Toxic Hearts

Toxic Hearts

A Devious Series Novel

"Some betrayals burn forever. Some loves are written in the ashes."

Polina Arkim has been betrayed by every man she has ever loved. Ivan Mikhail used her as a conquest and discarded her. Her fiancé kissed another man in front of her and told her he hated girls, that he only used her to buy time until his father handed over properties. She drinks to forget. She drinks to survive. She drinks alone at a club called Midnight Rose, night after night, drowning in vodka and self loathing.

Zenaida Yaroslav has been watching her. From behind the bar of the club she owns, Zenaida has observed Polina for months. She knows Polina's pain. She recognizes it. Because Zenaida was once a beggar on the streets, taken in by the Voronov mafia family, and built an empire from nothing. She does not approach Polina. She waits.

When Zenaida finally catches Polina as she stumbles out of the club, something shifts. Zenaida reveals herself as Polina's anonymous stalker, the one who left her gifts, paid off debts, and sent her cryptic texts. Polina should run. Instead, she kisses her.

Toxic Hearts follows Polina as she discovers that love does not have to come with pain. It follows Zenaida as she learns to be vulnerable after a lifetime of control. Together, they navigate stalker turned lover dynamics, explicit intimacy including strap on use, and the adoption of two children who call them Mama.

In this sapphic dark romance, the question is not whether Polina can love again. It is whether she can love a woman who watched her in secret for months and decided she was worth waiting for.

Triggers & Warnings

This book is a dark romance with mature themes. Reader discretion is advised for:

Past betrayal by multiple men including Ivan Mikhail

Alcohol abuse as a coping mechanism

Stalking themes including anonymous gifts and surveillance

Explicit sexual content including cunnilingus, fingering, strap on use, and degradation during sex

Emotional manipulation and power dynamics

Murder of a side character and disposal of the body

Confrontation with an ex-boyfriend who kisses the heroine without consent

Themes of healing from heartbreak

Adoption storyline