The truth about Bruno

The next morning, you're woken up by a call from the hotel front desk that Bruno had arranged. In addition to waking you up, the concierge informs you that clothes for you and Kristin are outside the room and you go look. As the person said, there was a clothes rack on wheels outside the door with a nice suit for you and proper attire for Kristin. The clothes don't belong to you, yet they fit perfectly, even better than your own, and you wonder how Bruno managed it. You and Kristin jump into the shower together for a morning quickie, before getting dressed and meeting Bruno in the lobby. The other 3 women, Sarah, Karolína, and Nazreen are with him and look like professional businesswomen. Whatever arrangement Bruno had made with Kristin, it appears that she's tagging along for the day, as you all follow Bruno for more of his official business meetings. It's all pretty boring stuff and ends sometime in the afternoon after lunch, before Bruno bids farewell to his hosts and you're all ferried back to the airport where his plane is waiting.

Once aboard, Bruno tells the 4 women to go to the rear cabins and give him and you some privacy to discuss other matters. You can't wait to talk to him privately, but he takes his time, pouring 2 glasses of whiskey, and handing you 1. He sips his slowly and doesn't speak until the plane is up in the air and cruising.

"So, friend to friend, I'd like you to drop the story about Carmen," he says, sitting in the chair across from you. The setting is the same as when you initially met him, except there are no distractions of beautiful women.

"You're not married," you say.

"What?"

"You're not married. I did my research. There's nothing online about Carmen's mother and you've never spoken about it publicly, and you're also not married. Is that a magic ring?"

Bruno laughs and smiles. "Yes. As are those 5 rings on your hand, aren't they? The power to stop time, control minds, become invisible, teleport, and super strength."

Now you're shocked. It probably wasn't difficult for him to recognize the magic rings since he had 1 of his own, but to know the specific powers they gave you was not what you had expected.

"How did you-"

"Because they're supposed to belong to me. You stole them from the auction house that your parents run. I was going to bid on them and win."

"Oh."

"Yes."

"What, what does your ring do?"

Bruno chuckles. "You saw it in action yesterday, didn't you? What do you think?"

You take a second to think about the poker game and hazard a guess. "Luck. It gives you luck."

"Good guess! Yes. When I use it, it gives me absolute luck. I could roll a dice, play the lottery, anything. I'll always win."

"And that's how you became rich and build your company is such a short time?"

"Yes."

"Where did you get the ring?"

"In Iraq. As you know, I was in the war there, and one day my platoon raided these ruins. I found this ring buried under the rubble and snuck it out of the country. And then I discovered what it could do and I've done more research and have been trying to secure more rings. It took me a long time to find those 5 you have."

You scratch your head sheepishly. "Well, they're mine now."

"Of course. I couldn't take them from you anyway if I tried, I think. Who knows? But I don't have to make an enemy out of you. We can be allies. I assume your professional success so far is because of the rings?"

You nod.

"I can teach you how to be better. This life," he motions at the plane around him, "can be yours too. Or more. What do you say?"