Page 6 of The MC's Little Brother

My phone rang while I was taking another heavy swallow of beer. I recognized the number but frowned. Tank didn’t normally call me unless it was important. Since he was watching over Thor, I felt my stomach clench uncomfortably. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if something happened to my dog.

“Hello?”

“Wraith,” Tank said amiably. He didn’t sound stressed, but there was a hint of tension in his voice. “Found someone wandering around lookin’ for you. I think you’re gonna need to talk to ‘em.”

My brow furrowed. “What? Who?”

Most of the people I spent time with were here at the rally. The only ones who didn’t were my work colleagues. We weren’t that close that they’d come to visit me. None of them even knew where I lived, aside from my boss.

“Here. Lemme hand over the phone.”

He didn't wait around for a reply before passing off the phone. The line was quiet for a moment, but I could hear someone breathing unsteadily on the other end, and then Tank encouraged the person to speak. I frowned to myself as I set my beer on the bar and headed out the back. It was quieter out there, and I could hear better.

“Who is this?” I prompted once I was outside.

“Uh… Is this… Is this Mattias Ruiz?”

The voice was too young to be work-related. I considered it was a prank, and I was going to hang up, but that wasn’t really Tank’s thing. And something about the tremble in the kid’s voice made me pause.

“Yeah? Who is this?”

“I, uh… My name is Xander. We… We’re brothers. And I need your help.”

4

Wraith

None of the scenarios I’d ever considered prepared me for that. My stomach dropped to my toes, and I stood there speechless for too long. Long enough to make Xander nervous.

“H-Hello? Are you still there?”

Sucking in a sharp breath, I choked out, “Say that again.”

“I– We…” It was barely there, but I heard the whimper. “We have the same dad.”

My spine straightened. Whether or not he was right, I wasn’t going to let a little kid suffer while I tried to wrap my head around the idea of having a sibling. I changed tactics, focusing on the important part.

“Is he there? Did he bring you to me?”

“Uh… no…”

That didn’t make any fucking sense. If the kid was with Tank, he was in town. Our town. My dad left town ages ago after I ran away. Maybe this was a prank after all. Or someone was confused?

“Who did you say your dad was?”

“Jorge Ruiz,” Xander said quietly. “I’m sorry, you don’t have to help me. I can just–”

Jorge Ruiz. I hadn’t heard the name since my old man left, but the kid wasn’t wrong about being related to me if we were talking about the same person. It was hard to think while he was rambling, though. If Jorge wasn’t around, how the hell did he find me?

It wasn’t really important at the moment. He was in town and looking for me. I wasn’t going to just ignore that. “Stop. I’m not saying that. Do me a favor and hand Tank the phone.”

He did as asked, and I heard Tank murmur for him to take a seat. Good. I didn't want the kid wandering off until I got some answers.

“Yeah?”

“Is he lying?” I blurted out. It wasn’t what I wanted to say, but I’d never been this off-balance before. I wasn’t sure what thread to follow first.

Tank huffed. “Well, he didn’t give me a birth certificate or anything, but I don’t think he’s lying.”

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