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

Jake waited a beat then started drying himself. “You didn’t have to stop.”


Jake looked away, drying his legs. He stepped out of the bathtub and flung the towel over the rack. He’d let one end trail in the water while he was getting dry and now it dripped quietly on the floor. “I don’t want to lose you.”


“I know. I don’t want you to lose me either. So, don’t.”


Half of Jake’s mouth curled in a smile. “Thanks.” He faced Gabe, his expression completely serious. “I mean, thank you. For, uh, for listening.”


“You’re welcome,” Gabe said just as seriously. “Thank you for telling me. But this is probably a conversation we should have when both of us have clothes on.”


Jake blinked. Then he smirked, although Gabe noticed Jake was blushing almost as bad as he was, and since Jake was naked it was very easy to see how the pink traveled all the way up from his collarbones. “Am I distracting you?”


Chapter 118