Stars Over Alaska (Wild River #4) - Jennifer Snow Page 0,100

to my client sooner.”

He nodded quickly at the mention of Eoghan, almost as though he’d hoped not to have to discuss the agency’s own lack of judgment in hiring the man. “Yes, well...”

The office door flew open and Selena burst in.

Federico stood. “Ms. Hudson, what are you doing here? I mean, nice to see you... Is everything okay with the new security detail?”

The agency had convinced Selena’s management team to allow them to stay on and had replaced Leslie with another agent.

“No, everything’s not okay,” Selena said, sliding her Tiffany sunglasses up over her dark hair. “I got up this morning expecting my peppermint herbal tea with my two scoops of Swerve and honey made the way I like it to be waiting for me after my workout and it wasn’t there.”

Leslie hid a smile at the overdramatic outburst. This wasn’t the Selena she’d gotten to know but she was enjoying the theatrics.

Federico looked confused. “Um...”

“Do you know why it wasn’t there?” she asked, hands on her tiny hips.

“No, Ms. Hud—”

“Because Ms. Sanders wasn’t there. Instead, I have this eight-foot-tall beast scaring the shit out of my Chihuahua and handing me a plastic one-use water bottle.” She said the words in a whisper hiss as though the environment police were in earshot.

Federico stammered, unsure how to respond.

Despite the deep ache in her chest, Leslie felt a smile tug at the corner of her mouth. She hadn’t realized she’d missed this five-foot-six, hundred-pound terror until that morning when she wasn’t swearing over making the herbal tea. She hadn’t seen Selena since the press conference. She hadn’t returned the ten thousand text messages from her either, thinking it best to cut all contact.

“I apologize, Ms. Hudson, but given the circumstances...” Federico stammered.

“Circumstances? You mean, the fact that this woman saved my life?” Selena gestured to Leslie.

Technically, in the end they’d saved each other and to her surprise, Leslie had felt a small void not being in contact with her the last few days. Must be the shared life-and-death experience. That was all. A common bond of having gone through something traumatic.

“Yes, she did, but—” Federico said.

Selena waved a finger, silencing him. “I’m still breathing and bullet hole–free, so there is no ‘but.’”

Federico’s cheeks flushed and he shifted from one foot to the other. It wasn’t every day someone almost two feet shorter than him could intimidate him but Leslie could almost see his balls shrinking up into his body as he said, “Well, she also broke protocol...”

“If she hadn’t, I’d be dead—or worse,” Selena said, cranking up the drama.

Only in Hollywood...

Federico looked at a loss for further excuses or rationale, and glanced at Leslie.

Leslie remained calm and professional as she turned to her former client. “Selena, I appreciate you coming to my defense like this, but Federico is right. My actions put you in danger.”

“Bullshit,” Selena said, looking at her like she was disappointed that Leslie hadn’t already filed a lawsuit for wrongful dismissal. “Do not let these assholes gaslight you like that. You followed your instincts and you were right to do it. Unlike this agency hiring someone without completing a full credential verification. Your agency,” she said walking toward Federico, “put my life at risk by hiring a dangerous person and then allowing him access to private information. Not Ms. Sanders.”

Selena did have a point. She’d been selective about the information she’d disclosed to Eoghan, yet he knew things he shouldn’t have been privy to. Information she’d told only Federico, like when the new security system had been installed and when Selena was making public appearances. The agency really hadn’t done everything in their power to keep Selena safe. If she hadn’t taken Selena away, Eoghan would have gotten to her.

“Ms. Hudson does raise a valid point,” she said, feeling her fighting energy return. She wouldn’t ask for him to reconsider his decision about firing her because she no longer wanted to work for an agency that didn’t have her back or one she couldn’t completely trust. And she had no intentions of going to the media to blame the agency to protect or reclaim her own credentials. But at least now she was seeing this parting of ways in a different light, one where she wasn’t completely at fault. And her confidence returned slightly.

Federico looked back and forth between them. “So, you want Ms. Sanders to continue as your security detail?” he asked Selena.

“Yes,” she said. “But not through this agency. I’m terminating my contract, effective immediately.” She ripped