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

Gabe smiled to himself, thinking it was good the client had wanted something small. She’d probably pass out at the idea of getting anything like Jake’s back tattoo, or run screaming.


Thinking of Jake instantly made Gabe think of his fight with Rob, and blew his momentary good mood all to hell. He checked his workstation with only half his attention, knowing Rob had set up everything perfectly. Somehow that just made Gabe angrier. Rob wanted everything his way all the time, including other people. He’d decided Jake was too fucked up for Gabe to be around and Rob wasn’t going to accept he could be wrong, no matter what Gabe said. Rob only saw what he wanted to see.


Like Jake.Gabe went completely still as the realization hit him. That’s exactly like Jake.


Chapter 50