De Flores's Villa

A Spanish-style villa perched on the coast at Goring by Sea, its white stucco walls gleaming under the pale South American sun. Red clay tiles cover the roof, sloping over arched windows that frame distant ocean waves breaking against the shore. Inside, high ceilings and wrought-iron fixtures contrast with modern chrome and black leather furnishings, the space repurposed for war. A grand fireplace dominates one wall, its mantel lined with maps and photographs from another era. The air smells of salt, old wood, and gun oil, while the sound of ocean surf mixes with murmured conversations among men in military fatigues. The villa's isolation amplifies the hushed reverence in De Flores's voice as he addresses his followers, the walls holding decades of nationalist fervor.