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

It left him a little sad for Lucas, if he was honest with himself. Lucas disparaged Ian’s relationship with his father, but at least Ian had roots. He had a place to call home.


He wasn’t entirely sure what Lucas had.


He shook off his malaise and turned to the closed double doors off to his left. A front room. The curtains were drawn, the air slightly stale, but a buttery soft leather couch beckoned to him to sit down and stretch his legs. A carriage clock on the wide mantel chimed softly, momentarily placing him back in England, ensconced in his parents’ flat in Chiswick. The sensation almost made him smile.


Chapter 27