passing it on to Jack. Then she got to her feet and gave Ben a hug.

‘What a romantic story,’ she said. ‘Bless you both. But surely you’re not just going to give up on her? Haven’t you tried to find her?’

‘Of course I’ve tried to find her, Pops, but she’s completely disappeared. I’ve tried all the places she’s likely to have gone: Ibiza, London, Paris, Rome, St Barts, Mustique, Necker …’

‘Oh, Ben, you great lumbering idiot – don’t you see she’s not going to have gone to any of the places you’re likely to look. If she really wanted to disappear, she’d have gone somewhere totally different to her usual haunts …’

‘She’s right,’ said Jack, sitting up straight and looking at them both. ‘But can we go back a couple stages, please? You forget you both have a head start on me. For example, how do you know Natalia, Poppy?’

‘Well, I first met her at my friend Bella’s art exhibition last year, and we became friends. She let me and Damian use her amazing villa in Ibiza for the after-party to our wedding.’

‘Wow. A yacht and an amazing villa. A woman worth blackmailing, huh?’

‘Oh, she’s absolutely loaded—’ Poppy started, when Ben interrupted.

‘What’s her villa like, Pops?’ He was desperate to know as much as he could about the woman he loved.

‘Unreal. Five levels of terraces, a tower, a moat around the main house that leads into an infinity pool. And – get this – there’s an island in the middle of the pool with full DJ decks on it.’

‘God, she’s amazing …’ Ben went all dreamy-eyed for a minute, until Jack clicked his fingers in front of his face.

‘Yeah, yeah. If you want us to help you find her, we need you here with us in the present, not drifting off into some romantic dream-world.’

Poppy looked at Jack admiringly, and Ben said, ‘Sorry. Thanks, mate. You’ll really help me? OK, so what else do you want to know?’

‘Well, for a start, what is she being blackmailed for?’

‘She used to be a hooker,’ said Ben and Poppy simultaneously. They looked at each other and laughed.

‘Wow. O-kaaay,’ said Jack. ‘She told you?’

‘It’s not really that difficult to guess,’ said Poppy. ‘No offence, Ben, you know I think she’s great, but … She’s Ukrainian, stunning looking, and has billions and billions of dollars. Rumours have been circulating around her for years.’

‘In that case, why would she pay money to somebody who could only really confirm what everybody else was thinking?’

‘It would be different to have it confirmed in the press. She’s actually quite a private woman, and seeing her past splashed all over the papers would be quite horrendous for her,’ said Ben. ‘And now she’s been linked to me, she thinks that if anything came out, it’d be bad for my career. Lovely, selfless creature she is.’ He drifted off into another soppy trance.