Maven looked around the nightclub as his friends from the gym chatted while waiting for the girls to arrive. He walked up to Thorn, who was alone sulking at the bar and checking text messages from his nanny.

All Thorn wanted to do was be with his baby girl. He had kept up the facade of not having a child since Slone went away to hide from the media. She didn’t want anyone to know she was pregnant, so she moved to Milan until the baby was born.

They both agreed to keep the child out of the limelight. But now Thorn knew Slone did it for far different reasons than he had. He wanted to protect his child; Slone wanted to keep her social status of the glam-queen to her adoring fans. Having a baby would ruin her image. It was Thorn who convinced Slone to keep the child for him to raise. At the time, he was a wealthy young fighter and paid to allow her a long vacation during the pregnancy. There was a constant battle about her never wanting children, but Thorn couldn’t bear the thought of losing his child. In the end, she agreed to carry it to term.

A former street kid, who had made good money from his early fights, Thorn didn’t realize the effect those choices would have on his bank account. Slone drained almost every penny he made during their marriage and more so after the divorce. He was forced to take a part-time remote job on the side as a Las Vegas travel agent to make ends meet.

Maven patted him on the back. “Hey, buddy. How’s Bella?”

Thorn sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Better. The fever is going down. Doc says she may be teething or just an allergy. I’m taking her to the pediatrician this week.”

“Then why do you look like someone kicked your puppy?”

“Slone’s back.”

Maven dipped his head to look at his friend in the eyes. “What?”

“She wants to take Bella from me.” Thorn turned up a beer bottle to his lips. “She’s taking me to court.”

Maven sat down at the bar and chugged down his beer and ordered a second. “No way. Why?”

“Same reason she married me. To get my money. I’m tapped out, man. I can’t even afford to pay Janis right now. If I lose tomorrow, my house is going to be put in foreclosure, and I could lose my baby girl to that witch. Janis offered for us to move in with her and her husband. I’m a failure as a father. I can’t even provide for my own child.” Thorn ran his hand through his dark locks in frustration.

Maven rubbed his shoulder. “You know you can ask me for cash at any time. If you win tomorrow night, you'll be all set again. It’s not like when we started. We let the money get to our heads. You’re more responsible now."

“I know. I can’t ask you for money, bro. I already owe you for the car that you helped me get. I have to win tomorrow. Bella needs me.”

“Why would Slone try to take her? She didn’t even want her to begin with.”

“Child support. She’s trying to drain me dry.”

“Oh, man. This isn’t good.”

“No shit. She’s talking about Bella like she's a pair of new shoes. She didn’t even know her name and thought she was a boy.”

“Figures. Slone has always been pretty self-centered. Where did you see her?”

Thorn grumbled, “The hospital. She was there when I arrived pretending she was the mom of the year. You didn’t tell Roxy, did you?”

“Gosh no. But when she finds out I’ve been keeping this secret for you, she’ll kill me.”

“I just don’t want a lot of people knowing about Bella yet. I shouldn't have asked you to keep it a secret from Roxy. I have to keep Bella out of this drama. I know if Slone has her way, she will drag Bella into a media firestorm for attention. Just like she did when I divorced her.”

Maven shrugged and took another drink. “No problem there. It was in the custody agreement for her not to bring the baby into the media or expose your personal life.”

“Maven, don’t you get it? If she goes through with this, and the media catches wind, everything I did to protect Bella goes down the drain. All they have to do is see my name on the court records and I’m screwed.”

“I think you need to stop hiding Bella away, man. It’s going to come out one day that you have a kid, anyway.”

Thorn looked over at his friend, scowling at him with a grunt. “You think I don’t want people knowing I have a baby? I love Bella. I just don’t want her to…” Thorn shook his head, trying to shake the pain away.

“Don’t want what?”

“To go through what I did. What… Calypso went through. I always thought it was all connected. It all seemed too convenient for Slone to swoop in when I was hurting over Caly. She hated Caly from the start and was always trying to get with me.”

“Of course, she did. You were our top fighter. Still are. Slone goes where the money is. You allowed her the two things she wanted most. Money and fame. Your divorce made her a household name.”

Thorn dropped his head in his hands, sliding them through his hair, and pulled it at the roots. “God, why didn’t I just stop those guys from hurting Caly before the party? Why did I have to get so blackout drunk and sleep with Slone that night because Caly was mad at me? Caly hates me now. I married a monster because I got her knocked up, and now my own innocent child’s future is being threatened. Why am I such a screw-up?”

Maven wanted to help make this better, but he didn’t know how he could. “You can’t change it, bro. First, I think you need to come forward about the baby to the public before Slone does. Let people see what a great dad you are and how you have taken care of her all on your own.”

“What good will that do?”

“Damage control. Make the first move before her and her lawyers do.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Maven nodded to the entrance of the VIP area. “Okay, then maybe you should start by making amends. Start fixing it from the source. Calm down one flame, before you're thrown into another.”

Thorn turned to see Caly, and her friends walk through the door. Maven was right. Maybe he could fix some things in his life. One of them was the burden of knowing Caly was afraid of him and blamed him for everything that happened. He'd have to show her he wasn't the man she thought he was.

"You're right. But will she ever forgive me?"