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

“No problem. Just let me clean this and cover it. Um, you sure you’re up for going anywhere?” he asked while he sprayed water on Jake’s back. “I mean, you seemed pretty tired before.”


Jake shivered a little under the touch of the cool liquid. “I’m fine. Really,” he insisted, catching the skepticism in Gabe’s silence. “I just slept for two hours, remember?”


“Well, if you’re sure,” Gabe said, deciding to just take Jake’s word for it. “Where are we going?”


“We’re going to the grocery store to get sloppy joe stuff, and then to my place so I can make it and feed it to you.”


“Oh. Cool. I didn’t know spaghetti sauce on a bun was such a gap in my cultural education.” He cleaned Jake’s back again with antiseptic. The way Jake took this all so seriously was pretty cute.


Chapter 74