Gunshots waken Ian Tunbridge, an assistant curator of classical antiquities at the British Museum, on his first day on a dig in California. The only way to save his life is to run for it, but luck is not on his side. At least, not until he meets Lucas Arpini, the brash American photographer who seems to have some sort of clue what’s going on. Together, they’re supposed to be the tools in finding an artifact nobody believes is real -- nobody, that is, except Lucas and the man kidnaps them both.<br><br>Ian doesn’t know what to believe. His colleagues are dead, he’s injured, and he has no choice but to put his faith in a gorgeous stranger. Their escape should lead them straight to the police, but when Lucas shows him pieces of the puzzle they were meant to solve, Ian is too intrigued to walk away. He wants to solve the riddle as badly as Lucas does.<br><br>Unfortunately, they aren’t the only ones ...

Riddle Me Wicked

Neither one inspired Ian to ally with him.


Shadows haunted the sharp planes of Lucas’s face, all vestiges of pride wiped away. “This wasn’t the way it was supposed to happen,” he said. “Sultis made promises.”


“Yes, well, it would seem your trust in this Sultis was a tad misguided.”


Lucas glanced up again, his jaw hard. “If it means anything, I’m sorry. This wasn’t the way I envisioned it at all.”


Though he didn’t want to, Ian believed him. “I can’t say this is how I saw my first trip to California playing out, either.”


When Lucas retrained his attention on Ian, it was far more sober, more intently focused. “Did they say anything to you?”


“Nothing of consequence.” The fact that Sultis had threatened to cripple him felt like too much of a guilty burden to lay at Lucas’s feet. “What’s this about? How do you know who I am?”


Chapter 5