The One He Dismissed Became The One He Died For novel Chapter 282

Seeing her panicked reaction, Miles's heart sank. He kept his voice perfectly level. "What are you hiding?"

"Texting someone?"

"Um... no, no," Claire stammered, nodding and shaking her head simultaneously. She looked incredibly guilty, practically radiating the fact that she had been caught red-handed.

Miles casually straightened his posture, his eyes darkening.

Harvey's words from earlier in the day echoed relentlessly in his mind: *Jefferson Sterling is coming back.*

So, was she...

Miles desperately didn't want to make assumptions, but his jaw clenched tight regardless.

He had no desire to invade her privacy, but the gnawing anxiety was absolute torture.

After a brief hesitation, he held out his hand and curled his fingers, gesturing for her to hand over the device.

"Let's not. It's really nothing interesting..."

She tried to deflect, but looking up into Miles's impossibly deep, intense gaze, her resolve crumbled in seconds.

Accepting her defeat, Claire handed over the phone, her face burning hot.

She frantically chanted in her head: *We're both adults. So what if I look at a little romance? Who cares?*

It wasn't that she was a prude; it was just that the material Chloe had sent was exceptionally more aggressive than your standard steamy paperback.

Miles's cool fingers swiped the screen open.

Despite being a man who had faced literal life-and-death scenarios in the operating room, he froze completely when he saw the incredibly explicit, unfiltered text filling the screen.

He stared at the phone, then looked down at her, letting out a breathy, exasperated laugh.

"Claire, am I not satisfying you enough?"

...

She was being framed!

"A group session? The handsome neighbor next door?"

He read the scandalous words slowly, each syllable raising Claire's core temperature.

To hear a man so notoriously stoic reading pure smut out loud felt entirely illegal. His deep, resonant voice could have easily narrated late-night audiobooks.

Miles tapped the screen with a long, elegant finger.

So incredibly wicked that Claire found herself completely unable to resist, let alone argue.

He always looked so proper and untouchable, yet he was capable of whispering the most devastatingly seductive things.

She was burning up.

"Miles, let me go take a shower first. Please?"

He released his grip, shifting back just enough to give her space. "Alright."

Claire immediately tried to slide out from under his arm.

A second later, he grabbed her by the waist and hauled her right back against his chest.

"Alright, we'll shower together."

Once inside the bathroom, surrounded by thick steam, Claire felt her back pressed against the cool tiles. The contrast of the freezing ceramic and his burning heat was agonizingly euphoric.

An hour later, Miles carried her out of the bathroom.

She was entirely drained, unable to move a single muscle.

Miles lifted her hand, pressing a tender kiss to her knuckles. "Be a good girl. I'm going to need your help with one more thing."