CEO Of My Heart 179 178

Instead he could picture Ellie as she laid next to him on his bed perfectly. The soft flutter of her eyelashes as they covered and uncovered the little mole by her eye. He knew that it was probably due to his having to take care of her so closely, she was still healing after all. If he was in the healthcare profession that would mean nothing more to him than work. 

Work. 

Ellie was just a means to an end. Her health was not unwelcome, but it had been quite an accident to find her there. He looked at her now with this thought in his mind. She was so concentrated with her joy of driving again that she had not noticed his deep perusal of her. It was a safe moment to look and memorize. She did have delicate features enough to model internationally maybe, but Henry knew her proportions were not as good as Nadia's. Critics would be unforgiving of the extra fat around her stomach and her thigh which would mean she would be on a lean diet to starve her into shape. The thought horrified him as he remembered the emaciated body that had arrived at his home. She had been all too thin and too pale. Ellie belonged out here with the grit and mud as she earned her racing stripes. Nadia's hands were delicate to Ellie's course callous one. He liked to touch the rough patches of Ellie's hands and contrast him with her smooth ones. They had character like the rest of her, same as had been with his mother. 

He looked away quickly as he realized this. Henry had sworn off women who reminded him of his mother. He wouldn't allow himself to hurt like that ever again. Henry had sworn he would marry someone he could handle losing. Ellie could not and would not be a good option. 

He had been having these thoughts more frequently and Henry knew it was because Nadia was away. He had been so focused on Ellie's recovery that he had forgotten why he had gotten married in the first place. Nadia was the woman of his dreams, his perfect match. He needed to see her again soon to remind himself why he had risked so much for one woman. 

Henry hated that he would still have to wait a while for her to come back to the city where he could find her. He also knew that once she returned to the city and found him, there would be the horrible dinner where he would have to tell her what he had done. He would have to explain Ellie. Henry knew he could not be photographed while married to Ellie. He would be stuck behind the gla.s.s wall of his annulment processing. He was unsure as to how his swan would react to finding a duck in her pond instead of her usual serene habitat. 

He cringed as he thought whether his reputation as an unattached playboy could be reformed after his twisted history with Ellie. 

When they finally returned to the manor at the top of the Wong Building, Michael has discreetly placed a package in his locked bedroom. It had a small bottle of his favorite whiskey from j.a.pan. It smelled deeply of an expensive perfume where a red lipstick mark had been placed on a folded sheet of white cardstock. 

Henry smiled as he opened the bottle and poured himself a gla.s.s. He flipped open the card and found a lingerie polaroid from her last photo spread with Mademoiselle Paris. 

Henry looked at the image. It was not exactly sultry. It wasn't a tease. It was a photo that could come from any of the billboards in the city. He felt certain that he could have been one of many recipients of this type of gift. It was thoughtful but also stank subtly of friendship. He was just a man lucky to be friends with a beautiful girl. 

He felt a tightness grip his hands as he felt bile rise. He had not worked this hard to be discarded like all of her other boy toys. Henry knew her soul. It was more than a flush. He wanted more and she was slowly giving him what he wanted. Ellie might be sleeping under his roof right now but soon, Nadia would take her place. The truth that he would get his perfect wife was all coming together as long as he stayed on course.