Bruno paced from one side of the hideout to the other.
The place smelled of liquor and stale snacks. Empty bottles covered one table, fresh bottles stood near the wall, and three of his friends sat around a card game with open packets of salted chips scattered between them.
A ceiling fan clicked above them with every slow turn, but the room still felt hot and dirty.
None of that reached him.
His jaw stayed tight. His hands would not stay still.
One of the men finally threw a card down and looked up.
"Why are you so tense?" he asked.
Bruno stopped walking and snapped back at once.
"If you were in my place, you'd understand."
Another one laughed.
"Your place? You're the boss's favorite man. His left hand. What problem could you even have?"
The others grinned at that.
Bruno did not.
That joke only made the weight in his stomach feel heavier.
All three men worked under the same boss as him, and that was exactly the problem. If one old stranger and his so-called organization could force Bruno to move like a dog, then someone else could do it too.
That thought had become clearer after the old man's threat.
Even after getting slapped, Bruno had sent people to watch and check how many men the old man really had. Yet when the meeting happened, the old man had appeared alone and still struck him across the face like he feared nothing.
That made Bruno uneasy in a way he could not shake off.
'Something has to be done. If I keep waiting, sooner or later I'm finished.' Bruno thought.
The money had been good.
Very good.
But fear had been growing beside it.
Before he could sink further into that thought, his phone rang.
Unknown number.
Bruno stared at the screen for one second and clicked his tongue.
'That old bastard again.' Bruno thought.
He looked at the three men and forced a casual tone.
"I'm stepping out."
Then he walked toward the door.
Behind him, one of them snickered.
"Must be his girlfriend."
The other two burst out laughing.
Bruno ignored them and stepped outside the building before answering.
A familiar voice came through at once.
"Come to this cafe in five minutes."
The line went dead before Bruno could reply.
For a moment, he just stared at the phone.
Then he cursed under his breath.
"You damn old man. Once I find out how many people you really have, I'll show you."
He drew a hard breath, shoved the phone away, and left without telling the others where he was going.
Selling goods in the black market was not the hard part for Bruno. He had channels, buyers, and enough experience to move things quietly.
The real problem was that this would not stop by itself.
If he kept selling for that old man's group, one day his boss would learn he was doing side work under another hand. And if his boss started digging, the affair with the boss's wife could come out too.
If that happened, Bruno knew exactly how his story would end.
His boss would not ask long questions.
He would simply make Bruno disappear and use his corpse as a warning.
Every time he closed his eyes, he imagined the boss learning everything, smiling, and then ordering someone to drag him into a room he would never walk out of alive.
That fear had been eating his sleep every night.
Money meant little when a blade was already hanging over his neck.
So somewhere during that walk, Bruno made up his mind.
He would kill the old man.
But when he found the right opening.
Until then, he would smile, obey, and wait.
By the time Bruno entered the cafe, his face had changed into a polite smile.
The old man was already sitting at a table in the same disguise as before.
Bruno's eyes dropped once.
Under the table, near the old man's feet, there was a large bag.
He understood immediately.
He sat down.
Adam looked at him and spoke first.
"This is your second assignment."
Bruno opened his mouth with that same false smile.
"This time, you brought quite a-"
Adam cut him off.
"Remember this clearly," he said. "Sixteen million dollars is our group's share. Whatever remains after that is yours. If you take even one extra penny from our side, we won't need your boss to kill you. We'll do it ourselves."
Bruno's smile stiffened.
At last, he understood why he had been slapped during the last meeting.
The missing money had not gone unnoticed.
He swallowed once, then widened his smile with effort.
"No need to worry. This time everything will be clean."
Adam did not bother listening further.
He stood up and left.
Outside, he did not see anyone immediately following him this time.
Still, he trusted no single glance, no single street, and no single silence.
'No tail in sight. That doesn't mean no tail exists.' Adam thought.
So he wandered through different roads, paused at reflective shop windows, changed turns without pattern, and took the long way back home.
Inside the cafe, Bruno stayed seated until Adam was gone.
Then he pulled the bag closer and opened it.
Diamond jewelry and gold jewelry.
Enough of it to make his breath catch for a second.
Under the cafe table, even the dull light could not hide how expensive those stones looked.
But after the first rush passed, he noticed something strange.
There were only eight types.
The same eight designs appeared again and again in repeated sets.
Bruno frowned slightly.
'Only eight kinds? Why?' Bruno thought.
He stared a moment longer, then shook the question off.
Maybe the group's source was limited.
Or they only trusted certain pieces.
Either way, it was not his problem today.
Profit mattered more right now.
He closed the bag, lifted it with both hands, and left the cafe.