If Derek refused, Cole would leave.
That evening, he returned to Apex Predator.
The gym was already crowded.
Derek had promoted the event on social media. A handwritten sign near the entrance announced:
THE FIVE-MINUTE CHALLENGE: COLE MERCER VS. DEREK HALE
Cole read it and shook his head.
Derek had even printed photographs of the two men and taped them to the wall. One showed Derek in competition gear. The other appeared to have been taken from Cole’s company website.
Under Cole’s photograph, someone had written:
THE BORING HUSBAND.
Cole felt no anger at the insult.
What bothered him was how many people had arrived hoping to watch a stranger get humiliated.
Raymond approached him.
“I tried to talk him out of this.”
“I appreciate that.”
“Will you listen to me now?”
Cole nodded.
Raymond lowered his voice.
“I spent twenty years in the military. Different unit, different deployment, but I knew people who worked with men from your part of the world.”
