AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sophie smiled at him, and Sunny was beaming. The little girl clapped her hands together, her eyes sparkling. “I can be a princess?”
“You and your mum could both be princesses.” Malik glanced at Sophie, and suddenly his cheesy line had much more meaning than he’d intended.
“Malik, I’m firing her up,” Chad called out in warning. The little girl needed protection on her ears.
“First, you have to wear the enchanted headphones,” he told Sunny.
“Only if I can sit with you,” she said coyly.
“Oh, my.” Sophie shook her head. “My daughter is an incorrigible flirt.”
“She’s perfect,” Malik said.
The smiles Sophie and Sunny each gave him were so blindingly bright that Malik found himself blinking quickly and never wanting to look away.
“Malik, let’s go,” Chad called.
The major was getting on his nerves, but they did need to leave.
Malik fitted the headphones on Sunny and then held out his arms. She flung herself at him. He hadn’t held a little child in a long time, not since Kiera was small. Sunny in his arms felt right. Very right. He didn’t care who her father was. He could easily love this child like his own. He caught Sophie watching them with a sweet smile as he sat in his seat and strapped in.
Nobody said much, and the air in the helicopter was tense as they flew out of Augustine and over the Swiss Alps. He couldn’t speak with Sunny as her headphones simply blocked the noise, but she instigated a silly game of hand slaps, clasps, and patterns of both that kept her entertained for a while. He had fun with the little one, similar to when he was messing around with his sister Kiera.
The sun set, and Sunny calmed and rested her head against his chest. It was instinctive to rock and bounce her softly. Within minutes, her eyes closed and she slept. He glanced up and smiled at Sophie, who was watching him. She returned it.
“Looks like you’ve got the magic touch with my girl,” she said into the headset.
“I’ve got the magic touch,” Chad interjected.
Lieutenant Mason chuckled.
“I’ve got the enchanting touch,” Malik countered, appreciating the soft weight of the little one in his arms. Nobody who knew him would think he could be serious about any relationship besides his immediate family. He was very serious about protecting Sophie and Sunny, and someday soon settling down and being a husband and father to these two. If Sophie still loved him as he did her.
“Not sure how to one-up that one,” Chad teased.
“You can’t, so don’t even attempt it,” Malik said.
Sophie laughed, which made his heart threaten to burst.
They swooped over high mountain peaks and then down toward a village set into the mountainside.
“This is Wengen,” Chad said.
Malik had been here on a ski vacation but they couldn’t see much in the dark. It was a fabulous remote village with restaurants, hotels, and ski lifts lifting off straight from the middle of the town. The famed Jungfrau summit could be accessed from the enclosed tram. The only way to access the village was hiking, the train, or a helicopter.
Chad eased away from the town and around the mountain’s side. The village lights became more spread out until they reached a massive home built on the edge of the cliff. The closest house was several hundred yards around the bluff. The privacy was exactly what they needed.
He imagined the views of the Lauterbrunnen valley two-thousand feet below, the well-known valley of seventy waterfalls, would be incredible in the daylight. Luckily this village and valley were accustomed to frequent helicopter sightings. Tourists paid for helicopter tours of this breathtaking region of the Alps and wealthy people flew in to visit the famed area or because they had second homes here rather than taking the train up the mountain.
Chad settled the helicopter on the helipad, set next to the garage entrances. The guards and Sophie’s parents climbed out. Malik handed Sunny over to Sophie. The little girl mumbled something and then settled against her mum. He jumped down out of the helicopter then reached up and lifted both of them down.
Sophie leaned into him as he wrapped his arm around her waist. Mason and Levi had their sidearms out, eyes checking their surroundings as they waited for Chad to shut down the helicopter.
Finally, the rotors slowed and stopped. Chad hopped out of the helicopter. His gaze swept over Malik holding Sophie close and his green eyes darkened. He recovered quickly and also pulled out his pistol. With his easy grin in place, he directed them to a side door. He punched in a code and the door beeped. Swinging it wide, Chad gestured them through.
Malik escorted Sophie through the spacious and virtually empty garage. There were a couple of side-by-side utility vehicles, golf carts, mountain bikes, and loads of skis and ski equipment mounted on the walls.
Chad entered the garage last, shut the door behind him, and punched in a code on a panel next to the door.
