Page 1 of Their Sweetest Obsession

prologue

MARINA

With finals almost over, I was so exhausted from studying that I was surprised my eyes hadn’t already crossed. A few more exams and college would be over. I’d have my degree. More importantly, I would be home, where I ached to be.

If it had been left up to me, I wouldn’t have even gone to college. But it hadn’t been my choice. My mom got married right after my senior year of high school, and before I could even get settled into the new family dynamic, I was being packed up and sent to a private all-female college in upstate New York. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t applied. William Keats’s name was too powerful for something as mundane as his stepdaughter having to go through the entire admission process like a mere mortal.

I was used to my mother not wanting me around. Barely out of her teens when she got pregnant with me, she and my sperm donor were married for a whole two months before dear ol’ dad decided he didn’t want to be a husband or father. Lucky for Mom, he already had access to his trust fund. A hefty payoff, along with the occasional child support check, and she had been out searching for husband number two right away.

My current stepfather was husband number six. They had been married for almost four years, making it the longest relationship and marriage Mom had ever had. I wasn’t sure if it was because she was genuinely in love with William or if she simply didn’t want to give up all the perks that came with being a billionaire’s wife.

My money was on the latter.

Either way, I didn’t want this one to end in a dumpster fire like the previous five had. William was a decent stepfather, maybe the best I’d ever had. Sometimes he had a stick up his ass, but I felt genuine affection for him. That, and I’d finally gotten a taste of what it was like to have a family with his adopted sons.

But I wasn’t convinced Mom would stick around for the long haul, even with all the amenities that came with being Mrs. Keats. Not that it really mattered at this point. Reeve and Wilder had promised me from the first time we met that we were going to be a family, no matter what happened between my mother and their father.

My gaze drifted over to the framed picture beside my bed. It was my favorite. Reeve—with his short, dark hair, his dark eyes glowing, a rare grin on his lips—stood on my left, his arms around my middle as he pressed his front to my back. He had a few days’ worth of scruff on his face that had tickled my neck when he’d said something in my ear to make me smile right before the picture was taken. Wilder stood with his blond curls hanging slightly in his face, dimples popping, as he hugged me from the right side. I had one hand over both of Reeve’s at my waist, while the fingers of my other hand were linked through Wilder’s at my shoulder. Whenever they were close, I had to be touching them.

Needed it.

Sometimes it felt like they needed the contact just as much as I did.

My eyes glowed back at me from the photo, my heart nearly exploding with love for the two men who were my happy place. With them, I’d found a family. They loved me as much as I loved them, even if it was a different kind of love.

Shoving my books aside, I rubbed at my tired eyes just as my bedroom door swung open. Blinking away the little black spots dotting my vision, I looked up at my roommate as she dropped a gift bag on my bed.

“Someone got a surprise!” Kara singsonged, sitting beside the bag, flipping her blond braid over her shoulder. Her legs bounced up and down excitedly as she impatiently waited for me to get up off the floor where I’d been studying.

“Probably from William,” I mused as I took my time getting to my feet. My body was stiff from having spent hours on the hard floor reading over weeks’ worth of notes for a class I hated. “Mom forgot that my graduation was coming up and talked him into going to Spain for a few weeks. Reeve let them both have it when he found out they wouldn’t be returning in time to attend.”

“That sucks,” she sympathized. “I would be so pissed if my parents didn’t come to graduation.”

I stretched out the tension in my neck before shrugging. “I really couldn’t care less about Mom not being there. Honestly, it will make the day less stressful.”

Her brows scrunched together for a moment before she nodded. “She is a bit much.”

Understatement of the century. Kara had been my roommate for two years and had only met my mom and William once. Kara came from a mega-rich family as well, but her parents had been married for thirty-plus years and doted on their daughter. They sent her care packages and surprises all the time. She loved getting presents, but I fucking hated them.

Surprises and presents were never accompanied by happy moments. I’d learned that quickly as a kid.

Everything I wrote to Santa that I wanted for Christmas? Not a problem, but Mom won’t be there to watch you unwrap the presents. She and husband number three wanted some special alone time in Paris.

Here’s a pony, but the housekeeper has to take me for riding lessons because Mom’s new boyfriend wants to go to Jamaica for a week.

Unplanned night out at my favorite restaurant with Mom and husband number four? Sorry, they thought my favorite dinner would make up for them not being in the country for my birthday.

Presents only ever meant disappointment of some kind. I’d stopped caring so much around the age of twelve. When Reeve and Wilder came into my life, it got better for me. I had two people around for the special occasions, who made birthdays and Christmas worth celebrating again. But it was hard to stop the sinking sensation in my stomach whenever a present arrived for me without warning.

Kara nudged the bag when all I did was stare down at it. “Come on already, Marina,” she said with a laugh. “The suspense is killing me.”

“Is there a note?” I asked, still hesitating to reach for the gift.

“If there is, it’s inside the bag.” She saw the way I stood back from the present and picked it up. “Girl, you need to tighten your bra straps to support your amazing chesticles and open this already.”

Snorting out a dry laugh, I reached inside the bag. The outside was a matte black, but pretty pink tissue paper was sticking out of the top. Shifting it aside, I grabbed the large box inside and pulled it out.

My heart started pounding as that sinking, sick feeling in my stomach increased.

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