Chapter 2

After one short flight and a bumpy car ride, we finally arrived at the entrance of Zasha House. My expectations had been high after seeing the photos, but the real thing made the website look like a collection of cheap ads.

A plain stone building stood framed by towering lala palms and lush dune forest, perfectly arranged to shut out the rest of the world. Through the gaps in the leaves, the ocean shimmered, and a soft strip of golden sand stretched between the stone walls and the water.

Inside, the lobby was even more extravagant. White marble floors and walls of glass offered perfect views of the beach. Couples lounged throughout the space in armchairs and bean-bags, sipping drinks like they had been waiting all year just to be here.

The artwork hanging on the walls, though, demanded a second look. What first appeared to be abstract moulds of bronze and deep brown turned out to be something much more specific once I leaned in. The paintings were bold. Very, very bold.

One of them depicted two intertwined bodies, a man sliding his thick cock into a woman's vagina, both of their mouths frozen in an open moan. Another, set next to it, showed two women with their tongues in each other's mouths, their breasts pressed so tightly together that the artist had simply blurred them into a single, cohesive ball of skin.

Mandla stopped right where he was, visibly recoiling as the image registered. "No fucking ways," he muttered, quietly glancing around to see if anyone else looked as stunned as he felt. "I didn't think this place would be so... in your face. We haven't even checked in yet."