Page 59 of Dueling the Suitors

“Astoria.” He ran a hand over his face and through his hair. “Really?”

Astoria couldn’t help her smirk as she walked towards his large ebony desk. “Number one, that’s my infamous knock. Number two, this room is suffocating. Number three, I want to send this letter to my brother Emmett.”

She slammed the letter on his table.

“Number four, you look beautiful,” Cyrus said. The annoyance drained from his face, but his expression remained somber. He leaned back in his chair, tilted his head, rested his chin on his fist, and stared at her. “Number five, you have to ask nicely.”

Merely seeing him was off-putting enough—but for Emmett… Astoria sighed inwardly.

A smirk tugged at his lips. He enjoyed making her squirm, didn’t he? Wait until she got back at him.

Astoria clenched her jaw and fists before gritting out as politely as she could, “Please.”

Cyrus made a faux-disapproving expression. “No. Try again. The full sentence.”

Tell me why I shouldn’t strangle this man right now.She telepathed to Skylar, wherever he was.

Skylar’s snicker filled her mind.Because he’s your only option to send the letter to your brother to comfort him and stop him from coming here.

Right.

Astoria straightened her already straight posture and lifted her chin. “I want you to help me send this letter to my brother, please.”

Cyrus’ smirk bloomed. “You are desperate, aren’t you?”

She glared at him. “Unlike you, I have a brother I love back home, literally going out of his mind with worry for me as I speak right now.”

Cyrus stared at her, and the longer he did, the more his smirk softened into a smile. “You do love your brother, don’t you?” Before she could respond, he added, “I would like to read your letter first.”

He began to reach for her letter, but Astoria snatched it back. “You will not cross into my privacy!”

He shrugged. “Then you are wasting my time.”

“You are such a fiend!”

“And you are so childish.”

“Oh yes, congratulations onthat.” Astoria let out a cold laugh. “You have married a child trapped in an eighteen-year-old girl’s body.”

As soon as she said that, she remembered Silas telling her the same words over a year ago. Fuelled by the recollection, she broke the seal, unfolded the letter, and began to read.

“My dearest Emmett, I miss you so much already. Yes, as you have probably found out by now, my street performer ‘husband’ turned out to be the Emperor in disguise. I want you to beassured that I am alive, unharmed, and healthy, if not well, safe, and happy. My temporary prison, though not as bad as the dungeons back home, is so dark and bathed in boring elegance. Everywhere I look, there is at least one black thing. Just like the heart of the man who owns this place.

“He is a monster, a dark, manipulative fiend. He is arrogant, calculating, deceitful, egotistical, overbearing, imperious, haughty, vain, cunning, malevolent, callous, heartless… oh brother, I could go on and on, and it would not be enough to describe him. Worst of all, he bears the title of my husband. He believes that his power and title give him the right to toy with people’s lives, and I am now a pawn in his twisted game.

“But be assured, my brother, he cannot break me, because I draw strength from the thought of you. I know you worry, and I hate to be the cause of your distress, but I promise you, I will make you proud in the end. Until then, often think of me and send me your courage through the stars. I love you to the number of the stars. Always your sister, Storie.”

Astoria lowered the letter from her face and met his gaze with a neutral expression. “Satisfied?” She folded the letter back and slipped it into the envelope.

Cyrus had a hand over his mouth, trying and failing to smother his smile. Astoria narrowed her eyes at him, forcing him to fight his amusement hard. He cleared his throat and held out his hand for the letter. “Very much. Since it’s all about me.”

If he realized what she read was fake, he didn’t question it.

“Do you promise to send it to my brother?” she asked him like one would ask a child if he promised not to climb trees again.

He raised a perfect, dark eyebrow. “Why don’t you see for yourself?”

Astoria eyed him skeptically but let him take the letter.

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