Toronto, Canada, 2006. A few months after the worst year of the Iraq war. Gabriel Navarro splits his time between his job slinging ink at the Atlantis Ink tattoo parlor, and working on his master’s degree in fine art. Gabe is twenty-two, sure of his beliefs and his artistic integrity, and na?ve enough to think he’ll never have to compromise. And then one night Jake MacLean walks into the shop and changes everything. Jake Maclean is twenty-eight and a veteran American Army pilot. He's been staying with his ex-pat sister in Toronto while he tries to get his life in order. The problem is, he can't. After his disastrous final mission in Iraq, he's overcome with anger and survivor’s guilt, trapped in a losing battle to atone for a failure he’s sure can never be forgiven. Left without hope, he decides to have his memory of the mission tattooed on his back, with the condemning words: God Will Judge Me. He doesn't expect to fall for the tattoo artist. Gabe falls just as quickly and deeply for Jake, though Jake's reluctance to talk about what happened frustrates and worries him. Gabe knows Jake isn't doing well, but accepting Jake’s claims that he's "fine" is far easier than dealing with the frightening truth. But soon it’s horribly clear Jake can’t control his panic attacks or flashes of violence, and he's getting worse. If Gabe can’t help him face his demons, Jake is headed for a crash -- and there’s every chance he’ll take Gabriel down with him.

Black Hawk Tattoo

“So, you going to call her?” Gabe asked casually as he flipped the sketchbook back to the rough flash and quickly put in the details Jake had mentioned.


Jake pulled his wallet out of his pocket, studying the check as if there would be an exam on it later. “She’s cute,” he said absently. He put his credit card into the clear pouch, closed the binder, and pushed it to the edge of the table.


“I guess,” Gabe said. He could definitely see she had sweet features and an adorable little button nose under her big gray eyes. He wasn’t really sure where his jealousy was coming from, but knowing it was ridiculous wasn’t making it go away. He closed the sketchbook carefully, doing his best not to look like he was feeling sorry for himself. “Did she leave you her number?” he asked, because Jake hadn’t actually confirmed it.


“Yup,” Jake said, like it made no difference to him.


Chapter 20