KAGE (KAGE Trilogy #1)

KAGE (KAGE Trilogy #1) by Maris Black Page A

Book: KAGE (KAGE Trilogy #1) by Maris Black Read Free Book Online
Authors: Maris Black
Ads: Link
lessons I’d taken in middle school. An hour a week, and that was it. So I thought maybe Kage trained an hour a day.
    Boy, was I wrong.
    Marco was on full-time salary. Most days Kage trained for three hours in the morning and two hours in the evening, in addition to his early morning three-mile run. That was just a regular laid-back day for these guys. Apparently, they trained even harder in the week leading up to a fight.
    During training sessions, they wore safety gear— shin guards, sparring gloves, headgear, mouthpiece. Sometimes Kage shucked his shin guards and headgear and just wailed on Marco. I couldn’t imagine being a human punching bag for a living, but Marco took it like a champ, alternately barking out orders and taunting his eager student. “Good, good, great head movement,” he’d say. Or “You hit like a girl. Are you wearing pink panties under those shorts?”
    Sometimes Marco talked such shit to Kage it was a wonder he didn’t just walk out. I kept expecting things to get serious, for the practice blows to become real blows, but the two of them just worked diligently at besting each other without either one ending up in the hospital.
    Morning workouts included a one-hour warm-up and general strength and flexibility workout. Then they would focus on stand-up work, which included punching and kicking. Footwork and head movement were also honed to a fine art during these sessions, ensuring that Kage could confuse his opponent while dodging whatever strikes came his way. Sometimes they’d work punch or kick combos over and over and over, calling the numbers again and again, until I found myself chanting along with them. In the afternoon session, they’d take it to the ground for grappling practice. The end of each session was reserved for anything-goes sparring matches.
    I was shocked at the amount of physical labor Kage did every day. No wonder he looked so damn good. What he did was a far cry from going to the gym for an hour three nights a week. Hell, I got worn out just sitting on the sidelines and watching him pushing and pulling the prowler sled the length of the gym, and that was only a fraction of one of his rigorous routines. I’d participated in countless basketball, football and baseball training sessions over the years, and this was more intense.
    “I wish I had a good camera,” I said offhandedly to Kage as we made our way to the elevators after the first morning’s practice. “I kept thinking I’d love to take some action shots of you to use for promotion. You look amazing out there.”
    “I look what?” he asked with an impish grin. “I didn’t quite hear you.”
    “You look amazing,” I said, over-enunciating loudly.
    “How so?” That grin of his was so infectious, I found myself smiling shyly myself.
    “Well, Mr. Ego, you’re impressive. I mean, you’re beyond impressive. I can’t even begin to tell you how blown away I am after watching you work out. I’ve never been much of a fan of the fighting sports, but I have to say… You’ve got me. I can’t wait to see you fight.”
    He punched me lightly— well, lightly for him— in the arm. “Hey, you passed the test.”
    “What test?”
    “The yes-man test. You see, I only surround myself with yes-men? If you had said I looked like shit, I’d have to let you go.”
    “I don’t believe that. Not for a minute.”
    Kage chuckled quietly as the doors slid open. “This is your stop, Jamie. See you tomorrow.”

7
     
    AT EIGHT-THIRTY on the following morning, a guy from some professional camera shop showed up at my suite to deliver a top-of-the-line digital video and still camera. When I say top of the line, I mean the camera guy was jealous as hell.
    After I sputtered for five minutes about how surprised I was to be receiving it and how I would never have been able to afford such an awesome piece of equipment, the guy said, “We don’t normally do deliveries. So what, do you have a sugar mama or

Similar Books

The Pirate Lord

Sabrina Jeffries

Death Run

Don Pendleton

Heart of the Hunter

Madeline Baker

A Reason to Kill

Michael Kerr

The Nero Prediction

Humphry Knipe