Page 86 of Billionaire Bad Boy Auction

DEAN

The afternoon sun beat down on my back as I ran the polishing cloth over the chrome exhaust pipes of the custom build I had just finished. The rhythmic motion was soothing, the smell of wax and gasoline filling my nose. Out here in the shop, with my hands busy and my mind focused on the work, I could almost forget about Seth sitting in that jail cell. Almost.

The shop was quiet except for the hum of the overhead fan. I had the bay door open to get a little sunshine while I worked. Seth’s face kept flickering in my mind. I couldn’t stop thinking about him in prison orange with the black eye.

I clenched my jaw, pressing the cloth harder against the metal. Seth had always been reckless, always testing limits, but this? This was different. He’d crossed a line he couldn’t just charm his way back from.

“Idiot,” I muttered under my breath, though the word felt hollow. Anger simmered beneath the surface, but so did something else—something that made me want to grab my keys and drive straight to that damn jail. He was my brother, after all. My little brother.

But he had to tough it out. I just prayed he didn’t get shanked while he was in there. If he was seriously injured or murdered in jail, I didn’t know how I was going to come back from that. I would lose my shit. The guilt would bury me.

A shadow fell across the bike. I glanced up to see Eddie strolling up to the garage with his familiar smirk in place.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” I asked.

I wiped my hands on a rag and got to my feet to shake his hand.

“Heard about your brother,” he said. “Thought I’d check in and see how you’re doing.”

The unexpected gesture caught me off guard. Eddie wasn’t exactly the sentimental type.

“Appreciate it,” I said. “I’m good.”

“You’re good?” he asked. “We both know that’s bullshit.”

I sighed, leaning back against the bike. Eddie wasn’t wrong. I wasn’t good. How could I be? But admitting it out loud felt like opening a floodgate I wasn’t ready to face.

“Seth’s in over his head,” I said finally. “Always has been. But this time… this time it’s different.”

Eddie crossed his arms, his expression serious for once. “You think he’ll learn from it?”

I barked out a humorless laugh. “Doubt it. He’s got a knack for finding trouble, not learning from it.”

“And what about you?” Eddie asked, tilting his head like he was studying me. “You going to keep bailing him out every time he screws up?”

I didn’t answer right away because I didn’t have one. Seth had always been my responsibility, ever since we were kids. But how many times could I clean up his messes before it cost me more than I was willing to pay?

Eddie clapped a hand on my shoulder, pulling me out of my thoughts. “Look, man, I get it. Family’s family. But don’t let him drag you down with him.”

I nodded, though the words didn’t sit right with me. Letting Seth figure things out on his own felt like abandoning him, and that wasn’t something I could do—no matter how much I wanted to strangle him.

But I wasn’t about to have a shrink session with a guy that knew nothing about anything except motorcycles.

I tossed him a clean rag. “Make yourself useful.”

Eddie caught it one-handed and grinned. “Knew you’d put me to work. It’s been a long time since I was stuck with the grunt work.”

“This is the best work,” I said with a laugh. “I’d pay someone to just let me clean up bikes all day.”

He laughed. “Bullshit.”

“I like it,” I said. “Almost as much as I like building the damn things.”

“I don’t understand why you spend your days in this greasy shop,” he said. “You should be out on a yacht enjoying the fortune you earned.”

I shrugged, picking up the polishing cloth again. “This is where I belong. Yachts and champagne aren’t my thing. Never have been.”

Eddie chuckled and knelt down beside one of the bikes. “Yeah, but you’ve got enough money to buy half the town. Why not enjoy it a little?”