Free Possessed - Part One by Coco Cadence

it would be over soon.
    “Guys, please …” Leo says, sighing.
    “Oh, please, don’t pretend like you actually want to be here,” Emily says to Leo, squinting.
    “Hey, I just want to talk with my brother, all right? Nothing wrong with that. It’s just dinner. Let’s just talk … act like a normal family. Please?” The way he pleads with her tugs at my heart.
    “So you’re just gonna ignore that whole thing? You’re just gonna let it go?” Emily spits.
    Leo nods. “People change.”
    “Chris doesn’t.” She throws her fork down. “Chris never changes. Once an asshole, always an asshole. One dinner isn’t going to change that.”
    “What is wrong with you?” Now his father even joins the conversation. “We are trying to have dinner here, and all I hear is squabbles. You are all adults. Behave like one.”
    “Yeah, what is your problem, Emily?” Chris muses.
    “Really? You’re gonna pull that crap on me now?”
    “Can you all please just stop?” Tricia asks.
    Everybody’s stopped eating now. For a dinner, there sure isn’t a lot of eating going on.
    “No, just no,” Emily snaps. “You think just because some time has passed, I’m suddenly okay with sitting in the same room with that guy again?” She points at Chris. “Have you all forgotten what he’s done?”
    Her face is growing redder by the second while I’m trying to make myself invisible. Too bad it doesn’t work.
    “I’m done pretending we’re all good,” Emily says. “I’m done sitting here, having to be nice to the new girl when I have so many other, way better things to do.” Emily scoots back her chair. “God, why did I even come here? It was a mistake.”
    In a fit, she walks away.
    “Emily …” Tricia gets up and follows her out of the room.
    The rest of us are quiet, sitting here like a bomb just exploded, and I feel like I’m about to burst into tears from the stress.
    “Well, this was fun,” Frank says, throwing his napkin on the table. Then he sighs.
    “I think I’ll just … excuse me,” Chris says, and he gets up and leaves, just like that. I don’t know where he’s going or if he’ll be back, but this is one disaster dinner, all right.
    I frown, feeling very bad about the situation. I look at Leo, who seems to have pissed off his father because they’re engaging in an epic staring contest. I swallow away my nerves and tug Leo’s suit.
    “Do you mind if I go …? You know,” I sigh to myself, holding my stomach. I feel sick. Like, really sick, and it’s getting harder to breathe.
    “Are you okay?” he says.
    “Yeah, yeah … I’m fine,” I lie, and I scoot my chair back.
    “Take a break. The bathroom is to the left.”
    I nod, and then glance at his parents. “Excuse me for a second.”
    With a red face and a bloated feeling, I hurry to the hallway and find the bathroom after trying three doors. When I’m inside, I take a deep breath and then walk to the sink, opening the faucet to spritz some water on my face. As I look up to face the mirror, I want to slap myself for not keeping it together while being here.
    A sudden knock on the door draws my attention. “Samantha?” Leo’s low, seductive voice sends a chill up my spine. The good kind. “Are you okay?”

Chapter 12
     
     
     
    I clear my throat. “Yeah …”
    “Do you mind if I come in?”
    Frowning, I pat my face dry with a towel before replying. “Sure.”
    He opens the door softly, stepping inside with a gentle smile on his face, one that I haven’t seen before. I lean back against the sink, biting my lip. He comes closer and looks down at me with sultry eyes that somehow became a lot more difficult not to look at.
    “Are you sure everything is all right? I know my family can be … difficult.”
    “Don’t worry about me,” I say, sighing. “I’ll be fine.”
    Suddenly, he cups my face, tilting it to look up at him. “I do worry about you. You’re forced to lie for me.” He frowns. “I’m sorry my sister is