Forever Luminescent

Chapter 16

"If any of those people know my mother, I will be incinerated," Gwenn commented.

Ronan squeezed her shoulders. "Aren't you a full-ass adult with your own apartment and job?"

The question troubled her. "Yes, but I'd rather not deal with my mother thinking..."

He stopped her in front of a glass door, locked by an access card scanner. "This mother of yours really controls a lot of your life."

Gwenn stopped short. "What?"

Ronan swiped his card, and the door slid open. They stepped inside, and she realized they were in a lab. However, it looked so much different than the lab they went to at Palmer Laboratories with Arthur.

Bright lights shone overhead. Tables filled a large portion of the space acting like stations with materials and gadgets over them. Immense storage closets and archives surrounded one wall to the right. Gwenn assumed there would be more materials for use waiting on the inside of them.

"Your mother sounds like she has the reins for your life," he continued. "Why do you care if she sees us together?"

Ronan stalked up to an empty station and ducked underneath, not even waiting for her answer. He used his card again to swipe another lock, and a drawer opened.

"I told you at the beginning of our deal that she could not find out about me searching for my biological family," Gwenn reiterated. She tried to level her tone so as not to show her annoyance, but her body, frozen and rigid, already showed her discomfort.

He sighed, then came back up with a stack of papers and a tiny gadget. Loose pieces fell from it as he placed it over the smooth, white table. He nudged the bottom drawer close with his knee and started sorting through what she saw were plans.

"And how would she find out that's what we're doing if she finds out we've been spending time together?" Ronan asked. "For all she knows, we could be studying for class...or other stuff," he ended on a mutter.

Echoes of her mother telling her how Ronan wasn't the right man for her threatened to give her a splitting migraine.

"Look, Ronan, I know you don't know my mother," Gwenn started. "But she does not hold back on anything. She's intense. If she finds out we're spending time together, she will figure it out." She shook her head, staring down at her hands. "She literally ran a background check on Cathy when I started working at the daycare."

That got Ronan's attention. He stiffened and dropped the latest plan back on the table. "She what?"

"Yep," Gwenn said. "Now do you understand the severity of the situation?"

Ronan closed his eyes, as if backtracking their entire conversation. "She knows who I am, doesn't she?" He asked without even opening his eyes to confirm by the look on her face. She winced and looked down at her white sneakers.

"What's the real reason you brought me here, Ronan?" She dodged the topic, then made way to his station, eyeing the small gadgets and pile of plans. She figured he didn't bring her over to discuss his opinions on her mother.

His shoulders slumped, and he plunged his hand into the back pocket of his dark jeans, bringing out his phone. "I...traced Eric Carter's family line pretty far."

The remnants of their last conversation evaporated into the air as she faced him. She blinked, her heart stopping for a millisecond before she gulped in a large breath. "Did you find anything?" she managed.

"I found a connection to a Woods family tree in Arizona," Ronan revealed. This time he met her gaze, icy eyes cautious. "I can't see if any of them are connected to you, but maybe it's something we can look into."