The Katya Chronicles-Gina (present time)
Gina was still on her sixth life.
Time had passed quickly, and there was no looking back—though she had no desire to.
Too much had happened—things that could never be undone.
Tony was dead.
He had been gone since 2017, and the horror show had long since ended.
The years of abuse were a faint memory.
Gina was starting to remember the good times.
It hadn’t been all bad. Nothing ever is.
Now, when she looked at an old photo, she could almost see why she’d fallen for Tony.
He was strikingly handsome, with a muscular frame and piercing blue eyes. You could bounce a quarter off his abs. He could hold his own with anyone. Tony was all swagger and menace—a predator with a colossal ego. In the end, they caught him in the act, and he would never abuse another woman again.
In the photo, he posed beside a giant marlin hanging from a hook. There were many pictures like that, trophies from fish he had battled over the years. He had even written a poem about his conquests. Even that had felt like an invasion, as if nothing was sacred, as if he had to claim superiority in every possible way. By then, he was deep into his tattoo phase, his upper torso covered in ink. Gina’s name was tattooed on his upper arm—left or right, she could not remember. Enough, she thought, tossing the photo back into the box. It was time to shower and get dressed.
Gina needed to focus on caring for Sophia.
Her mother was on her ninth life. Sophia’s time was almost over.
Nothing was more important than that, especially not a dead husband.
