Her Black Heart

By Lynn Calabrese

This book is a story of a womans quest to find true love, but she never found it. Too young a bride, Gina dealt with a controlling, manipulative husband. Being an ex-military, she had the brunt of his PTSD and his anger issues that stemmed from the resentment for his own father. Their volatile marriage became a love-hate relationship. Flights escalated into fits of screaming rage. Emotional abuse had taken its toll as Gina grew to the point of hating him. Also playing the role of a cops wife, Gina learned about police corruption and her own husbands infidelity, which led to the destruction of their marriage and family. That life led to her becoming a very emotionally scarred woman, all while trying to raise their four sons alone. After many failed relationships, Gina built an emotional wall that developed into her forever black heart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 16, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543416930

Book preview

Copyright © 2017 by Lynn Calabrese.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 04/19/2017

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CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1 First Job

Chapter 2 His Parents

Chapter 3 Letters

Chapter 4 First Date

Chapter 5 Dating

Chapter 6 Missing H

Chapter 7 Engagement

Chapter 8 Wedding

Chapter 9 The Affair

Chapter 10 Red Flags

Chapter 11 Dummy

Chapter 12 New Job

Chapter 13 First Child

Chapter 14 Graduation

Chapter 15 Henry III

Chapter 16 New Parents

Chapter 17 Second Child

Chapter 18 Grandparents

Chapter 19 New Home

Chapter 20 Great Job

Chapter 21 More Kids

Chapter 22 Control

Chapter 23 Fights

Chapter 24 Corruption

Chapter 25 Mistress

Chapter 26 Attempt

Chapter 27 Christmas ‘09

Chapter 28 Last Fight

Chapter 29 Moving Out

Chapter 30 Home-wrecker

Chapter 31 Mediation

Chapter 32 Bankruptcy

Chapter 33 Rebound

Chapter 34 Divorce

Chapter 35 Break Up

Chapter 36 Husbands

Chapter 37 Online

Chapter 38 Remarried

Epilogue

INTRODUCTION

D OES TRUE LOVE even exist? Half of my friends are divorced, some remarried and very happy. Some are like me, still single and raising children. I don’t believe in the cheesy term soul mate. Is there such a thing as everlasting love? Men of my generation are very selfish and only want sex. They lie, cheat, and want FWBs. I’d rather be alone than settle for what I don’t deserve. Ladies, I’m sure you can relate to this story. Enjoy!

CHAPTER 1

First Job

T HERE HE WAS in his black leather jacket flipping his dirty blond Farrah Faucett locks as he strutted down the front end in untied work boots. It was 1986, and Gina was almost sixteen years old working at a supermarket as a cashier. As all the ladies stared in awe of this young man, Gina just took a quick glimpse. After all, she was very busy attending to her long line of customers.

The managers called the employees from all departments up front to bag. Who showed up at Gin’s register? Henry did! Out of all the young ladies who gave him the attention he craved, he chose to help Gina out, the shy, cute girl with braces.

She thanked him. They barely spoke in the little time that they worked together. He worked in the produce department but always went to her register to help her bag when called.

He looked and acted like a bad boy. Rumor had it that he did recreational drugs and drank alcohol. He smoked cigarettes. He had a bad attitude and showed great disrespect for authority when managers told him what to do. His behavior turned Gina totally off.

In the meantime, Gina dated nice guys from work. They were respectful toward their elders and were polite to customers. Those boys went home to meet her mother, Claire. Even though those boys were neat and respectful ones, Claire never liked any boy Gina brought home. Gina’s father, John, however, was cool with them. He often drove Gina to their houses and picked her up. He would drive them to their dates and pick them up. The boys liked John but not her mother. At the back of Gina’s mind, she already knew that her mother would never approve of Henry.

One day at work, Gina was straightening out the magazines at the end of the registers. From around the corner, Henry appeared, his was head shaved! She asked where all of his hair had gone. Henry was enlisting in the military, army branch. To her surprise, he said goodbye with a kiss on her cheek! To this day, she never forgot that.

Gina asked Natalia, a girl in her math class, what she thought about Henry since they all worked together. Natalia dated Henry. He took her virginity while she was high on cocaine! What a dick! Then there was a rumor that he dated another girl from work, Tina, and that he hit her. There was no way in hell that Gina would ever date that man! She thought the army would be good for him. She thought that he’d learn self-control and discipline and come out as a respectful man.

CHAPTER 2

His Parents

A FEW YEARS LATER, Gina was promoted from cashier to customer service. Her hair was permed; she wore makeup and the braces were off. A lovely woman with Henry’s last name went up to the counter, asking for her photo order. A man was beside her, with a slight resemblance to Henry. Gina was hoping that they were related, so she could strike up a small talk about Henry. She always wondered how he was doing despite his past behaviors. The nice lady, Rose, was indeed Henry’s mother; his father was also named Henry.

Rose told Gina that Henry was stationed in Germany, and that she couldn’t wait to see her son’s pictures. For some reason, Rose shared them with Gina. He looked hot in his camouflage holding a big rifle. There was one where he was in a huge army tank. Rose gave Gina Henry’s address and told her that Henry would love to hear from her. Gina felt uneasy about that as she didn’t know Henry all too well. Instead, she gave Rose her address and asked if Henry could write first. Rose said, Of course, hun and they left. They were lovely people.

CHAPTER 3

Letters

G INA GOT HOME from work one day, and Grandma Josie handed her a letter from Frelinghuysen, Germany. Along with the letter, Henry sent her photos similar to the ones that Rose shared with her. Those, however, showed a sleeve tattoo of a snake wrapped around a black rose. It was so sexy. He asked for a recent photo of her because his mother told him that Gina was all grown up.

Gina sent her best work out photo with great hair and makeup and even added some perfume on the envelope. He obviously enjoyed Gina’s new look as he wrote to her every day, adding cologne to his letters. The next one, poetry arrived, telling Gina how he missed her and how beautiful she looked. He had a genuine interest in her schooling in which she studied Elementary Education. He informed her that he’d be coming home for a few weeks in July on leave. In his letter, he asked Gina out for a date. She was shocked. She was seeing someone else, but it wasn’t serious. She was also curious about how he turned out. In her mind, he cleaned up his act and went from a bad boy to a responsible, respectful man.

CHAPTER 4

First Date

H E SHOWED UP early at Josie’s house. Grandmother approved of him as Henry engaged in conversation with her and Grandpa Walter. Josie told Gina how handsome he looked in his Class A uniform. Here it was one of the hottest months of summer, and that man wore his full uniform. Gina felt underdressed and casual in a royal blue tank top and matching skirt, but it was good enough for dinner. He was allowed in uniform as the dinner was considered