Morgan leads me inside. I thought I’d acclimated somewhat to all the extravagance, but this place leaves me wide-eyed and breathless again.
The design palette is black set off with deep matte greens and Art Deco accents in gold and glass. It feels classic and modern and timeless all at once—just like Morgan.
A sweeping chandelier of hammered gold panels arranged in tiers crowns the space, and the vaulted ceiling flows to a cylindrical chimney of dark-stained concrete draped with art. At its base, a hearth waits with fresh wood, ready to be lit.
The most stunning details are the touches of Morganeverywhere: a worn-in leather chesterfield couch next to an architectural light and a live-edge end table; a bar with a ribbed wood front and dark marble counter, lined with all the types of whiskey I’ve seen Morgan order while we’ve been out.
“This place ishuge,” I murmur, stepping out into an expansive atrium lined with potted palms and ferns.
“Six beds, eight baths, five thousand square feet,” Morgan rattles off casually before turning to check my face.
I’m sure I look suitably impressed. “You could fittenof my apartment in here.”
“Mhm.”
“Wait, how do you need more bathrooms than bedrooms?”
“Am I really going to invite a guest and not have an en suite for them?”
“When do you havefiveguests staying the night?”
“During the orgies, of course.”
My eyes go wide, and Morgan’s face is unreadable. Deadpan.
She laughs. I’mpretty sureshe’s kidding. But she turns and continues before I can formulate a clarifying question.
Thick hand-tufted carpets pad the walkway of a wood-paneled hall, and I stop short when my eye catches the art on the wall.
It’s a hand-drawn topographical map of the estate, with a bird’s-eye view of the building. I’m about to ask who drew it when I see MH in the corner.
“You made this?” I ask down the hall.
Morgan pauses and turns back. “Yeah.”
I brush my fingers along the frame. “It’s beautiful.”
“Wait until you see it in three dimensions. C’mon, my favorite room is this way.”
Morgan leads me through an airlock into a lush forest. Awater feature pours from a stack of rocks on one side, forming a small creek that weaves down into a pool on the other. Bright flashes of white, orange and red flick from the koi fish in the water.
I only realize we’re indoors because I spot a black frame beyond the leaves and the subtle glint of a glass ceiling. A beam of sunlight filters down to the center of the floor, falling on a set of teak chairs with a small matching table.
“This is gorgeous,” I say, drawing closer to the bright flowers dripping from the trees. “What type of—”
And then there’s a pair of slit-pupil eyes just behind the flowers, set into a dark face nearly as large as my head. Beyond that is a massive scaly body, dark black and glimmering iridescent.
“Holy—” I jump back and put Morgan between myself and the massive snake.
Morgan gives a full-bodied laugh, deep and ringing.
“Well, I’m glad you’re entertained,” I mutter.
“This is Kaa.” Morgan holds out a hand towards the giant snake. It flicks a pink, forked tongue at her and slithers from the tree, revealing a body as thick as my leg.
I take a big step back, but the snake is moving slowly and seems relaxed.
“She’s a reticulated python,” Morgan says. “Largest snake species in the world. By length, anyway. And Kaa is one of the longest, over twenty feet.”
