Gonda's gun rose until the barrel pointed straight at Bruno.
At that distance, Bruno could see nothing in his boss's eyes except cold anger.
His throat locked.
There was no clean way out.
So he grabbed the only lie big enough to make Gonda hesitate.
"Boss, wait!" Bruno shouted. "There's a huge organization behind me! They're the ones who have been giving me money for a long time!"
He twisted his head toward Bobula and the two men near him, Rafi and Toma.
"Tell him! Did I not give you money too?"
Gonda's finger did not leave the trigger, but his attention shifted slightly.
'A huge organization? What nonsense is he talking about?' Gonda thought.
Bobula froze in visible surprise.
A huge organization?
What was Bruno saying now?
Rafi and Toma looked at each other with the same confusion.
Gonda's eyes moved to Bobula.
"What is he talking about?"
Bobula swallowed once and answered carefully.
"Boss, I don't know about any huge organization. But yes, he has been selling high-value jewelry in the black market again and again."
Bruno yelled at once.
"Not just a little! A lot of jewelry! That organization assigned me the work themselves! If you don't believe me, check that bag!"
Gonda glanced down, then gestured with his chin.
One of his men dragged the bag over, crouched, and opened it in front of him.
Cash.
Stacks and stacks of cash.
The men standing closest to the bag went silent at once. Even Rafi and Toma stared with widened eyes, because they had known Bruno was earning well, but not this well.
Gonda had seen plenty of money before, but not this kind of amount sitting casually in Bruno's possession. It was too much for one subordinate to have on his own, and too much for Bruno to fabricate out of nowhere.
Slowly, Gonda lowered the gun a little.
"You have ten minutes," he said. "If your explanation doesn't satisfy me, your life ends here."
For Bruno, that was enough.
A thin line of hope appeared, and he clung to it instantly.
'Don't waste it. Make yourself useful enough to keep alive.' Bruno thought.
"Boss, they're not some small group," Bruno said fast. "We're only a local gang. They are one of the biggest underworld organizations in the world. Many of their members have already met me. They're the ones supplying me with goods and giving me assignments."
He leaned forward despite the hands holding him.
"They even said they could remove a boss like you and put me in your seat."
That line made Gonda's face shift for the first time.
Bruno was lying wildly now.
The old man had never said anything like that. He had only used Bruno's secret to control him. But Bruno needed to survive this moment, so he kept stacking one lie over another, hoping to turn himself into a valuable bridge instead of a dead traitor.
Gonda stayed silent.
His eyes dropped to the open bag again.
He did not trust Bruno's words, but the cash in front of him refused to disappear.
If Bruno had somehow made up this story, then where had this stream of goods and money come from? And if there really was another force behind him, shooting too quickly could bring a bigger problem to his doorstep.
Bruno saw that hesitation and pushed harder.
"Boss, they're opening a small subsidiary gang here. If you kill me, they'll wipe us out and move to another gang. Those were their words."
Gonda covered part of his face with one hand and thought.
An international underworld organization operating in his territory.
A group rich enough to flood goods and cash through Bruno.
A group bold enough to talk about replacing him.
If even half of that was true, then this was not a simple betrayal anymore.
Bruno hurried on.
"They've already paid me too. I have five million dollars from them by now."
That number hit the room hard.
Rafi, Toma, Bobula, even Gonda's men, all stared in shock.
Five million.
This was no small trade if that was real.
Bobula suddenly stepped forward.
"Boss, he's lying. He's talking about one old man. That person isn't some organization."
Gonda turned his head sharply.
"Old man? How do you know he's talking about an old man?"
Bobula stiffened.
A mistake flashed across his face.
'No. I said too much.' Bobula thought.
Bruno understood everything in that instant.
So that was it.
The old man had used Bobula.
Before Bobula could recover, Bruno shouted, "Because he's working with them too, Boss! He's the one who gave them my information! I was never going to betray you. Ask Rafi and Toma. I was trying to catch that old man and bring him to you!"
Gonda looked at the two men.
Rafi nodded quickly. "He's right. Bruno told us to kidnap one old man."
Toma added, "And that Organization kept calling him from different numbers."
Gonda's confusion deepened, but his suspicion now turned toward Bobula.
Bobula had brought him evidence of Bruno's affair with his wife.
That meant Bobula, somehow, knew private things too deeply.
Bobula's hand twitched forward, as if some hidden explanation might still save him, but all Gonda saw was fear, hesitation, and one more reason to stop listening.
Bobula opened his mouth.
"Boss, no, listen-"
Gonda lifted the gun and fired without a word.
The shot cracked through the cafe.
Bobula collapsed on the spot.
Blood spread under him.
Everyone froze.
Bruno stared at Bobula's body in shock.
Then Gonda's eyes returned to him.
"I believe part of what you're saying," Gonda said coldly. "But what you did still deserves punishment."
He signaled with his eyes.
Two men stepped forward.
Bruno's fear surged again.
"Boss, wait, understand me first-"
One man grabbed his wrist and slammed his palm onto a table edge.
Another forced his hand flat, raised a blade, and chopped down hard.
Two fingers hit the floor.
Bruno's scream tore through the cafe.