KAGE (KAGE Trilogy #1)

by Maris Black

  No good had come from the two phone calls I’d made. Both recipients had broken down in tears. In the end, I decided that in the future, I’d just suffer my boredom by myself.

  MONDAY and Tuesday passed by in a blur. I didn’t see Kage at all, and my thoughts were plagued by thoughts of my mother, waiting for a call telling me everything was fine.

  By Wednesday afternoon, I had thrown myself totally into work and the idea of trying to be the best publicist money could buy. Dr. Washburn didn’t mind my occasional phone calls to ask him questions. Or at least if he did, he didn’t let on.

  “You’re totally cooler than I thought you were, Doc,” I admitted after he’d given me yet another pep talk.

  His scoff was audible over the phone line. “You didn’t already think I was cool? Why am I even helping you?” But there was a teasing quality to his voice that let me know he wasn’t serious.

  “Because you love me,” I said. “Because I’m your favorite student. Admit it.”

  “Okay, I will admit that I have developed a soft spot for you. But only academically. On a personal level, I find you barely tolerable.”

  “Oh, that was harsh!” I laughed quietly. “Hey, I know I’ve given you a hard time in the past, but I was hoping maybe you could find it in your heart to give my barely tolerable personality another chance. At least before it’s time to issue final grades next year?”

  “I don’t know. Can you quit being a smart ass?”

  “Can a puppy quit being cute?”

  “Oh, so you think you’re cute, do you?” He laughed a little too heartily as he hung up the phone, leaving me alone once again in my bare cubicle among strangers.

  After a few minutes, Mark Gladstone poked his well-groomed head into my cubicle. “How goes it, intern?”

  I spun around in my task chair and shrugged. “Pretty good, I guess. My job is still in its infant stages, I guess you could say. Not showing much of a return yet, but we’ll get there.”

  “Haven’t noticed your boss around much. He giving you input, or are you pretty much on your own?”

  “To be honest, I haven’t seen much of him. We had lunch that first day, but that’s it.”

  Mark nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. “Yeah, nobody sees much of him from what I understand. Hell, I almost passed out when he stuck his head in here on your first day. He comes through here every once in a while, when he needs payroll to cut him a check for something.”

  “Doesn’t seem like you two get along very well,” I said, hoping I hadn’t overstepped any boundaries.

  “Yeah, well, I know it doesn’t seem like it, but Vegas is a small town. Kage and I went to high school together, so there may be a bit of bad blood there.” He stepped further into my cubicle. “The problem was that I was popular, and Kage was— well, people thought he was kind of weird. So there was sort of this jealousy thing going on.”

  “I see.” I didn’t want to call him a liar, but I definitely couldn’t imagine Kage being jealous of a guy like him. If anything, it would have been the other way around.

  “I got a lot of pussy,” Mark continued “Kage didn’t. I guess you could say he was an outsider. As far as I know, he only had two friends.”

  Mark’s description didn’t make me think any less of Kage, but it did make my heart squeeze for him. All that money and talent, and he was considered an outcast by most of his peers. I wondered if he got picked on— if that’s what made him learn to fight. Bullying had sent many a kid running for the martial arts gyms and the security of knowing that, if it came down to it, they could take care of themselves. As for myself, I had turned to sports and learned the art of blending in.

  Mark kept running his mouth, but I had stopped listening. He didn’t say anything more about Kage, so I wasn’t interested. Finally, he wandered off and found another victim for his vocal attack. At four-thirty, my cell phone rang, and I was surprised and pleased to discover it was Kage.

  “Hi, my little intern. How are you doing?” He sounded laid back, with a confident familiarity that bordered on seductive.

  “Um, I’m doing fine. How are you?”

  “Great. I was calling to see if you wanted to watch me train in the morning. Or do you prefer to sit in a cubicle?”

  “No,” I said quickly. “I don’t prefer to sit in a cubicle. I’d be honored to watch you.”

  Honored? Way to geek it up, Jamie.

  “Okay. I’ll pick you up at your door at nine in the morning, then. Wear something comfortable. You won’t be going in to the office at all tomorrow.”

  I hung up the phone and sat staring straight ahead at the back wall of my cubicle for a good ten minutes. I hadn’t realized how excited I would be to talk to Kage again. It was almost unbearable to think that I’d have to wait all afternoon and all night to see him. And to get to watch him train. That was the most exciting thing of all.

  IT SEEMED like nine o’clock in the morning took weeks to roll around. I’d been ready for over an hour when I heard a heavy knock at the door.

  Kage was dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, and his shoulder-length hair was freshly washed, still wet and slicked back from his face. He looked enviably handsome as always.

  “You ready?” he asked, making no secret of once-overing my attire.

  “Ready and willing,” I quipped, then winced inwardly at the suggestiveness of the comment.

  “Yeah?” He grinned. “I hope you’re willing to be bored to death, because I’m afraid that’s what’s about to happen.”

  “I doubt it. Have you ever worked in a cubicle? I mean, I’m not complaining. I appreciate my job, really I do. But it will be a welcome change to watch you train. That’s all I meant.” I pulled the door closed behind me, and we walked toward the elevator. “I don’t want you to think I don’t appreciate my job. You don’t think that, do you? Sometimes when I’m nervous things come out all wrong.” I pressed the elevator button for the lobby and glanced over at Kage. He was smiling at me. “I’m babbling again, aren’t I?”

  “A little,” he admitted. “But it’s okay. I kinda like it. Lets me know I’m getting to you.”

  “Well, I’ll keep doing it then. You’re the first person who’s actually given me license to act socially awkward. I have to admit, it’s very freeing.”

  After an ironically silent elevator ride, Kage led me through the lobby, down the hall by the Grotto, and through a large door with a keycard lock on it. Then we were in a large gym with all sorts of workout equipment, mirrored walls, and a padded floor.

  “Wow, is this all yours, or do the guests get to work out here, too?”

  “Just me,” he said. “You can use it when you want, but don’t tell anyone else. It’s private.”

  “Of course not. I’d never tell anything you told me not to tell. I signed a paper, remember?”

  “A paper?” he asked, his brows coming together in confusion.

  “Yeah, the NDA. The non-disclosure agreement my professor and I had to sign so that I could do the internship.”

  “Hmmm… I had no idea about that. My uncle does stuff like that. What did it say, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  It was my turn to give him a confused look. “Of course I don’t mind. It’s your business. It just said we couldn’t tell anyone I work for you. Like we have to keep your name confidential, and the hotel name, your uncle’s name, and any personal information I might learn… Basically, I can tell people I’m interning for someone in Vegas, but that’s about as far as it goes.”

  “So your family doesn’t know you’re working for me?”

  “Nope.”

  “That’s crazy. I was wondering why you said you couldn’t tell your girlfriend what you were doing. I was like, what the fuck? Why would someone not be able to tell his girlfriend he got a new job? You care about someone, you don’t keep secrets. At least that’s how I feel about it.”

  “Yeah,” I said awkwardly, wishing like hell he wouldn’t bring up the girlfriend I’d lied ab
out.

  He cocked his head to the side and bit his lip. “What if I tell people you’re working for me? Is that permitted?”

  I thought about it for a second. “I don’t see why not. You didn’t sign anything, did you? I mean, the whole NDA is a safety measure to protect you, so that I don’t tell private things you don’t want me to. If you tell your own business, it’s not private anymore, right?”

  “You want me to tell your girlfriend you’re working for me? We could call her right now, and I’ll tell her myself.”

  Would he stop already with the girlfriend?

  “Um… that’s not necessary. But thanks.” I tried to smile.

  “How about your family? They should know where you are. Your mom is probably worried sick.”

  “Actually, it would be nice if you could tell my mom. She’s really excited and positive, but I can tell she’s dying to know the details.”

  “Yeah, okay,” he said. “You want to call her now?”

  I laughed. “No. We can do it later.”

  Kage nodded and removed his shoes and socks. I followed suit, and then we made our way to the center of the gym.

  “This is Marco, my primary trainer.” He indicated a shorter, balding man who was readying some equipment. “Marco, this is my intern.”

  Marco turned around and gave me a sharp looking-over. “Pleased to meet you, Jamie,” he said in a heavy Brazilian accent, clearly already familiar with who I was. “Kage and I are very excited about what you’re going to be doing for him. He says you’re the man when it comes to these things.”

  “Uh…” I faltered, but Kage thoughtfully swooped in to save me from humiliation.

  “Marco’s main area of expertise is in Muay Thai, but he’s very well-rounded, so he works with me on pretty much everything.” Kage’s voice was full of pride for his coach. “Sometimes I work on boxing down and Ed’s Boxing Club. Then my Jiu Jitsu coach comes in on some afternoons. Just depends on his schedule. Other than that, it’s pretty much just me and Marco.”

  “Don’t forget the sparring partners I’ve been bringing in for you,” Marco said. “You make it sound like I keep you locked away in a dark cellar. Whether your uncle likes it or not, I do get you exposure. It’s good for you to work with people rather than alone all the time.”

  “Well, I’ve added another person, as you can see,” Kage told him. “Jamie is going to be observing us some.”

  “Oh.” Suddenly Marco didn’t seem quite as pleased to meet me.

  I figured it must be because he didn’t like to be scrutinized. I probably wouldn’t like it if Kage’s uncle started sending in some high school student to observe my intern work, so why should I expect this high level MMA coach to be thrilled for some college guy to be watching over his shoulder.

  Still, the first day of watching Kage train was a revelation. First of all, I’d never imagined how long and grueling it would be. I was thinking back to the few karate 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 something?”

  “No, or course not.” I smiled from ear to ear, marveling at Kage’s generosity. “It’s from this really amazing guy.”

  “Oh,” he glanced around my expensive suite. “He get you this place?”

  “Yeah, I could never afford something like this myself. I’m just a college student from a middle class family.”

  “Now you’ve got a killer place and a great camera. I mean, look at that view. Imagine the shots you can get right from this window.”

  “That’s a great idea. I’ll be honest with you. He’s spoiling the hell out of me, and I don’t know how I’m going to leave all of this to go back to school in Atlanta next semester. It’s gonna be tough.”

  “Sugar daddy won’t spring for a penthouse down in Atlanta?”

  I looked at him like a deer caught in the headlights. “Oh, it’s not like that!”

  “It’s cool, man. I used to be a stripper before I got this gig last year, so I know how all that shit works.” He winked. “I’m down with it.”

  I sighed and closed my eyes, wondering how to explain a situation I was legally prohibited from discussing any further.

  The guy cleared his throat and held up the camera.
“So… If you’d like to have a seat on the sofa, I’ll show you how this bad boy works. Your really amazing guy also bought you a half hour lesson.”

  I contained my excitement enough to join him on the sofa without making a fool of myself, and over the next half hour he proceeded to explain the intricacies of using my brand new, ridiculously complicated digital camera.

  He was still explaining features when Kage knocked on my door. I jumped up off the sofa, flung the door open, and threw my arms around his neck. Well, maybe it wasn’t so much throwing my arms around his neck as it was wrapping them gingerly around his shoulders in the world’s most awkward man hug.

  Kage didn’t hug me back. Instead, he clasped his hands behind his back, making me feel even more awkward. It wasn’t my usual M.O. to hug guys, but then I’d never received a gift that cost thousands of dollars. Even my car hadn’t cost that much.

  “Sorry. Maybe I should have tried a handshake instead.” I patted him on the back a couple of times, then backed away and smiled. “The guy’s here with the camera. I don’t know what to say, Kage. I’m… Well, I’m speechless.”

  “No babbling?” he teased.

  “Nope. Not this time. I must be in shock.”

  I turned to face the camera guy, ready to introduce Kage, but then I remembered the NDA. I wasn’t sure if this was covered under that or not. I also realized that maybe the hug hadn’t sent the right message about our relationship. While I was pondering these things, Kage stepped around me and shook the guy’s hand.

  “I’m Michael Kage,” he said. “Did I interrupt the lesson?”

  “Only by a little bit. I just have a few more things to show him, and then he’s all yours.” He wagged his eyebrows.

  Kage stepped over to the chair and sat down. “Just pretend I’m not here then.”

  It was impossible to pretend he wasn’t in the room. Not only was he always the most powerful presence in any room, but now his eyes were glittering like diamonds. I thought maybe he was as excited as I was. He just sat there in that manly sprawl of his and watched us with those sparkling eyes. When the lesson was over, the camera guy stood up and handed me the camera, and I turned it over in my hands, admiring it for the hundredth time. Then I looked up to find Kage watching me closely.