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

He whirled in time to see Lucas slamming Sultis into the wall again. One hand gripped the back of Sultis’s neck, while the other had the man’s wrist. Though Sultis tried to struggle, Lucas was too strong for him. He smashed Sultis’s hand two more times before Sultis opened his fingers and dropped the gun.


Ian dove for the weapon as soon as it fell to the floor. He flashed on it going off when it landed, half-expecting it to explode in his hands as he snatched it up, then chided himself for how ridiculously Hollywood he was being.


Until he stood up again and pressed the muzzle to Sultis’s temple. He had to stifle the overwhelming desire to say, “Go ahead. Make my day.”


Instead, he met Lucas’s eyes and offered, “Your timing is as impeccable as always.”


Not as memorable, but it earned him a brilliant smile, one bright enough to make his heart flip-flop.


That alone made everything worth it. 16


Chapter 60