"I Watched You": The Mafia Boss Who Knew My Secrets Before My Best Friend Disappeared

The cellar was cold, damp, and smelled of river mud and rust.

Upstairs, the sound of gunfire, crashing wood, and heavy impacts echoed like thunder through the ceiling floorboards. Gemma was trembling violently beside me, using a small penlight to illuminate the far wall where a heavy iron safe was embedded in the stone.

"Here!" Gemma gasped, stumbling toward the safe. "Use the key!"

I rushed forward, my hands shaking so badly I could barely align the brass key with the keyhole. Up above, a massive explosion shook the foundation of the boathouse, sending dust and small stones raining down on our heads.

"Dominic!" I cried out, my heart dropping into a bottomless pit of terror.

"He's fine, Clara!" Gemma said, grabbing my shoulder. "Dominic is immortal, I swear to God! Just open the safe!"

I shoved the key into the lock and turned it. The heavy iron mechanism clicked open with a deep metallic groan.

Inside sat a small, black encrypted hard drive alongside a stack of confidential documents marked with the Russo family seal.

I pulled the drive out, clutching it tight in my hand. "We have it. Now how do we get out?"

"There's a sea-tunnel exit behind the brick wall," Gemma explained, dragging a rusty iron lever near the floor. "It leads out to the low docks where Father kept his getaway boat."

A hidden brick door creaked open, revealing a dark, narrow stone tunnel that echoed with the sound of rushing lake water.

Before we could step inside, the cellar trapdoor above us was blown off its hinges with a deafening CRACK.

Dust and debris rained down as two men dropped down into the cellar.

Leading them was Mateo—Dominic’s head enforcer.

"Well, well," Mateo said, a wicked, triumphant smirk stretching across his scarred face. He held a silenced pistol leveled directly at Gemma's chest. "Little sister found the evidence after all."

Gemma gasped, stepping back. "Mateo... it was you. You were the one selling our routes to the Morettis."

"Your father was an old fool, Gemma," Mateo sneered, taking a step closer. "And Dominic is too soft. He spends more time protecting his little pharmacy orphan than managing his territory. Hand over the drive, girls, and I might make your deaths quick."

I stepped in front of Gemma, holding the black drive behind my back. My heart was pounding like a drum, but a strange, icy calm washed over me.

"You made one mistake, Mateo," I said, my voice steady, staring him dead in the eye.

Mateo chuckled. "And what's that, sweetheart?"

"You underestimated the Don," I whispered.

A shadow dropped from the ceiling behind Mateo like a striking phantom.

Before Mateo could pull his trigger, Dominic’s massive arm wrapped around his throat, twisting with violent force. A sharp crack echoed through the cellar. Mateo’s pistol clattered to the floor as his body went limp, dropping like a stone.

Dominic stood in the dim light of the cellar, covered in dust, blood dripping from a small cut on his temple, holding his pistol with terrifying grace.

He looked past Mateo's body, his dark eyes locking onto mine.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, his voice rough and breathless.