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’s okay,” Lucas said, before Ian could make any kind of decision. “I’m used to it.”


He finally found his voice. “You shouldn’t have to be.”


Lucas gazed past him, at the house, at memories only he could see. After a moment, he shook it off, pulling away to open the car door. “Let’s go.”


Fifteen minutes later, they were on their way to their next stop, package number three with the others in the backseat. Lucas turned the radio on right away—to keep conversation at bay, apparently—while Ian wondered why the silence bothered him so much when before it had been a haven. It seemed unnatural for Lucas to be the one to retreat. The man didn’t run from anything.


But Shreveport disappeared behind them, and then so did Louisiana.


He hoped the same wasn’t true for Lucas.


Chapter 28