Page 86 of Secret
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Kasey parked the car in the driveway and shut it off. "This is it." He was excited to introduce Noam to everyone and share this part of his life with him finally. He was excited that Noam had decided to be part of the team. Now, he just needed to make sure the transition went well and didn't stress them out. There was a lot of work to do, but first, Noam needed to see how the main side of the operation worked.
"This is your headquarters?" Noam took in the nice, middle-class home in the middle of an average neighborhood.
"We call it the team house for a reason. Bryon lives here. Neighbors think he's just got a couple roommates or friends who hang out all the time." Kasey got out of the car.
"That's crazy. I guess in my mind, I imagined some dark, hidden warehouse hiding all your tech inside." Noam met him at the front of the car.
"Easier to hide in plain sight. That's one thing that Bryon mentioned, but you might have missed it. He is thinking the same kind of set up for your team." Kasey reached for his hand. "Ready to meet everyone?"
"Yeah, let's do this." Noam took a deep breath.
Kasey smiled at his nervousness. The team was expecting them. He'd purposely come a little late for the team meeting so that everyone would already be there. "If it's too overwhelming you can go downstairs and play Mario Kart with Faith."
"She'd kick my ass. I suck at video games."
"Don't tell her that. She'll make it a goal to teach you." Kasey opened the front door. "Okay, the meeting can start, I'm here," Kasey yelled.
"Fuck off," Xander called from the other room. "We wouldn't wait for you. And since you're late, we ate all your food."
Kasey grinned at Noam. "And so it begins." He led him into the living room, pausing as they walked in. "Guys, I'd like you to meet Noam."
Bryon stood up, coming around the coffee table. "I'm glad you decided to join us."
Noam shook his hand. "I'd be stupid not to take the opportunity. Thanks for thinking of me." He looked over Bryon's shoulder. "Beau, it's good to see you again."
"You as well, Noam. I'm glad we'll be working together." Beau waved with one hand, holding his taco in the other.
"I'm Becca." She stood, taking the few steps to where Noam stood and hugged him.
"Nice to meet you." Noam grinned.
Kasey laughed. "Around the room." He pointed to Dyson. "That's Dyson, next to him is Xander, you briefly met Matt already. On the small couch, you have Carter and Trenton. And I think you know Faith." He waved at her as she sat in the large recliner.
A chorus of hellos and welcomes filled the room.
"Nice to meet you all." Noam glanced around the room. "I don't know what I expected, but this wasn't it. I guess I pictured something more militarized or operative."
"You haven't seen the geek cave yet," Xander called out.
"I'll give you the tour after the meeting." Kasey nodded to a chair. "Have a seat."
Noam sat down, and Kasey slid to the floor in front of him, leaning back against Noam's legs. "Pass the tacos."
Becca passed a box of tacos to them. "Thank Trenton. Carter tried to talk us into Chinese again."
"We've had that the last three meetings," Kasey groaned.
"You can never have too much Chinese." Carter rolled his eyes.
"Okay, enough bitching. Let's get the meeting underway." Bryon sat back down beside Becca. "So, as you can all see, Noam has decided to join us. He will be in charge of our decoy team. Unlike this team, the decoy team will work one-hundred percent within the law, and with the law. Noam and I will be working on all the details, but from now on, he will be joining us at meetings and is trusted with all information we gather and speak of."
Everyone in the group nodded.
Kasey arched his head back, smiling up at Noam. "Love you," he whispered.
Noam mouthed the words back, his fingers running over Kasey's hair before they both turned their attention back to Bryon.
