HIS UNKNOWN LOVE CHILD (Book Three In The LOVE CHILD Series)

PROLOGUE

Twelve Years Ago............BRANT

Picture above Brant

I was awakened by the combined persistent ringing of my cell phone and the pounding of a fist against my apartment door. I groaned as I rolled over and checked the time, it was late. I sighed heavily as I threw the covers off and got up out of bed and made my way to the front door. Only one person in the entire world would show up at my door at this time of night and cause such a racket.

I jerked my apartment door open and their he stood, leaning against the doorframe. I could smell the alcohol on him, he was drunk, again. I stepped aside and allowed him to enter. No words were exchanged between us, none were needed. I was the only one who ever saw him like this. I didn't to ask why he was drunk. There was ever only one reason why, "Liam," his nephew.

He walked over to my sofa and collapsed on it, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. I closed the apartment door and made my way back into my bedroom. I gathered up a blanket and a pillow and took them back to him. Nights like these had become routine for me, for us. I dumped the pillow and the blankets beside him on the sofa. "See you in the morning." I said. Those were the first words spoken between us.

As I turned to walk away he reached out and grabbed my hand, "Wait!" He said. I looked down at him, a question in my gaze as I waited for him to say whatever was on his mind. As the silence lengthened and he did look at me or said anything, I made to remove my hand from his grip and walk away, but his grip only tightened. "Come on Thorne, let go. I have to get some sleep, I have work in the morning."

He shook his head, then he looked up at me and said, "You know I love you right? You're my best friend. The only one that I can really talk to about all the crap that's going on."

I couldn't help thinking, "If only he loved me the way that I wanted him to. The way That I loved him." I've been in love with Thorne Hawkethorne for as long as I could remember, but as is so often the case, it was purely one-sided. Thorne felt nothing for me, beyond brotherly affection and friendship. I resigned myself to that fact years ago. "I know man. Now just go to sleep." I finally managed to tug my hand out of his grip and turned to walk away.

I was pulled up short by Thorne saying, "I'm leaving town." I stopped, turned slowly to look back at him. His eyes met mine and he repeated, "I'm leaving town. For good. I'm not coming back."

After a long silence between us as my brain registered and tried to process what he had just said, I finally managed to utter out, "Why?" My body was filled with tension. He may not feel about me the same way that I felt about him, but at least I got to see him almost everyday. I was the one he came to whenever he needed an ...... outlet. It was my arms that held him, my shoulders that he cried on. If he left town, for good, it would be like I was finally, truly losing him. Not that he was ever mine to lose.

Thorne dropped his gaze and stared down at his hands in silence for a moment before he answered me, "I just need to get away, to start over. He may not say to my face, but I see it in his eyes every time that he looks at me. Hunter blames me for what happened to Liam and I know he hates me for it. It was under my watch that Liam was taken." Thorne raised his head and looked up at me. I knew what he was talking about. He got like this only when Liam did something ...... terrible.

"What did Liam do now?" Liam had once been a happy, carefree and caring little boy. Then he was kidnapped by a mad man that held him for weeks, torturing and raping him repeatedly. Now that little boy had grown up and turned into a drugged out monster, that thought nothing of inflicting pain and hurt on everyone and everything around him.

"What does it matter what Liam did? I just can't stay around here anymore and watch him self destruct. I can't stand the look on my brothers' face every time he sees me." Thorne scrubbed his hands over his face and sighed heavily. I could see the tears of despair slowly make their way down his cheeks. I knew the heavy burden of guilt that he carried in regards to Liam's kidnapping and subsequent rape and torture. It was something that he would always carry with him.

I walked back over to him and crouched down in front of him so that we were eye level. I used my thumbs to wipe the silent tears from his eyes. As I searched his eyes and his face I realized that nothing I could possibly say would make him change his mind. His mind was made up. He was leaving town, he was leaving me. So I did the only thing that I could think of. I kissed him.