Theo was twenty-five when he discovered something that would change his life -- his adoption certificate, with any information about his birthmother other than her given names, Lilliana Nichole, blacked out. His father is dead and his mother away on business, so he can't ask them why they hadn't told him he was adopted ... and why the certificate had been defaced. He decides his only recourse is to hire a private detective agency to search for Lilliana.<br><br>It doesn't take long for Ric Baron of Moore Investigations to determine that locating Lilliana might be impossible. But he's more than willing to give it his all for the interesting young man who asked for the agency's help.<br><br>Soon after Ric begins his search, he receives a threatening email from someone who wants him to stop looking for Lilliana. From there, things escalate as Ric and Theo deal with the aftermath of the threat and their growing interest in each other. Can they learn the man's identity before he discovers Theo is Lilliana's son and goes after him? Only time will tell.

A Secret Uncovered

“This is good,” Ric said after tasting his lasagna.


“All their food is,” Theo replied, “I make it a habit to eat here at least a couple of times a month.”


“When you’re not creating fabulous home-cooked meals?” Ric grinned.


“Yep. I’m a cordon bleu chef,” Theo replied seriously before laughing. “If you consider meatloaf and spaghetti fancy food.”


“I thought it was meatballs and spaghetti, not meatloaf and…” Ric winked.


They tacitly agreed not to talk about Lilliana and whoever didn’t want her found until they finished eating. Instead, they discussed what kind of entertainment they preferred, books they’d read—the usual things two people who were learning about each other on a personal level wanted to know.


At Theo’s prompting, Ric explained how he’d become a private investigator.


Chapter 19