When Nicholas Brink leaves New York City to join Clay Guillory in Italy, he thinks he knows what he's getting into. His more experienced boyfriend has come into a small inheritance from an eccentric bohemian artist: the windfall consists of counterfeit heirlooms as well as a share in a decrepit Venetian palazzo. Clay hopes to use Nick's connection to an antiques dealer to unload the fake silver on a brash, unsuspecting American. Clay's smarts and Nick's charm are the keys to pulling off their scheme. Nick is no naive pawn--he takes quickly to Venice's magic and beauty and embeds himself in the city's monied social orbit. Clay, meanwhile, finds in the Floating City a chance to settle old scores. After pulling off their initial con, however, Nick decides that more money can be made in Venice to set them up for life--even if their next move involves drastically greater risks. As it turns out, nothing in Venice is as it seems, and more than one life stands in the way of their happiness.

Nick and Clay dream of trading their lives in New York City for a simpler, happy existence. As they con their way to fortune, a promising future seems clear, but built upon deception. With Clay's smarts and Nick's charm, they are able to sell counterfeit antiques to a brash, unsuspecting American living out his retirement years in a grand palazzo. Surely their plan will succeed.