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

“Which doesn’t mean I want you dead. And I didn’t want to break up with you, either. But you know why I did.”


“You don’t have to stay broken up with me.”


“Yes, I do,” Gabriel said, even though he sounded like he regretted it. He cupped the back of Jake’s head and then pulled back enough so he could look Jake in the eyes again. “You need to cut this out, Jake. You need to stop torturing yourself and you need to stop carrying what happened to you around like that half-finished tattoo on your back. You don’t deserve the shit you’ve been putting yourself through, and none of the people who love you deserve it either.


“You’re the only one who’s punishing you, Jake,” Gabriel added softly when Jake didn’t answer. “Not God. Just you.”


“I know,” Gabriel said. “I know it hurts. But you told me about it and it didn’t kill you, did it? You were strong enough to survive. And I know you’re strong enough to keep surviving.”


Chapter 117