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

Chapter 48

48

Wraith

I was apprehensive at first about putting Xander on a dirt bike. It was different from him riding with me. But Mel was right. The owner was professional, and while he had an easygoing personality, he was strict about the rules and made everyone sit through the training video first, despite most of us riding longer than his company had been established.

Helping Xander find his gear was easy enough. He knew all about what he needed from riding with me and didn’t complain about any of it. Unlike Malcolm, who complained he was sweaty a few times before Jonah pulled him aside and explained to him why the gear was important and offered him some water to cool him down. The guy was good with kids and knew how to explain things to make it sound exciting without skipping the important safety parts of it.

My heart was in my throat when Xander finally got on the bike. I doubted Butch had it any easier. He hovered around his kids, and Rooster was just as bad. Mel kept laughing because different members of the crew kept jogging over to check that the kids were fully covered and safe before heading back to their own bikes.

They took it slow, on flat ground with no obstacles, one at a time. Malcolm was the first to fall over, too eager to go slow and take his time. Gracie was wobbly, but managed to get a good distance without falling before Jonah stopped her. While he was praising her, I noticed the anxiety written all over Xander’s face, so I moved to his side.

“What’s wrong?”

“He keeps saying it's like riding a bike, but I never learned how to do that…” he murmured.

I frowned. I probably should’ve expected that. Tank was the one who taught me how to ride a regular bike. Jorge would have never bothered. But I didn’t think it would put him at a disadvantage.

“It’s fine. Just keep your head up and try not to stop and start. It makes it harder. Once you get moving, it’ll do most of the work.”

He swallowed hard, shaking out his hands, but when Jonah called out to him to let him know it was his turn, his face flashed with the same determination he got when we asked him to babysit. I stopped him before he could take off to prove himself, squeezing his shoulders.

“No matter how good or bad you do, I’m already proud of you. So focus on you, alright?”

He relaxed a little and flashed me a smile before starting his engine. He walked it a little bit but once he started moving, he caught on quick. It was the same with school. I noticed he got frustrated and nervous when he didn’t immediately understand the work, but once it was explained in a way he could understand, he took it and ran with it. He was a smart kid, and I was proud of all the effort he put in to better himself. I was grateful every day that he was brave enough to get on that plane and find his way here.

Grateful, and always cautious. I never wanted him to do something that reckless ever again.

It didn’t take long before Xander was allowed on the course. And because there wasn’t a chance in hell I was letting him go alone, I suited up and joined him. The dirt bikes were smaller and there was a learning curve to it, but luckily, it wasn’t my first time on one. Wyatt and I went to courses like this a few times as teens just because Tank didn’t want us doing stupid tricks on regular bikes. He let us get it out of our systems here and when he taught us to ride, we knew better than to do anything stupid.

We were on our second lap when a flash of pink blew past us. The rider came skidding to a stop just on the other side of an obstacle and I swear, I could see the smirk from here.

“Holy shit. Is that Mel?” Xander called over the noise of the bike engines.

“Language,” I called back. “And yes. Let’s go before she starts crowing about being better than us.”

He cackled, taking off in front of me to go after her. I knew Mel knew how to ride, but I didn’t know she knew about dirt bikes, because she smoked us both. A few of the other guys tried to keep up with her, but the only one who matched her was Circus, who did tricks on his bike for a living. When it was finally time to go and they bumped fists, I got suspicious and confronted them when we were finally somewhere we didn’t have to shout over engines.

“You’ve been teaching her, haven’t you?”

Circus gave me the biggest shit-eating grin he could muster. “What? I have no idea what you’re talking about. Oh, look. They’ve got snacks. I’m starved.” He ran away before I could even open my mouth to respond to him. Idiot.

When I raised an eyebrow at Mel, she shrugged. “He’s the only one who didn’t freak out and get all overprotective when I asked him to take me. We come here once a month at least to blow off steam.”

Dragging her closer, I stroked her chin with my thumb. “I feel like I should be pissed, but you looked good out there.”

She beamed, lifting onto her toes for a kiss. I’d never say no to that and spent a few minutes just enjoying the fact that I could do this whenever the hell I wanted. No more pining like an idiot over the woman I wanted but couldn’t have. She was mine, and I’d keep taking care of her until we were old and gray.

When I pulled away, she hummed a happy sound, her eyes still closed. I loved it when she looked like that, and I hated to ruin it, but I couldn’t help throwing in a little dig for hiding that she was doing something dangerous for years.

“We’ll see what Prez has to say about it.”

Her eyes flew open, and her jaw dropped. I laughed and ducked when she swiped at me.

“You better not! Mattias! ”

Jumping away from her, I took off, grinning to myself. I wasn’t the playful sort of guy, but playing with Mel lit me up. And when she called Xander to help her and he tried to tackle me, I laughed out loud. Teasing her was worth it for moments like this.

It was close to dinner time by the time we got back. Xander gushed the entire way home about how much fun he had and how he wanted to invite his new friend at school to go with him next time. Jonah mentioned something about a frequent flier program. I’d need to look into it because I got the feeling Xander wouldn’t be happy with just going once a month with Mel.

He was still talking when we got out of the car, leaning into me when I threw my arm around his shoulders. I tucked Mel under my other arm, one hundred percent happy for the first time in my life. I had the perfect girl, my little brother was safe and happy, and my crew always showed up when I needed them.

The happiness only lasted so long before someone called out to us. I hadn’t noticed someone parked in front of the house, too busy listening to Xander, and when I saw the CPS worker getting out of her car, I bit back a growl. Why the hell couldn’t we just get a few days of peace without something coming up?

Xander stiffened when he saw her approaching, and his smile fell away. I hated that. He was finally happy. I wanted this whole process to be done already, so they could just leave him alone.

Mel stepped forward, her smile a little tense around her eyes. The few times she’d been here when the social worker was, she was quick to reassure me the woman wasn’t biased, but I knew the truth. This could’ve been done a lot faster if she wasn’t.

“Miss Packman. Have you been waiting here? We were out.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed, but she kept her expression neutral. “It’s fine. Surprise visits can sometimes come at bad times. Can I come in?”

She’d seen the house half a dozen times already. She didn’t need to keep showing up. I grumbled to myself, leading Xander inside, since he was too busy glaring at the woman to move.

“Let Thor outside, will you?” I asked as we came inside. Since we were gone for half the day, Tank showed up at least once to let him out to do his business and take him on a walk, but he probably still needed to go. Xander was quick to agree, and patted his leg to get Thor to follow him.

Ms. Packman came inside after Mel, looking around suspiciously like usual. I bit back the urge to question her about it. I knew why she did that.

“Can I get you something to drink?” Mel asked. “We’ve got water and soda.”

“No, thank you,” Ms. Packman replied tersely. “I’d like another tour if you don’t mind.”

She looked at me when she said that. That felt like a bigger test than the rest of it. Could I be polite to her long enough to get through another tour of the house? My gaze flicked toward Xander, who was holding Mel’s hand and frowning at me. He looked nervous. I refused to screw things up to get him taken away from me.

“Sure. What do you want to see?”

“Let’s start with upstairs,” she said casually.

Grinding my teeth, I headed upstairs, showing her once again the bathroom and spare bedroom that Mel never used anymore. We still needed to find time to move her in completely. I opened the door to Xander’s room but didn’t let her inside. When she raised her eyebrow at me, I crossed my arms defiantly.

“It’s his room. You want permission to go in there, you have to ask him.”

The corner of her mouth twitched, almost like she was biting back a smile. I didn’t know what for and I didn’t care. I just wanted this to be over with.

“And what’s in the boxes?” She gestured to the boxes piled on the landing. I still hadn’t found where I was going to put those. Once Mel moved downstairs, I would probably just put them back in the spare room. No one ever went in there.

“Work stuff,” I grumbled.

That answer wasn’t good enough, and she narrowed her eyes at me again. With a heavy sigh, I grabbed the nearest one and ripped it open, showing her the contents inside .

“I work with tech. My boss sends me stuff that’s been messed with and it’s my job to figure out how and why. Once I’m done, I send them back. I’ve been working on something else recently, so I haven’t gotten around to it.”

Things like that were low priority unless it had to do with an active case. Salinger always prioritized cases over research like this.

She leaned a little to look at all the addresses printed on the boxes. All from the same place. All were addressed to me directly. If it was something dangerous or illegal, I wouldn’t be putting my damn name on it.

Eventually, she nodded and gestured for me to continue. “I’ve noticed a portion of your home has been renovated. Can you show that to me?”

I shook my head. “No. My office is connected to my room and is off-limits. I’m assuming it says in those files who I work for and what I do. The reason I don’t need to live in a city is that I created an inaccessible place to work from in my own home. You don’t have the clearance to be in there.”

She wasn’t happy with that answer and pressed further. “What about Xander? Is he allowed in there?”

“Again no. There’s a keypad on the door, so he can’t even gain access to it. Not that he ever goes in my bedroom anyway. We respect each other’s spaces here.”

“Mr. Ruiz–”

“Miss Packman,” I interrupted. “I’ve shown you my home several times now. There is nothing dangerous here. Xander is safe, and I intend to keep it that way. I don’t own any weapons, my club is legit and doesn’t engage in any illegal activity, and I wouldn’t be a part of it if it did. My job does regular drug tests and illegal activity would be cause for immediate dismissal. Why the hell are you so intent on painting me as the bad guy?”