Sugar Free (21 page)

That was how it worked.

Right?

“We need to run,” Beck says quietly, and I'm quite sure I heard that wrong.

My head snaps up to look at him, but he doesn't turn around. I then turn to look at my dad beside me and he looks at me with raised eyebrows and hopeful eyes for my future.

And it's at this point that I realize Beck and my dad have this all figured out.

“You want us to run?” I ask Beck.

He doesn't respond, so I stand up from the couch, round the coffee table, and walk up to him. I come to stand beside him but still keep a bit of distance between us and look at his profile. His jaw is set, his eyes are determined as they stare out over the bay.

“You want us to run?” I repeat.

Beck's head turns slowly my way and he looks down at me. His arms remain crossed over his chest and there's still a little bit of anger in his eyes, but his voice is so very gentle…almost pleading. “I want us to have a life together. The only way we're assured of it is if we run.”

“But…but…how?” I ask in disbelief that this is even an option.

“I've got a call into Dennis,” Beck says as he turns to me, his arms falling to his sides. “I've got millions at my disposal. With his contacts and my fortune, you and I could disappear.”

And finally, for the first time in over a day, Beck touches me. He takes my upper arms in his hands and holds on to me tightly, pulling me in a little closer. His voice is the most desperate I've ever heard from a man who never begs anyone for anything. “It's the only way, Sela. Going forward with the trial is too risky.”

“Leave here forever?” I murmur, the idea not fully penetrating. My head swivels to look at my dad. “And you're okay with this? Never seeing me again?”

“I'd rather you be living free and with someone you love than in jail, baby girl,” my dad says simply. “It's the best solution.”

My head turns back to Beck. “So we run?”

His mouth curves upward to form a tiny smile, and the last dregs of bitterness drain from his face. “I love you, Sela, and I'm not going to lose you over this. So yes…we run.”

I fall forward into Beck, my head dropping so my forehead rests in the middle of his chest. My hands come to his waist and I grip him hard. I blow out a long breath and whisper, “Then we run.”

I'm already saying my goodbyes. It's not been twelve hours since Sela and I decided to run, and I'm already trying to cram a bucket list of things I want to do with my loved ones into a few days. I haven't heard from Dennis yet, but I'm expecting him to call at any moment now, and there's no doubt in my mind he's got the means and the method to let us disappear forever. I know he'll come through for us, and I want Sela and me prepared to run fast.

It didn't take me long at all to convince William that this was the best decision. We met at that Starbucks and sipped black coffee while I told him his daughter was arrested for murder and I wanted to leave the country with her forever. I had to give the man credit: he takes stoicism to a new level. While I know he was greatly disturbed by what I told him—and I told him everything—I knew that his love for his daughter would have him supporting my idea. William has seen Sela sunk into despair so brutal that he'd support whatever would give her the best chance at lifelong happiness.

And running was that best chance.

After William left last night, I expected a bit of awkwardness between Sela and me. I didn't have to rehash all the ways in which she'd pissed me off and left me feeling betrayed. She got it. She understood.

I also think she was regretful.

Well, maybe not regretful for the intention behind her actions, but she understands that she screwed things up for herself when I was the only one at risk. It was altruistic though, and I know she did it out of devotion to me, so I couldn't stay mad. Besides, once she agreed to disappear with me, she was essentially promising me a forever, and it would be hard to stay angry when I was getting something that was beyond extraordinary.

I did have to make sure she understood something though before we went to sleep last night. I was lodged deep inside of her, my cock straining for release and both of us on the brink of letting go. I was lying on top of her, our chests pressed tight and my hips doing most of the action, which brought our faces very close to each other.

My lips grazed against hers as I rocked against her. “Sela?”

“Mmmm?”

“We're partners,” I told her quietly. She didn't respond, but I knew she was listening intently because her eyes opened up and glittered with awareness as they locked onto mine. “We figure things out together, okay?”

“Together,” she affirmed, and that was all I needed to hear. We were right with each other, and while we may be leaving behind an entire life—a complete existence—it was forever tarnished and would be a part of a bittersweet past. Our future is where true happiness lay for both of us.

It was time to start putting our affairs in order.

So today I'm making the most of my time with Caroline and Ally. Sela's spending the day with her father, because she too knows time is waning.

While Sela chose to go hang out with her dad at their home, I decided to finally put my money to use in an extravagant way. I sent a limousine to pick up Caroline and Ally in Healdsburg, telling Caroline I needed a day to decompress from all that happened and I wanted my sister and my niece to help me do it. She readily agreed, thinking she was helping her big brother out. She had no clue I was saying goodbye.

The limo driver delivered them both to me at the airport and I then shuttled them onto a private jet I'd rented, and we flew to San Diego for the day.

Ally is obsessed with animals of all types. When she first started learning to talk, the words that always came first and easiest were the names of various animals.

Dog, pig, goat. Ask her what does a cow say, and she'd grin and say, “Mooooo.” She also gave an adorable pig snort when prompted. She then got better with speech and left domestic animals behind, focusing on elephant, giraffe, and kangaroo, which were obviously harder to say as they had more syllables. Her love affair with all things furry, scaled, or leathery blossomed into something that you knew would be a lifelong passion. I'm betting she becomes a veterinarian. Or maybe even a wildlife scientist.

Regardless of where my sweet Ally will end up one day, and of which I will never have a clue how she turns out, I'm going to treat her to a day at the San Diego Zoo. I'm going to try to cram a lifetime of memories into a single day.

“Did you know that lemurs have stink fights?” Ally says with confidence as we walk along a shaded path through the lemur exhibit. I have to admit the furry little rodents—or primates as Ally officially explained—were cute as all get out.

“Stink fights?” I ask in disbelief.

“Yeah,” she says as she walks beside me, holding my hand. “They take this stinky stuff from their wrists and then rub it on their tails. Then they wave their tails at each other and whoever is the stinkiest wins.”

I burst out laughing and look over to my sister walking on the other side of Ally. “Where does she get this stuff from?”

“She's obsessed with these nature shows that Snoop Dogg narrates on YouTube,” she says simply as we walk along.

“Snoop Dogg?” I ask dubiously.

“Weird, I know,” she says. “But they're hilarious and all the bad words are bleeped out.”

“And why do they have stink fights?” I ask Ally.

She shrugs, which pulls on my hand a little. I tighten my grip because I don't ever want to let her go. “I don't know. Snoop Dogg didn't say, but then I saw another video where—”

And so it continues for the next hour. We walk through the winding paths of the zoo, looking at various animals. I'm partial to the pandas and koalas, animals I know instinctively would appeal to Sela's soft side. Ally's favorite are the hippos, and we have to practically peel her away from the underwater viewing area so we can see more of the park before we have to leave.

We eat ice cream and burgers. Look at grizzlies and tigers and bright pink flamingos. Dusty elephants and long-necked giraffes. I take a million pictures of her on my iPhone, knowing it won't do me any good because my phone won't be traveling with me. I'll perhaps print a few, my favorites, but we'll be traveling light.

We laugh and I give her piggyback rides and as many hugs as I can muster without making her squirm away from me. And when Ally runs ahead to look at the polar bears, I take a moment to start my goodbyes to Caroline.

Looping an arm around her shoulder, she reciprocates with one around my waist. “Thank you for coming to the zoo with me today.”

She squeezes me in response, and because she knows me so well, she says, “What is it you wanted to talk to me about?”

I don't even bother trying to act surprised or affronted by her assumption. I don't have time for wasted words.

“There's no good way out for both Sela and me,” I tell her as I keep my eyes pinned on Ally.

“I know,” she agrees sadly.

“We have to leave,” I tell her, cutting through a huge buildup of reasoning I had planned to offer her.

And all she says is, “I know.”

We're silent for a bit as we walk along, but there's no denying the heavy blanket of sadness that covers both of us. My little sister.

The one who I lived for for so many years.

My only true family, and the one who brought the amazing miracle of Ally into our lives.

I've had an extraordinary life. Many friends, terrific travels, wealth beyond imagining, and business successes. I had it all, but I won't miss any of it except for Caroline and Ally. Those two reasons are what had me up the entire night Sela got arrested, struggling with myself over what to do about the situation.

I'd be lying if I didn't admit I considered throwing Sela under the bus. It only crossed my mind briefly, and only because Doug had brought it up that day at the police station, but it was an option I'd be stupid not to at least consider. But it felt like a poisonous cancer within me…the thought of losing her…and I immediately quashed it.

It just wasn't an option.

I also considered confessing myself, calling Sela a deranged girlfriend who came up with a ludicrous lie to protect me. I'd have weight behind my confession, because unlike Sela, I had access to the murder weapon. I could get it, leaving her clothes behind, and offer the cops a deal. I'd confess and give them the murder weapon only if they agreed to drop all charges against Sela.

That was viable.

But it wasn't optimal.

It left me rotting in prison without my soul mate.

So I started to consider a life elsewhere. There were a ton of countries that didn't have extradition treaties with the U.S., some exotic, others that would ensure a hard life for us. Didn't really matter though. I was going to rely on Dennis getting us to the one where we had the best chance of never being found. Preferably a country with a good plastic surgeon who could make Sela and me look different.

We had options and that's all that mattered. By the next morning, I was convinced it was the right thing to do, so I laid my plan out to William when he arrived at my condo as we'd discussed the previous day. Our intention was to ride to the courthouse together in a show of solidarity and also so we could lean on each other. I was surprised he took very little convincing, and he only wanted to be assured it could be done cleanly without us getting caught and no blowback on family.

I assured him it could be done, even though I hadn't been able to talk to Dennis then. I was putting a lot of faith in his abilities to rescue us, and I wasn't about to let William know that I was flying by the seat of my pants for the time being.

“When will you leave?” she asks, determination in her voice, but it's not hiding the heavy sadness I know she's feeling. The fact that my sister didn't even bother to question my decision shows the love she has for me and her desire to see me happy.

“As soon as it can be arranged,” I tell her, watching as Ally runs up to the overlook for the polar bear exhibit. “I'm waiting on Dennis to call me back.”

More silence for a moment as we stop several feet from Ally so she can't hear us. Caroline disengages her arm from around my waist and turns to face me. “What do I tell Ally?”

I give her a helpless look and shrug. “I have no clue. Just that I love her and I'll miss her very much. And maybe, let her know her uncle was a good guy, huh?”

Tears well up in Caroline's eyes and her lower lip quivers. “I'll tell her he was the best. Better than any man alive.”

She walks into me and my arms wrap around her tight. In order to prevent me breaking down in a public place, I tell her urgently, “Ally's college is funded. Papers in my office. I've also got my attorney setting up a trust today that will put ten million at your disposal.”

“I don't want—” she sobs.

“It will make me feel better,” I tell her with a gruff voice before kissing her on her head. “I need to know my girls are taken care of, okay?”

She nods against me, squeezes me tighter.

“Also,” I continue quickly so I can get this out of the way. “I'm transferring ownership of The Sugar Bowl to you. I have no clue if it will be worth anything after this is over, but hire a good business attorney right away and listen to their advice.”

She starts crying in earnest now, tears wetting my shirt as her fingers dig into my back. “I can't do this without you.”

“You can do anything, Caroline,” I tell her softly. “That's how much faith I have in you.”

A tugging on my jeans at my thigh catches my attention and I look down to see Ally standing there. I give her a smile and blink my eyes to chase away my sorrow.

“Uncle Beck, did you know that polar bears' fur isn't white? It's actually hollow and just reflects light?” she asks with a bright smile on her face, but then it slides a little as she takes in my somber look and the fact her mom is clinging to me while crying.

“That's an amazing fact,” I tell her with a shaky voice. “I didn't know that.”

Caroline pulls away, and with her face turned from Ally's, tries to surreptitiously wipe the tears away. Ally, of course, is way too savvy for that.