All Chapters of Their Deadly Obsession: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

ANDREA AGE 12Four weeks have passed since I moved in with Dorathy and Cade. On my first day, I met their sons. It was awkward.. being around new people always is. But I learned they were all adopted too, which I found strange, though I kept that thought to myself.Logan is the oldest, and easily the coldest. He barely acknowledged me when I arrived and hasn't said much since. But maybe he just values his space, and I can respect that.The twins, Killian and Austin, were friendly enough. We probably won't be super close, the age gap is too wide for that. Dorathy mentioned they're in their senior year of high school, whatever that means. She also said I'd have to take a placement test before starting school. I've never been to school before, but everything I've heard about it sounds incredible. I told the twins I wanted to go to high school with them, and Killian laughed and said I was way too young, and that I'd change my mind once I was actually old enough to go.Reid and Drew are th

ANDREA AGE 15The plane touches down smoothly, the descent gentler than I expected. The flight itself was mostly uneventful.. everyone else slept through nearly all of it. Not me. It was my first time on a plane, and I was terrified the entire way.When the captain gives the all-clear, I let out a long breath. Oh, and did I mention it's a private jet? Because it is. Cade is the first on his feet, directing Logan and the twins to grab the bags. Dorathy gestures for me and Drew to go check that the car is waiting outside.Once everything is loaded, we head toward the lake house. I've heard about it plenty of times but never actually been. Drew promised it would be worth the trip, and I'm just glad I finally learned how to swim. The drive there is stunning, tall trees reaching into the sky, patches of wildflowers, creeks catching the sunlight like glass.We pull up to a gate that looks almost identical to the one at home. Cade punches in a code and it swings open. I catch glimpses of the

LoganAndrea's cries cut through the heavy silence as two empty caskets are lowered into the ground. My hands curl into fists at my sides. I can't let myself focus on her grief right now. I have to focus on the caskets. Two of them. Both empty.From the corner of my eye, Killian pulls her closer, pressing her face gently against his chest to quiet her broken sobs. A sharp frustration moves through me. The pilot and co-pilot were recovered. Dorathy and Cade weren't. Two weeks, and the FBI has nothing. Austin and I agreed not to tell Andrea. She has a way of building hope out of things that don't deserve it, and I tell myself this is the better choice. The safer one. For her.My phone buzzes in my pocket. Of all days.Ryder: Need to meet ASAP. My office?Logan: My house. One hour.I don't take orders. Things happen on my terms.I glance toward the car where Killian, Drew, and Reid have gathered around Andrea, all of their attention on her. It's always her. Whether they realize it or not

ANDREA I lie in bed staring at the ceiling for what feels like hours, putting off the inevitable. Logan wants me gone. That's not true, a small voice says somewhere in the back of my mind. Maybe it isn't. But that's what it feels like. They say it's protection, but how can they not see what this is doing to me? This feels like abandonment. The same kind I've spent years trying to forget. I finally drag myself out of bed and into the bathroom. The shower doesn't help. The warmth doesn't reach the ache in my chest. A boarding school. What are they even like? Will I fit in? Will anyone care that I'm there? I guess it doesn't matter. The decision was already made without me. I pull on a white tank top, black sweatpants, and zip up my grey jacket before heading downstairs. Voices from the kitchen stop me in the hallway. I lean against the wall and listen. "I wish she understood that we'd never want her to leave," Killian says. His voice is strained, worn thin in a way I've never

ANDREA I lower my hands. The words land with more weight than I know what to do with. So I hug him again, because that's what I always do with Drew when I don't have words."I'm back for good this time," I tell him, arms around his back. "No more missed milestones."He nods against the top of my head and lets go."I'll tell Marcus to make spaghetti," he says, already heading for the kitchen.I drift into the living room. Reid is on the couch, head down, absorbed in his phone. I smirk and tiptoe up behind him, Killian trailing quietly. When I'm close enough, I reach over the back of the couch and cover his eyes."Guess who?"Reid goes still for exactly one second. Then he relaxes, slow and deliberate, a smirk already forming."Hmm," he muses, voice unhurried. "Who could it possibly be?"His hand shoots up, grabs my arms, and pulls me cleanly over the back of the couch."You're terrible at that,