Page 17 of The MC's Little Brother

Xander snickered, listening to her banter. He might be standoffish with me, but he was warming up to Mel. It was hard not to. She was the kind of person who you just wanted to surround yourself with all day.

While they were playing with Thor, I headed upstairs to make up a bed for Xander. I had two rooms upstairs that I didn't use much. One was a guest room that sat untouched most of the time. The other I used for storage for some of the tech stuff I had lying around. Aside from my work, I liked to tinker with it. I had a few apps out there too as a passive income, but I didn’t give them much of my attention. Snagging some fresh sheets from the linen closet, I made the bed, making a mental list of all the stuff we’d need to stop at the store for. I wasn’t even sure the kid had his own toothbrush.

Mel’s voice got clearer as she got closer to the stairs. “Okay, so since this is basically a big man cave, it's a pretty open concept. Straight shot from theliving room to the kitchen. The door to the master bedroom is behind the stairs, and a bathroom is right next to it if you need it. Two more bedrooms upstairs, I’m sure Wraith will tell you which one is for you. I don’t know why I’m the one doing this, since I’ve only been here a few times.” She raised her voice to make sure I heard her. I made an irritated sound, finishing up the bed before heading downstairs. She stood near the front door, her eyebrow raised in question.

“I was putting new sheets on the bed,” I growled.

She just gave me a bored look. Brat. I waved a hand toward the stairs behind me. “There’s only one room with a bed in it. That one is Xander’s.”

It was as much of a tour as I felt like I needed to give. It wasn’t that big a house. But Melissa rolled her eyes at me, beckoning Xander by wiggling her fingers at him and climbing the stairs. “Come on. Some of us are better at socializing than others. We’ll get you set up for the night.”

Annoyance flashed through me, but before I could comment, a knock at the door distracted me. I was only a few feet away, so I pulled it open, giving Prez an up nod in greeting.

“You’re back early.”

He lifted a shoulder. “You’re more important than a rally. How’s it going?”

I stepped back so he could come inside, closing the door behind him. He gave Thor a pat in greeting, lifting his eyebrow at me. Irritation swelled when I thought about everything that was happening, and I stormed off, heading for my office. I needed to get my paperwork for Prez anyway.

My office used to be a front room, but I renovated the house to have it blocked off. The only way to get to it was through my room. There was a keypad to access it and fail-safes if someone tried to log into my computer without my permission. Too many failed attempts would wipe the system completely. It was the only way my boss would let me work for them remotely. It was either that or having a three-hour commute each day to El Paso. I punched in the code on the keypad, stalking over to the file cabinet against one wall. I didn’t print things or get paper copies often, so most of the files in there were personal, not work-related. It made it easy to find what I needed.

“Wraith?” Prez prompted calmly.

“How do you think it’s going?” I finallygrowled. “He looks like someone used him as a punching bag and he won’t tell me shit. What the hell am I supposed to do with that?”

“Probably what you’re doing right now.”

His words made me pause, and I looked over my shoulder at him. He had his arms crossed over his chest, but that patient look said he wasn’t judging me for my outburst. He understood me better than anyone, even if I didn’t say what I was thinking out loud.

“I should’ve known, Wyatt. I should’ve checked.”

We didn’t use birth names often. Only when it was important. I’d been friends with Wyatt since we were kids, and I needed his help. I wasn’t stupid enough to think I could handle this on my own. This wasn’t an infant with simple needs. This was a twelve-year-old kid who’d been abused and treated like shit, probably for his whole life. I had to fight for custody for him and get him healthy and back on track and I didn't know how the hell to do that.

Wyatt’s arms relaxed, and he reached for me, squeezing my shoulder. “You couldn’t have known. And it doesn’t really matter. There’s no changing the past. You need to focus on right now.”

“How?” I had to ask because it all felt like too much.

“One step at a time,” he replied, squeezing my shoulder again. “Come on. Let’s write a list. We’ll sort it by priority and get things done, so the kid is taken care of. What’s his name, by the way?”

“My brother’s name is Xander.”

11

Wraith

Xander was asleep by the time Prez and I had our list done and got everything we needed for court. Neither one of us was interested in waking him just to do introductions. He needed his rest. Instead, Prez suggested introducing Xander to the crew the next day and made a plan for it around dinner so the kids could be there too. Xander was older, sure, but it might make him more comfortable if other kids were around.

I felt a little better with everything listed out. There were little things that didn’t end up on there, but all the important shit was scheduled out so we could get Xander away from that bastard as soon as possible. I spent some time online, checking in with work and getting phone numbers of who to call regarding getting him into school once the doctor cleared him, and was getting ready for bed when I heard noises in the kitchen. Thor lifted his head from where he’d been lying on the foot of my bed, growling at the noise. I put my hand up to stop him, opening my door to poke my head out.

Xander stood frozen by the cabinets, his eyes wide. I’d left the light on above the stove in case he got hungry, so I could see the worry on his face. Pushing the door open, I leaned against the frame.

“Hungry?”

His eyes darted around, locking on the back door first, then the hallway. Looking for ways to escape. It was a behavior I recognized. I still did it to this day. I didn't want him to think there was anything wrong with that, so I ignored it, pushing off the door to head into the kitchen instead.

“Doctor said healthy snacks between meals, but I need to go shopping to get you anything decent. There’s pizza left, though.”

He edged out of the way when I went to the fridge and it took him a second to relax enough to respond.

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