1PAIGEI’m officially divorced, broke, and homeless.I suppose I could go sleep in my storage unit if I was willing to get rid of some of my stuff. The few possessions I decided to take with me are now stuffed in that overpriced black hole. I’m not even sure it was worth it to keep them, but the thought of leaving everything I own behind was unbearable.I’ve lost too much already.But sleeping in a storage unit is even more depressing than my current situation. So instead, I sit on this park bench, my butt and fingers going numb with cold, as night slowly falls around me. I’m staring at the pizzeria across the street. The Crimson Orchid, it’s called, according to the sign looming above the red awning. The smell of freshly baked mozzarella wafts over to me like a tease. My stomach growls in response.But after the extortion at the storage facility, I’ve got sixty dollars left to my name, and I’m not about to spend a third of that money on a pizza. No matter how tantalizing it smells.

Last Updated : 2026-01-30

Fuck.Okay, Paige, I counsel myself, just breathe. This is all fine. It’s gonna all be fine. You have a full belly now—well, sort of—so you can think clearly, and you’ll solve this. You made it through losing Clara, and you loved her, so you can definitely make it through losing Anthony, because he was a piece of shit and you’re better off without him.Weirdly enough, that little pep talk actually does the job. All credit goes to the pizza—cheese really does work miracles.But then the maître d’ drops the bill on my table, and my world flips upside down again.I read the number on the bottom of the check half a dozen times. But it doesn’t change. Sixty-one dollars…“Is this a joke?” I gasp out loud.He freezes halfway across the room, pivots robotically like a Nutcracker doll, and marches back over to me. “No part of this is a ‘joke,’ ma’am,” he spits. He says “ma’am” the way you’d say “mutt” to a dog that just bit your child. I shiver at the casual, dismissive cruelty.“Sixty-one dol

Last Updated : 2026-01-30

MISHAA FEW HOURS EARLIER“Misha.”My sister’s hand lands softly on my arm. When my eyes flicker down, she removes it immediately. “Sorry,” she mumbles. “You were off in your head somewhere.”She’s not wrong. I was remembering things that are probably better off forgotten. Shaking the memories away, I notice she has her little black clutch white-knuckled in her fist. “Leaving so soon?” I ask.She nods and points her chin towards where our mother stands near the cathedral’s pulpit. Agnessa Orlov is wearing a black mourner’s dress, her petite frame stooped with grief. But for ninety minutes, she’s been shaking hands and accepting condolences from every crime lord in the city. Not once has her smile faltered.“I can’t believe Otets ever found fault with her,” Nikita murmurs. “She’s flawless.”“Otets could find fault with anything.”Nikita turns her back on the crowd and faces me with an arched eyebrow. The thick layer of makeup under her eyes is an obvious attempt to hide that she’s spen

Last Updated : 2026-01-30

3MISHA“The Crimson Orchid,” Konstantin mutters, looking around the room with incredulity. “Really?”I understand his skepticism. The back room of the restaurant is small, sparse, understated. The Orlov Bratva owns a hundred properties more impressive than this one. But we’re here for a reason.“It’s where my father hosted his first meeting as don,” I inform him. “My brother, too.”I don’t tell him this, but we’re also here because it just feels right. I wasn’t around when my father held his first council, but I watched my brother navigate this same chaos after our father’s death. It’s funny, in a grim sort of way—Maksim is six feet beneath the earth right now, and I’m still following in his footsteps.“Don Orlov,” Klim Kulikov greets as he walks into the room.He’s followed by the five other men I’ve appointed as my Vors. All of them served my brother. All of them will serve me, too.Konstantin takes his seat beside me. He is the only change I made to the status quo. This will be hi

Last Updated : 2026-01-30

4PAIGESilver Eyes is watching me closely as I sit. He took the position in the corner booth with his back against the wall. I note how his eyes flick to each of the exits quickly, as if measuring the distance, calculating probabilities, planning his next moves.Anthony used to do that exact same thing. He’d refuse to sit anywhere he couldn’t see everything happening in the room. I used to call him paranoid.On Silver Eyes, though, it just makes me wonder what kind of dangers I’m not seeing.My stomach growls again. “Sorry,” I mumble, my cheeks on fire. “I haven’t eaten much today.”“No wonder you were ready to devour Francesco.”I roll my eyes. “He wasn’t in any real danger.”A server brings over a tray with drinks. Silver Eyes sips on his gin and tonic while I reach for the glass of Coke. I only mean to take a sip, but the sweetness and the fizz are so good that I end up downing the entire glass.Silver Eyes doesn’t look away, not even for a second. He just raises his hand and the

Last Updated : 2026-01-30

All Chapters of Champagne Venom- Mafia Romance: Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

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