Well, if he had been expecting a different reaction, Ronan didn't show it. At least, not more than a single blink. He didn't understand how Giselle could be smiling after all that, after everything that had been said. It shook his very foundation.

[i]'Who is this woman?'[/i]

A memory of white hot pain slicing across his back had the stray thought banished almost instantly. Who she was didn't matter. She was his target. And that was all there was to it.


He nodded his head a few beats too late, but it didn't matter. It was just in time for her next statement. He followed Giselle out of the front office and into the hallway, automatically looking up and down the long stretch. He followed her gestures with his eyes before nodding again.

"three doors from the office, last door on the right," he repeated automatically before returning his gaze to her face. He braced himself again, out of his element, but trying to act like he wasn't.

"...I shouldn't easily get separated from you," he said slowly, as if in the act of preparing to give someone a shot. "My orders are to be by your side unless the situation deems it impossible." A pause. "[i]Right[/i] by your side."

There would be no separation from him, very little privacy, and virtually no chance that she could slip away. It was invasive and disheartening. But he had his orders.