Read 03 Before The Devil Knows You're Dead-Speak Of The Devil for Free Online

you know that?”
    “No.” I shook my head and sniffled, tears pricking at the corners of my eyes.
    “Don’t cry.” He wiped his thumb under my eyes. “This isn’t a sad story. It was the day I moved in and I was inside that tiny moving van, trying to figure out why the Hell I hadn’t splurged for a professional mover and how I was going to get my couch up the stairs alone.”
    “Oh God,” I said as I remembered what had happened the day he’d moved in.
    “Then,” he said, “I heard this crunch of metal on metal and I knew. I knew it was my eight hundred dollar mountain bike. It was less than six months old.”
    I bit my lower lip and looked down at the sidewalk, my eyes stinging even as I thought about the memory of our first meeting. I’d been laughing at something Lisa had said about her date the night before and hadn’t been paying attention. I’d pulled into the spot behind the moving van, intending to run my groceries upstairs before parking in the lot behind our building. I didn’t even know there was a bike there until I heard it snapping underneath my tires.
    “Have I mentioned how sorry I am about that?” I winced.
    “I’d bought the stupid bike as a splurge after finishing law school. I’d had this insane idea about biking to work every day and being environmentally friendly. Which lasted all of one day because I realized that bike riding in Pittsburgh leaves you sweaty, rumpled, and covered in a fine layer of potentially carcinogenic air pollution.”
    “So you hadn’t been riding it then?” I asked.
    “No, the stupid thing had been collecting dust until you ran it over. I didn’t know whether I was supposed to scream at you for destroying it and getting it out of my life, or thank you for giving me an excuse to never try bike riding again.”
    “You didn’t do either. You stood there and glared at me like I was dirt on your shoes.” I smiled and he ran his fingers through my hair.
    “More like tried to calm down so I didn’t stutter and make an ass out of myself,” Matt said. “I hadn’t been that nervous around a woman in my entire life. I was terrified my voice would crack or something and you’d think I was a total jackass. As it was, I spent the next six months trying to come up with excuses to see you again.”
    “You did?”
    “This is embarrassing, but I bribed the mailman into putting your mail in my box so I had a reason to stop by and drop it off. It worked until they switched his route and I could never get the new mail lady to look me in the eyes long enough to convince her to give me your mail. She kept telling me she didn’t have any patience with stalkers and if I didn’t get out of her way, she was going to mace me.”
    “Wow, someone was diligent about her job.”
    “You know what they say.” Matt leaned in to brush his lips against mine. “Neither snow nor sleet nor hail nor entranced men will stop a postal worker from completing their mission. They are the package handling version of the marines.”
    “Entranced men, huh?”
    “I fell in love with you the very first moment I saw you, Faith,” Matt said. “You have to trust me. Trust that I won’t let us fail. I need you too much to let you go now. So please, trust me to love you like you deserve.”
    “Okay, you’re right. Let’s do this.”
    “Great.” Matt smiled at me, his eyes sparkling. “Now, come on, you’ve got to take Roisin shopping and I’ve got to figure out how to tell your father we’re back together in a way that doesn’t get me castrated by a succubae.”
    “Succubae’s don’t castrate men. That’s not really their thing,” I said as we both stood and he led me inside and up the stairs.
    “Well, hello there,” Malachi said as I stepped into my apartment, Matt a step behind me. He floated close, the cowl of his hood lowered over his face and his big black eyes were filled with mirth. “I have eavesdropped that congratulations are in order. So I will herd everyone