Free All the King's Men: The Beginning by Donya Lynne

finality. "How about we get you started right after the holiday? That'll give you a couple of weeks to get settled and catch your bearings before we start running you through the paces."
    Sev looked relieved to leave behind the subject of the Atlanta raid and clapped his hands on his thighs. "Sounds perfect to me. I'm eager to get back to work."
    "Great. I'll get the paperwork started." Tristan stood. Sev joined him as they began for the door.
    "I'm looking forward to working here, Tristan. The Chicago branch is the most active AKM facility in the world, and I'm ready to finally get back in the field. I haven't worked since leaving VDA eight months ago, and the down time is aggravating the shit out of me."
    Tristan chuckled. "I know the feeling. I—" He cut off as Arion and Io entered the office and nearly crashed into them, caught up in conversation with one another.
    "Oh, shit!" Arion said, bumping into Sev. He grabbed Sev's arms and took a step back. "Sorry." He glanced at Tristan, and Io stepped aside. "I didn't know you had company."
    "Ari, this is Sev. Sev, this is Ari and Io. They're on the team."
    Instant calm emanated from Sev as he extended his right hand toward Ari. "Hey."
    Ari shook Sev's hand. "Hey. Good to meet you. You joining us?"
    Sev nodded and took Io's outstretched hand, but didn't take his eyes off Ari. "Yes. After Christmas."
    "Great. It'll be nice to have some new blood around here," Ari said.
    "Just watch out for Micah," Io added as he released Sev's hand.
    "Micah?" Sev looked between Io and Tristan. "Who's Micah? And why do I need to watch out for him?"
    Ari chuckled. "You'll see, but don't let it sweat you."
    Tristan sighed. "Micah is…well…he's different. And a little difficult to manage. But that's my job." Tristan placed his open palm on his chest. "But he's really a good guy." Ari scoffed, and Tristan threw him a warning glance. "He is. No matter what these two clowns say. You just need to get to know him."
    "Yeah, right," Io said. "As if Micah would allow a newbie to get to know him."
    Tristan shook his head, unable to hold back his own grin. Not that he liked talking ill about Micah, but the guy did bring it on himself. "Guys, come on. Don't scare Sev before he's even part of the team."
    "It takes a lot more than that to scare me," Sev said, smiling. It was the first genuine smile Tristan had seen on Sev's face since he had arrived.
    "Good," Ari said, chucking Sev's shoulder. "Then, welcome to the team. I can't wait to work with you and see what you've got." Ari's gaze swept over Sev's stacked shoulders and broad chest as if he were sizing up Sev's skills by his physique alone. Then he issued a friendly nod. "See you later." Ari paused for a heartbeat, met Sev's gaze, smiled, and then headed into the office with Io.
    Sev watched him walk away, and then followed Tristan into the hall. "Nice guys."
    Tristan regarded him. "Ari and Io?"
    "Yeah. Ari seems friendly enough."
    "He is. His father is one of King Bain's liaisons, so I think Ari gets his diplomatic skills from him. Io's a bit of a player, but damn, the guy can hack. Best hacker AKM's got. And Ari's his best friend. You never find one without the other."
    Sev glanced over his shoulder toward Tristan's office as if he'd left something behind, but then turned back around and kept walking. "I'm looking forward to getting to know them better."
    "Plenty of time for that. As for the other members on the team, there's Malek, Trace, and, of course, Micah. All good guys. Even Micah. He's just dealing with some heavy shit in his personal life right now." Understatement. "But if you want to learn from the best, it's him. Micah has been around a long time. Trained King Bain before he succeeded to the throne."
    "No shit?" Sev sounded genuinely impressed.
    Tristan chuckled. "No shit. He's solid. Definitely a male you want in your corner." Unless shit went south with Jackson, and then no one would want to be near Micah. Unlike Humpty Dumpty, no amount