Kylie and I are sitting on the couch in a green room at the office for the Chronicle, as Hazel absentmindedly fiddles around on her game system. Neither of us are saying anything; Kylie looks nervous and lost in thought, and I’m trying to focus on how the hell I’m going to answer any of the hard questions Kitt Ashley might throw at me. There is no way in hell she doesn’t know about Mandy, or my history in the service, and it’s definitely all going to come up. The only thing Kylie requested was that Kitt not ask any personal questions about Hazel, as we wanted to avoid exposing her to the spotlight as much as possible, and Kitt agreed.

At the same time, that doesn’t mean she will keep her promise. It’s not as if she signed a binding legal agreement. She can technically ask me whatever she wants, and if I don’t answer, I’m the one who will look like a difficult asshole. Everything about interviews like this makes me deeply nervous, but I know it’s the price of moving to the “next level,” as Lou calls it. But Kitt also has a reputation for asking questions that really nail people to the wall and that makes me even more panicked about what is coming next.

The only sound in the room is Hazel mashing the buttons on her game as a nervous young guy with a clipboard comes rushing into the room. He doesn’t look at any of us; he just looks down at his notes and begins chattering nervously.

“Adam, right? Kitt will be ready for you in a minute. Now, the interview will be in print, but we will be filming it for an online highlight reel. I hope that’s okay. If you have any questions, you can let me know. I’ll be back in five, ten minutes tops to take you to Kitt.” And then he disappears without another word. I turn to Kylie with my eyes wide.

“Filming? You didn’t tell me they were going to be filming anything.”

Kylie stutters for a minute, then shakes her head. “I didn’t know. No one told me. I will see if I can find Kitt. Just… stay here.”

Kylie gets up and rushes from the room, leaving me alone with my daughter who barely seems to notice I’m still there. I get up and look at myself in a full-length mirror in the back of the room. It’s been a week since the fight against Korobov, and I’m finally starting to heal. But my eye is still puffy, and my stitches still haven’t been removed. I can’t remember the last time I washed my hair, so it’s combed back, and I’m just wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and my old, beat-up leather coat. I may have even tried to shave if I’d known someone was going to be filming me today, but now, there is no time.

A moment later, Kylie comes bursting back in the room, her face frozen.

“I’m sorry, Adam. There is nothing I can do about it. Kitt films all of her interviews. It’s part of the deal. Are you okay with it?”

I sigh and shake my head. “If I want to do this, I don’t have a choice do I? I’ll do it, but I’m going to look like crap.”

Kylie laughs lightly. “Adam, you never look like crap. You look like the brooding anti-hero lead on a cable show about a motorcycle gang. It works, trust me.”

“I watch that show. Daddy doesn’t know, but I do,” Hazel says without looking up from her game. I scowl.

“Well, I know now, and we’ll talk about that later. For now, you just stay put, got it?”

Kylie waves her hand. “One of the interns is going to come sit with her during the interview. You don’t have to worry.”

I smile at Kylie in spite of general annoyance at everything that is going on.

“You think of everything, don’t you?”

“That’s my job,” she says with a wink. For a moment, all of the feelings I was overcome with that night in her apartment come back, and I am swept up in the urge to say… something.

“Kylie, I think…”

“Daddy, where is my charger?” Hazel interrupts, which I am grateful for because for a second I forgot she was in the room and I would have embarrassed myself in front of both of them. I dig through my satchel and find Hazel’s charger, then turn back to Kylie, who is looking at me, confused.

“You think what?” she asks with a raised eyebrow.

“I think… I should keep my hair combed back for the interview. What do you think?”

Kylie scrunches up her face, and shrugs. “Yes? I guess? I would be hard-pressed to figure out the last time you washed it, so with it down you might cross over from sexy motorcycle club leader to guy living in a tree to protest non-sustainable farming.”

I burst out laughing, probably for the first time in days. I don’t know why I’ve been so miserable lately, but it’s like I’m being torn in half by a combination of pure joy and… guilt? I haven’t allowed myself time to analyze it; I’ve just tried to keep moving.

“Okay, Kitt is ready for you,” the young man says as he pokes his head back in the room. “Follow me.”

A girl that looks even younger than the guy comes running in the room and starts chattering to Hazel like they are friends. My guess is she is the intern, and she is trying to make a good impression, but Hazel just wants to play her game. I give Hazel a wink as we leave the room and make our way down to a small room with huge windows overlooking the city. Two chairs are set up facing each other, and there is an unmanned camera aimed at them. No one else is in the room, and I look at the kid, confused.

“Where is Kitt?” Kylie asks, getting ready to pull out her phone to raise hell. But the young man nervously waves his hand to placate us.

“She’s just coming into the building! She had a press conference at city hall that ran late, but she’s on the elevator. I assure you!”

And as if she had been summoned at the mere mention of her name, she floats into the room. There is a presence about her, and I can immediately tell why people spill their guts to her. Her face is round and the apples of her cheeks are set high, giving her the appearance of a cherub. Her huge brown eyes are sparkling as she smiles at us, her lips set in a matte tan lipstick that looks beautiful against her latte-colored skin. She is curvy and tall, the lines of her hips accentuated by a pair of pink high-waisted pants and a black see-through top. She’s beautiful, and I’m trying not to stare because I know it’s rude. I don’t want to make Kylie feel like I’m ignoring her.

Kitt holds out her hand with a glittering white grin. “Adam! Kylie! I’m so sorry I’m late. That mayor can talk. I hope you weren’t waiting too long.”

Kylie steps in between us and shakes Kitt’s outstretched hand. “Not at all, Kitt. It’s wonderful to meet you in person. If you have any further questions after the interview, please don’t hesitate to contact me.” I thought for a minute Kylie was going to be possessive, but Kitt and Kylie are chatting and laughing and getting along really well, and I’m suddenly disappointed that the two women aren’t fighting over me.

I take my seat in the canvas chair in front of the camera and take a deep breath. I hate interviews already, but the stakes of every interview I’ve given before have been fairly low. Now, I am about to be interviewed by one of the toughest and most important reporters in the city. Kylie takes her place in the back of the room, where I can just see her out of the corner of my eye for moral support. Kitt sits across from me without a hint of hesitation.

“Okay, Adam. We’re going to jump right in, and if you feel super uncomfortable with anything, just let me know.” Kitt’s voice is so soothing and relaxing, I am sure no one has ever turned her down on a question. I just nod and try to look over her head so I don’t let her eyes hypnotize me into submission.

“Adam, how does it feel to have beaten a world title champ like Evgeny Korobov?”

I clear my throat and avoid looking at the camera. “Honestly, it’s surprising to be so new to the professional scene and be doing this well. I never expected it. But it’s proof that with hard work and determination, you can accomplish anything.”

Kitt smiles and nods, her eyes sparkling as she surveys me. “I can imagine. Especially when you haven’t been boxing all that long.”

Wow, that didn’t take long. “That’s true. I came into this sport late in life, but I loved it so much and just practiced until I got where I am today.”

“And what was it you did before you got into boxing, Adam?”

I laugh awkwardly, and try not to show any signs of annoyance. “I was in the service.”

Kitt leans forward with a half-smile. “I think that’s a bit of an understatement. Weren’t you a Green Beret?”

I break and glance over at Kylie. She mouths the words, “Just talk about it,” to me with a shrug, and I sigh.

“I was, Kitt, but I can’t really talk about my time in the Special Forces. Most of what we did was classified.” There. That should shut it down.

“Actually, Adam, I’m less interested in what you did in the Special Forces than I am in why you left…”

Goddammit. “Is that really relevant to my boxing? Isn’t that why I’m here?”

Kitt leans back and blinks slowly, her long eyelashes casting a spell over me. “Everything is relevant, Adam, love. I’m putting together a profile to help my readers understand who you are, to understand who they are rooting for when they root for the ‘Atom Bomb.’ The details matter. So, tell me, Adam. Why did you leave the service when you had what my sources tell me is one of the most illustrious and quickly rising stars in the service’s history?”

I flinch. Of course she has sources. “I was honorably discharged after the death of my wife, Mandy. We didn’t have family, so there was no one left to care for… I had to leave.”

Kitt gives me that half-smile again. “There was no one to care for your little girl, isn’t that right? You’re a single dad, are you not, Adam?”

“I am, but can we not bring her into this? I don’t want…”

Kitt holds her hands up. “Of course not. I’m just wondering why you gave up your career, a promising career, an already-established career, for such a different path. You could have been in the military and been a father. People do it every day…”

My cheek starts to twitch. “Not doing what I did. Not alone.”

“But certainly you could have moved to a different specialization, something that didn’t involve deployment. Why did…”

It happens before I can stop it. The words tumble out of my mouth like a flood. “Because I failed my wife. I failed Mandy. I was so busy saving the world, I couldn’t save my wife, and I wasn’t here when she needed me. I couldn’t fail my little girl like that. I wouldn’t. I won’t. Ever again.”

Kitt looks like a cat that just captured a mouse in its skilled paws. I glance over at Kylie, and her eyes are wide and beginning to swim with tears. She blinks several times to stop them from tumbling over and looks away quickly. I feel like a world-class asshole for stumbling right into Kitt’s verbal trap.

“Moving on,” Kitt says, her expression blank again, “I hear that your next fight will be against Garrett ‘The Bounty Hunter’ Goodman for the state middleweight title. How do you feel about that?”

I have to fight to control my senses. This is the first I’ve heard about going up against Garrett Goodman. He’s the best brawler to come out of Chicago, and the idea of him being my first fight with real consequences makes me want to throw up a little.

“I honestly wasn’t aware that was the case, but I’m not afraid of much, Kitt. I think there is an element of uncertainty to jumping in the ring, regardless of who you are going up against. But when you’ve seen the things I’ve seen, and survived the things I’ve survived, there isn’t much that puts you on edge.”

We talk for a few minutes more, and before I know it, Kitt is setting down the pen in her hand with that thousand-watt smile. “I think that’s all I need, Adam. Thank you for being so candid with me. I will keep my word and leave your little girl’s name out of the article.”

Kylie rushes forward. “Thank you, Kitt. And you’ll let me know when the article is going to run?”

“It will be Saturday, the cover of the weekend edition. He’s our weekly profile piece. Quite a few of the sports guys are super jealous I got this interview, so thank you for that.”

Kitt and Kylie continue to chat, so I head out of the room and back to where I left Hazel. Instead of finding her bored and annoyed with the intern, I discover them synced up on matching game systems, competing in a little car race with their video games. Hazel looks up at me and smiles.

“Dad! This is Lainie! She works for Kitt and she is soooooo nice!” I laugh at how willing my daughter is to make friends with just about anyone. Lainie gives her a little side-hug and smiles.

“She’s a good kid, this one! I hope your interview went well, Mr. Burnham.”

I wink and gesture at Hazel to start gathering her things. “Thanks for looking after her, Lainie. Hazel, it’s time to head home. You have homework to get done before bed.” Hazel groans but starts picking up all of her stuff, just as Kylie comes sliding back into the room.

“That went… well? Right? I think it went well?” Everything Kylie says is phrased as a question, as if she’s afraid to commit to any one opinion in case I disagree.

“It went fine. Hazel, why don’t you go to the bathroom before we leave? It will take us a while to get home at this time of night. Lainie, can you show her the way?”

Lainie salutes me as she hustles Hazel out of the room, leaving Kylie and me alone. I turn to Kylie, trying to hide the nervous energy that is currently overwhelming me. “You didn’t tell me my first non-exhibition fight was going to be against Garrett Goodman…”

Kylie shakes her head with a soft laugh. “It’s not even confirmed yet. I have no idea how she already heard about it. That woman is good. Now I have to scramble to get the details hashed out before the story runs so we don’t look like assholes.”

“Kylie, I know I have a tendency to get nervous about any fight you line up for me, but do you know anything about Garrett Goodman?”

She nods as she pulls her phone out her bag. “He’s a brawler, blah blah. You can take him, Adam. Do we really have to go through this every time?”

At first, I feel a tinge of anger, but then for some reason, I burst out laughing. She’s right. I need to stop doubting myself and trust that we both know what we’re doing. “Kylie… would you like to go out for dinner with me tonight?”

She looks up from her phone, shocked for a second. But then she smiles at me. “That depends… will you wash your hair first?”