Forbidden Desire: Craved By My Brother's Best Friend

Annika's POV "Ma'am, are you ready to order now? It's been two hours." The waiter stood there politely, notepad in hand, but his eyes gave him away. That soft concern made my stomach churn. "Two hours?" I blurted out. I hadn’t realised it had been that long. My gaze dropped to the table. The expensive bottle of vintage wine was half empty. My face was a bit flushed, and yet the seat across from me was still empty. "Yes ma'am. If you aren't going to order, can you free the table? The time you booked is far spent and our establishment is pretty busy," he explained. My lips parted, then closed. I had been hoarding the table for two hours. My fingers subconsciously curled around the glass. I forced out a reply. "Please can you wait a bit, my boyfriend will be here any time soon." The waiter seemed sceptical, his gaze darting around. "Are you sure?" he paused, his voice turning low. "If anything is wrong, you know..." Before he could finish his sentence, my phone started vibrating on the table. My boyfriend's caller ID flashed on the screen. My eyes lit up immediately when I saw it was Rowan calling. "One minute please, let me pick this," I signalled for the waiter to keep his voice low, then picked up the phone. The call connected, and my words anxiously spilt out. "Rowan, when are you coming? It's already two hours, and I'm..." "I won't be able to make it," his voice cut off my words, and my face instantly fell. I quickly sat up, my hands gripping the phone tightly. "Stop joking," I awkwardly laughed. "What do you mean you can't make it? I have been waiting for hours and it's our anniversary. You promised..." There was no way he was going to stand me up after waiting for two hours. Rowan was always busy, but tonight was important. It was our 5th anniversary. He promised. "I'm sorry, Annie..." his voice grew tired. "Work is crazy. I thought I could wrap things up earlier." There it was. Work again, always work. "But it's our 5th anniversary. Did you forget what you promised?" My hand subconsciously clutched my dress. There was no way he forgot the promise he made on our 1st anniversary. I prepared for that promise. "Sorry, Annie. I got to go. Maybe call your friend and have some fun, the tab is on me..." My heart dropped. He forgot his promise. "But Rowan you..." the dial tone of the call rang. I stared at the disconnected screen in disbelief. Rowan really forgot. On our 1st anniversary, he promised that if we were still together by the 5th year and his career was still stable, he would propose. I had hung onto that promise for years, even when he was so busy with work we barely saw each other. I planned everything tonight. The restaurant was one he mentioned loving, even this trip was because he barely had time. He promised not to let work distract us, and he didn't even remember. My heart felt like it was being squeezed from the inside. I couldn't breathe. A clean hankie was placed before me. "Sorry about that." My head jerked up to meet the waiter's concerned gaze. He probably felt bad for the lady whose boyfriend made her wait two hours before calling it off. "Are you ordering or leaving?" he asked. I blinked down at the tears hanging on my lashes. I didn't accept the hankie. "Just give me the bill." My appetite was already ruined, and there was no point anymore. "Alright, hold on," he nodded, then walked away. I reached for my glass and downed the remaining wine, letting it burn out the disappointment in my chest. It wasn't the first time he was doing this, and besides, if he didn't propose tonight, he might do it another day. The waiter returned shortly with the bill for a half bottle. I quickly settled it and got ready to leave. "Sorry for holding your table," I muttered, getting up from my seat. The waiter gave me a weak smile. "It's fine. These things happen. Your boyfriend must be very busy to turn down a beautiful lady like you." His flattering words didn't make me feel any better. My heels clicked harshly against the expensive marble floor. I didn't want to spend a second there. The cold night air hit me the second I stepped outside. I shivered and pulled my coat tighter, trying to ignore the heavy ache in my chest. It was fine. Everything was fine. I pulled out my phone to contact my best friend Erica, if she was free tonight. We both took this trip together with our partners. I slid into her DM before I could type a text, when a live stream link Erica left from her channel appeared. My brows furrowed, trying to figure out what was going on. With one tap, the live stream opened. The image of Erica's angry face and a barrage of comments welcomed me. Erica was holding a baseball bat and dressed for war. The first thing that came to mind was that she was about to kick someone's ass. Who was the sorry soul about to face her rage? Then I saw the comments. My breath shuddered, my eyes darted around the screen, and I immediately had a picture of what was going on. Erica's husband, who came along with her on this trip, was cheating, and she was going to catch them in the act. My stomach twisted. This was bad, not in the sense that she was going to beat her husband, but because Erica had a very bad temper. She might kill that man in a fit of rage. My mind completely forgot that Rowan had just stood me up. I quickly flagged a taxi and headed to the location mentioned on the live stream. It was a hotel downtown, far from the one we were staying at for our trip. The entire ride, my eyes were glued to the stream. The viewers were going wild, urging her on to beat her husband's sorry ass. Each comment made the knot in my stomach tighten. They were fueling her rage. I quickly sent her a text. Annika: Please don't do anything until I arrive. She didn't reply, which made it worse. I glanced up to see the driver's eyes in the rearview mirror. "Please can you drive faster? If I don't arrive on time, someone might die," I urged. The driver saw how restless I was and stepped on the accelerator immediately. We arrived at the hotel in record time. It wasn't even an upscale hotel. He knew Erica would never come to a place like this, that's why he brought his affair partner here. I quickly paid the driver and rushed out of the car. Using the live stream, I searched for Erica. The moment I saw her figure waiting at the elevator, a silent breath escaped me. "Erica!" I waved at her, running over. She spotted me immediately. She was still holding her phone, streaming everything. "Annika," she muttered, then passed her phone to me. "The viewers need to have a good view," she said, already reaching for the elevator. I was glad she waited for me, but seeing how mad she was, I was terrified to ask questions. The elevator dinged open and we stepped inside. My gaze drifted to Erica. She was gripping the bat so tightly her knuckles were white. I really wanted to ask questions but forced it back down. She wasn't thinking straight now. The elevator stopped and the door slid open. We both stepped into the hallway. Erica was practically sprinting down the corridor, and I tried my best to keep my hand steady to capture everything. She finally stopped at a door. She was breathing hard, pure rage pouring off her. "Erica..." I called softly. "Please don't kill him, he isn't worth it." "I will try not to," she spat. She was about to knock but changed her mind. Erica reached for the door handle and, by luck, it was open. Her eyes lit up and without a moment of hesitation, she kicked the door open with a bang. "I am going to f*****g kill you, Kade..." She charged in, but the words died abruptly on her lips. I stepped in right behind her, my breath catching as I tried to process what I was seeing. For a moment, nothing made sense. My mind refused to connect the pieces. The phone slipped from my hand, hitting the floor somewhere behind me, but I barely registered the sound.