Page 70 of Red River

Igor shrugged arrogantly.

"My conclusion is that I should’ve been more effective the last two times. That’s what I have to say for myself."

"Good conclusion. Then I’m inviting you to my gym. It has everything you need: punching bags, training mats, boxinggloves, grappling gloves, strike pads. Starting today, you’re training with me so next time, you’ll be more effective. Let’s go."

I caught him off guard. He stared at me for a long moment, like he didn’t know how to react, then swallowed hard and huffed angrily.

"I’m not learning anything from you."

He sat down, determined to ignore me, and opened his app’s login screen. His face was indifferent, like I wasn’t even in the room. So I smirked to myself. Perfect timing.

Igor clicked the login button, but nothing happened. The page refreshed for a moment, then a message popped up:

"Login temporarily disabled. Report to the training room."

He stared at the screen for a moment.

"What the fuck is this?"

"I’m a hacker, remember? You said you wanted to be better at beating people up. I’m giving you the chance, and I don’t want you distracted by your channel."

For the first time, I saw real fear on Igor’s face. He suddenly looked like just a scared teenager.

"Are you fucking kidding me? That channel is my life! I recently started making some money from it! You can’t just ruin it—I worked my ass off to grow it! I wanted to give these earnings to my dad; his account was drained by creditors!"

Our eyes met; his were slightly moist. What he said was actually quite surprising and gave me a glimpse into who he was deep down. Igor was determined to fight for his family in his own way… and not totally stupid, for that matter. The realization made me want to… fight for him even more—to help him become a man, to help him heal.

"That's… commendable. Igor, I can restore access right now, but first, you have to promise me you’ll follow thetraining regimen. And next time, you won’t let some idiots with insecurities beat you up or call you names, okay?"

"I hate you," Igor growled.

"I know, you told me before. So let it fuel you to train more intensely. Though I must say, the feeling isn’t mutual."

And it was true. Igor was River’s son. I could never hate this boy, who was so utterly lost. What I wanted for him was to be happy and thriving, but I knew it was still a long road ahead.

"So, what’s it gonna be?"

He slowly turned to face me.

"When the enforcers show up, I’m telling them everything."

"Alright. But until they do, maybe I can train you enough so you’ll at least have a chance to defend yourself from a gangbang in the alpha boot camp. Sound good?"

Igor’s face was pale, his features tense. He stared at me for a long moment.

Then, without a word, he got up and walked out of the room, heading for the basement.

Once we were in my gym, I pointed to the sit-up bench, noticing that the training room made some impression on Igor, who had never visited this place before. Of course, he didn’t show it, but his discreet glances around gave him away.

Finally, with an irritated sigh, he sat down.

"Now, tell me how this all started with Philip and Josef. Some parts I know from Milo, but the rest I need you to tell me."

"I’m guessing if I don’t, you won’t restore my login."

"Just answer me."

He scoffed in frustration and crossed his arms.

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