The MC’s Little Brother (Bikers and Babies #3)

Chapter 33

33

Melissa

M attias’s revelation was so shocking, I couldn’t say a word. Which was seriously not like me. There were probably a dozen things I could say to him, and hundreds of questions I could ask, but I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. No wonder he was so secretive. While he sounded confident that no one would be able to find him at this point, he probably made a lot of enemies under that code name. If someone eventually figured out it was linked to him, he’d probably need to go underground to stay safe.

My boyfriend was a secret FBI agent. That was kind of cool, honestly. Not that I’d ever tell anyone, I understood why he didn’t want it well known, but I knew. Was it wrong that it made him just that much sexier in my mind?

“Xander,” I began after a moment of quiet. “Why did you run?”

He dropped his gaze to his knees, frowning deeply. “I already lost my abuela. Mattias is all I’ve got. I got scared.”

My heart ached for the little boy who was afraid of losing his only family. I squeezed his shoulders tightly, leaning my cheek against the top of his head. “That’s not true. You’ve got me now. And the crew, once you get to know them better. My phone has been blowing up with requests to have another playdate. Apparently, some of them are jealous that we went to laser tag without them.”

He huffed out a laugh, and I felt some of the tension ease from his shoulders. And when Mattias’s arms came around us both, he let go of the fear and sank into the hug, his breath shuddering as he worked through the emotions.

After a while of just being together, I nudged them both to their feet. “Come on. You two have an appointment with Addison, and I’m going to see if the doctor is available to give you a check up once you’re through. We need to get you back in school and you need to be healthy enough to do that.”

Xander didn’t look the least bit excited about it, so I nudged him with a smile. “It’ll be just like this. Maybe Mattias will share more cool secrets while you’re there. He could be a Russian spy for all we know.”

And because he’s an ass who loves messing with me, he immediately launched into a string of Russian I didn’t have even an inkling to understand. When we both stared at him in shock, he shrugged.

“You’d be surprised how many hackers are from Russia. I know the common dialects of Chinese too. It helps when someone tries hacking into our systems and I have to get rid of the code.”

“Cool,” Xander breathed, staring at his brother in awe.

Mattias snorted, beckoning Thor to follow us. I had his leash, but I didn't actually use it. He wasn’t going to run.

Thankfully, despite the rough night, I’d made the time to wash Xander’s new clothes, so he had something decent to wear when we headed back to the hospital. It seemed to make him feel better, though he sometimes self-consciously ran his hands over his shirt, like he wasn’t used to wearing something so nice. Little did he know, the holidays were just around the corner and I now knew what he liked. More clothes were coming in his future.

When we pulled up in front of the hospital, I had to force myself not to autopilot to work. I had never been away from work for such a long period of time before. If it wasn’t for a good cause, I would’ve been put out about it. But I think my taking some time off to help things along with the brothers was worth it. They were more relaxed around each other now, and Mattias was slowly opening up and making Xander feel more comfortable. It was still a work in progress, but it was definitely better than before.

We went upstairs and checked in for their appointment, and while Mattias and Xander sat down in one of the chairs to fill out paperwork together, I stepped away to make a phone call.

“Hey. Is everything okay?” Wyatt asked the second he picked up.

“We’re okay. Xander was understandably clingy, but we spent most of the day yesterday watching movies and relaxing. They’re starting family therapy today. I think that will help.”

He hummed, his mood a lot calmer than it was a few days ago. “And how about you? That asshole pointed a gun at you. I’d understand if you weren’t okay.”

Pressing my lips together, I thought about it. “Honestly, I was more worried about Xander and Mattias. Knowing they were safe and close by helped a lot.”

“... Mattias, huh?”

I grimaced. I’d picked up on the habit after we started seeing each other. He didn’t seem to mind, but I never intended to use it when we were around the crew. I never called Wyatt ‘Prez’ because he was my older brother and that sounded dumb, but it wasn’t the same for Mattias.

“So you guys are serious, then?”

He didn’t sound happy about it, but at least he wasn’t screaming at me.

“Yeah, Wyatt. We didn’t jump into this for the fun of it. I’ve had a crush on him since we were kids.”

He sighed slowly, like he couldn’t wrap his head around it yet. Being level-headed enough to listen was only step one, and I didn’t feel the need to rush him. Still, he was my brother, and I had to push a little.

“Listen, I’m arranging meetings with a few of the crew at a time. How about we come up with a plan for you and Maggie to join us sometime? I’ve been planning some fun excursions to ease the tension a little.”

“I’ve heard. I would’ve paid good money to watch Wraith play laser tag,” he chuckled. He went quiet for a minute before finally agreeing. “Alright. Not laser tag, though. Zoey’s too little for that.”

“How about bowling? They have those little ramps she can push the ball down and they put the bumpers up for littles. We can get Skylar and Butch to come with their kids, too. It’ll be fun. ”

He hummed, and I could practically hear the smirk in his voice when he said, “Think you can handle it? You’ve always sucked at bowling. Whenever we went with Dad, you had a tantrum because you couldn’t win.”

I gasped, outraged. “I was smaller than both of you and you wouldn’t let me have the bumpers up! It wasn’t fair!”

He laughed, and it felt a little like I had my brother back with the way he was teasing me. Hopefully, with a little time, Mattias could have his best friend back, too.

Wraith

Mel didn’t join us when the doctor called for us to join her. She said she was going downstairs to see if we could get Xander checked out today. Since I wanted that too after he was manhandled by the cops, I let her go, despite wishing she could come with us. She understood me better than most and knew what I meant, even when I didn't say much.

The room we went into wasn’t huge, big enough for a desk with a bunch of overstuffed bookshelves behind it and a comfortable couch and some chairs on the other side. Xander sat beside me on the couch, though he looked just as uncomfortable as I was. The doctor sat on the chair closer to me, her smile pleasant. At least she didn’t immediately come into this assuming I was the worst thing for Xander. It was a point in her favor.

“So, let’s start with introductions,” she began. “I’m Addison Torres. I’ve been a psychiatrist for about five years now. Mel said the two of you are brothers?”

Xander didn’t look inclined to answer, so I spoke up first. “Right. I’m Mattias Ruiz, and this is my little brother, Xander.”

Addison tipped her head at Xander, waiting for him to glance at her before prompting him to join in on the conversation. “And how old are you, Xander?”

“Twelve,” he murmured, his brows drawn together tightly. “Almost thirteen. ”

She nodded thoughtfully. “That’s an exciting birthday coming up. Can you tell me why we’re here?”

Xander shut down hard, refusing to give an inch to the woman. It was fair, he didn't know her, and from his experience adults weren’t always to be trusted. I answered for us both.

“I didn’t know Xander existed until a week ago. He showed up in town covered in bruises, asking for my help. Mel suggested we talk to someone so we can learn to communicate with each other. I want to do better than our old man ever did for us.”

Her smile was kind, and she seemed pleased with my answer. “That sounds like a wonderful goal. What about you, Xander? Do you agree with that?”

He lifted a shoulder, still frowning. She didn’t let that deter her.

“Do you know what that means?”

He made a face. “Duh.”

Nudging him with my elbow, I raised an eyebrow when he looked up at me. He frowned again, crossing his arms over his chest. The same defensiveness he showed when he arrived. I glanced at Addison, wondering if she had a better way of approaching that attitude than I did. Yelling hadn’t gotten me anywhere, and avoiding the conversation didn’t do anything either.

“Xander.” She waited for him to look up at her again. “No one, and I mean no one, is going to force you to talk about things you aren’t ready to talk about in here. I’ve read your file. I understand things got rough before you came out here to be with your brother. We won’t broach any of that unless you feel comfortable doing it. For now, we will focus on how you and your brother are going to work together, living under the same roof. I’m sure you both have boundaries you want to establish. We’re just here to make sure you both feel like you’re being heard. Understand?”

He studied her for a minute, his eyes searching her face for a lie. When he didn’t find anything but calm energy and patience, he relaxed a little and dipped his chin to acknowledge her. She smiled proudly at him.

“Good. Then let’s begin with the basics. Xander, tell me something that makes you feel safe with your brother.”

He hesitated, surprised, before frowning thoughtfully. “Uh… He doesn’t make me do anything I don’t want to. If I’m uncomfortable, I’m allowed to walk away whenever. I like that. ”

Relief flooded through me when he said that. I wasn’t sure if I was doing the right thing or just avoiding dealing with it myself. If it made him feel better, then it wasn’t the worst thing to do whenever he got upset.

Addison nodded in agreement. “That’s good. We should all be given the space to deal with our emotions without feeling pressure from our families. Is there anything that he does that makes you uncomfortable?”

His gaze dropped again to his hands, and he fidgeted anxiously. I put my hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly.

“It’s okay. Whatever it is, I want to hear it.”

He grimaced, admitting quietly, “I don’t like yelling. It freaks me out. Jorge yelled a lot, and it always led to him hurting me.”

I knew I fucked up the day I yelled at him, but it still felt like a kick to the gut when he admitted it scared him. I drew in a slow breath, explaining the situation to Addison.

“When he first showed up, he was closed off. He wouldn’t tell me anything. I got frustrated because I wanted to help him, but I felt like I couldn’t without all the information. I shouldn’t have yelled. I was an asshole for that.”

Addison pressed her lips together, but her expression was understanding. “It's difficult to face a new situation without all the information. Especially one with so many high emotions. You didn’t know you had a brother until he arrived injured and scared on your doorstep. Being emotional after that is understandable. Recognizing that you acted brashly is a good thing too. Can you tell me what information you were looking for?”

“I wanted to know how he got here. I found out our old man was living in Chicago. I didn’t think he’d put in the effort to bring Xander to me himself.”

Addison looked at Xander, who was sinking further into the cushions to avoid her gaze. “Xander? Do you think you’d feel comfortable answering your brother’s question?”

“Why does it matter?” he grumbled. “I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

This was where we started arguing last time. He didn’t want to give me any information, and I got frustrated that he was keeping things from me. I didn’t know what to do. Addison looked toward me again.

“Did you tell him why it matters? Why you were looking for the information? ”

I thought about it and grimaced. “No. I just demanded it.”

She nodded like she expected that. “So, how about we try again? Xander, your brother is going to ask you how you got here. You’ll ask him why it matters. We’ll go from there.”

It felt a little dumb to do it like that, and Xander seemed to agree if the way he wrinkled his nose was anything to go by. But neither one of us could argue with the woman. I turned to face him, awkwardly asking him, “How’d you get here all the way from Chicago?”

He screwed up his face, forcing the words past his throat. “Why does it matter?”

Laying it all out there, I told him, “I’m worried someone is going to show up and try and take you away. If you got help from a family member, like your mom or a grandparent, they might show up again to take you. I can’t protect you if they take you away.”