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see my daughter.”
    “Well…is your name on the birth certificate? Does she have your last name?”
    “Not that I know of. So don’t I have a right to see her?”
    “Are we talking morally or legally?”
    “Either. Both.”
    “If you want to have a relationship with her and be in her life, you’re going to have to establish paternity. You can’t just blackmail your way in. Make sure that everyone knows you’re her father and you intend to act like it. If you’re going to be a fly-by-night weekend daddy for six months and then forget about her, don’t bother.”
    “I’m not going to bugger off on this one. I’m no quitter. Real men don’t leave their kids,”
    “If I had a dollar for every lesson you’ve given me on what real men do in Kyle Dolan’s version of reality, I might be able to take early retirement.”
    “Could you cut me a break here? I meet her tomorrow.”
    “Tomorrow? That’s amazing! What’s the plan?” She sounded genuinely excited.
    “We’re meeting at McDonald’s. I had to fight for that, too. The right to get her ice cream. I get this sense that everything is going to be a battle with her mom.”
    “It may be for a while. Think about it, though. She’s been raising this kid for the kid’s whole life, and you waltz in with your own ideas. She probably feels threatened. Just use the Dolan charm on her—not like that , but you know what I mean. Reassure her it isn’t a contest and you respect the job she’s done parenting.”
    “You’re just full of advice today, lass.”
    “You’re the one who called me. You’ve known me long enough to realize I’m bound to have an opinion, even if I’m not qualified to have one.”
    “Yeah, I knew that. I wanted to talk to you anyway. You’re the only one I can tell about this just now.”
    “Speaking of that, I think you should tell Aaron.”
    “Of course you do.”
    “I mean it. He’s your brother and he could help you through this. Plus, he has a niece now. He could help you break it to your mom,”
    “Slow down. I’ve not met the child yet. I don’t want to dump this all on my family, especially with my mom’s fragile state of health—”
    “Zoe says your mom is about as fragile as a Valkyrie. Try another excuse.”
    “Okay, I don’t want to hear the speeches about how I’m an irresponsible lout, and the whole story is tangled up in the fact that I’m still boxing in secret, which WILL break my mother’s heart and hurt Aaron as well. There’s too much at stake to start developing a confessional bent now.”
    “Fine. You’re going to have to tell them eventually,” she cautioned, “but I’ll keep all your dirty little secrets.”
    “Thank you, lass. Will you do me another favor?”
    “Sure, why not?”
    “Come to Wreck tonight and see me fight? I have a big match, two thousand dollar bounty for the win, and I’m afraid I’ll be off my game with all this going on. But…if I know you’re in the audience, I’ll show off more,” he grinned.
    “If you show off more, you might injure yourself,” she shot back, “but I’ll be there in case you need someone to apply ice to that ego.”
    “I’ll pass on the ice unless there’s whiskey in it. I’m more of a hot tub guy,”
    “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me,” she said, smiling in spite of herself.
    ***
    Kyle was at Wreck early and spoiling for a fight. It had been a long time since he was so tense before a bout. He felt helpless in the face of sudden fatherhood, in the face of a child who was probably sick because of his DNA, in the face of an ex-lover whose resentment could keep him away from his daughter. He needed something primal and concrete, something he could slam his fist into for release. He jumped rope to try to calm down and focus, to stop thinking about the kid and having to face Ashley and how he wanted to dazzle Shea because she was so infuriatingly hard to impress. A win tonight would prove that he was still on top of his game,