Page 116 of The Wrecked One

Good. Way to call him right out on that. But also, thank God Carter’s resources had discovered that little tryst between the corrupt CIA asshole and Brutus.

“I offered my guests a fair fight, and that’s what they’ll be getting. No underdogs. Which means Dominick was afforded the same opportunity. They dropped off their weapons and left, same as your people,” Nicholas stated, fairly matter-of-factly without the dramatics that time. “Only, Dominick didn’t have to pay the hefty price tag you did with Brutus, and Hugo is automatically losing a point in the fight in case this goes to a decision.”

As long as it made it to a decision and didn’t end with a knockout on my side or my untimely death, I didn’t give a damn about points. All that mattered was Carter pulled this off for us, and we were now even more prepared for part two of the evening thanks to the Sorens’ deception.

“The building where the fight is taking place has been swept. It’s clean. No weapons or explosives inside,” Nicholas noted.

We’d have to trust him on that. Our lives were pretty much in his hands for the fight.

“One last thing before I end this,” Nicholas imparted, the drones flying back and forth between our showdown to get it all on camera. “We won’t stop your people from dropping onto the island from the air, or swimming in, so long as it’s three minutes after the final round of the fight ends. You’ll be provided that short window to get ready, and then you can begin. Keep your fighting on the ground. No easy-way-out missile attacks. Try it and the game ends, and your team automatically loses. And by lose, I mean blown up by us.”

Those rules worked for me. Well, all except one. Wyatt and Teddy planned to sneak onto the island ahead of time, but I trusted they’d pull it off. Wyatt would rearrange the solar system if it meant keeping his daughter safe, so I knew they wouldn’t be caught.

But would the Sorens follow those rules? I wouldn’t hold my breath.

“It starts now. May the best team win.” Nicholas ended the call, and instead of pocketing his phone, Carter quickly sent out a message to our other teams as planned.

The Marines were being led by Michael Maddox. Bravo One, Luke Scott, was in charge of all SEALs as well as Easton.

And the Irish, well, Sebastian Renaud had his people covered.

We had no idea how many the other side had to hit us back with, but I felt confident in our chances.

I looked around at the eleven of us as Mya hung on to my arm, not prepared to let go of me and head inside for the fight. Or to confront her parents. Talk about awkward reunions.

None of us were hiding the fact we were outfitted for war. No suits or jeans. The uniform of the day? Cargo pants, vests ready to be stuffed with magazines later, and the like. We were only missing our night-vision goggles, comms, and of course, weapons.

We’d been thoroughly patted down before boarding our Uber Express, so we hadn’t even been able to hide a stick of gum on us if we’d wanted to.

The Sorens went ahead and made the first move for the building, entering through the main doors, which meant we’d aim for another way in. I wasn’t interested in walking by any of those assholes while heading to the cage.

Sly was noticeably limping as he went inside. Yeah, he’d for sure had his ass kicked by his brother. I had a feeling when we got closer to them, he’d bear the marks of a beating.

“We’re doing this, huh?” Jack asked, facing me.

“It looks that way,” Gray said, patting him on the back. “You’ll make it home to Charlotte, I promise.”

“All of us fighting together tonight with the SEALs, the Marines, hell, even the Irish . . .” Jack’s voice trailed off, almost nostalgic-sounding. “Kind of wild, right? Feels like we’re the Avengers going up against that ugly asshole who was collecting those infinity stones or something.”

“Yeah, part one of that movie didn’t end so well, and damn that cliffhanger.” Gwen smacked Jack’s arm. “No cliffys, please. I hate not having an ending.”

“You’ll get an ending tonight, don’t worry. One way or another.” Well, that was a somber, dark tone from Carter I didn’t want to hear. “We’ll be fine,” he added as if realizing how his words had come across. “And you’ve got this, Oliver. No doubt in my mind.” He slipped his phone into his pocket and reached for my hand.

Mya let go of my arm so Carter could do the unexpected. He pulled me in for a quick one-arm hug on my good side.

“You’re prepared,” Jesse assured me, meeting my eyes post-hug. “You’re a fast learner. Just watch for his tells. Find his weaknesses.”

“And if he doesn’t have a weakness aside from not fearing death?” I shouldn’t have asked that. They didn’t need to know I still had some concerns about fighting Mr. Bloodsport.

“Everyone has a weakness, son,” my dad said, eyes fixed on me.

I swallowed and nodded. “Having Stef in his corner instead of you is sure as hell another one.”

45

OLIVER

Standing outside the octagon with my father and my team behind us, I watched my opponent warm up inside the ring, his body toned and sporting about two more “packs” than me. Is this really happening? It’s what I’d been training for back at my dad’s place, but not like this.

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