Page 52 of The Ruthless and the Strong

Max

I leanedback against the chair and rubbed my eyes.

Usually I loved being at work. I loved what I did, and I was good at it. After a week of being away from the office, I should have been thrilled to get back to my regular routine. Only I wasn’t. The morning at the gym with Mason rested heavily on my mind. After we had finished showering, we got back in Mason’s car and he drove us home in tense silence.

I didn’t even know who was more angry, him or me, and the thing was, I wasn’t even sure why I was so angry. I had long ago forgiven my brother for the way he and Olivia had started.

I thought I had gotten over the anger at being duped for months by him when he started seeing her behind my back. I was happy with my little family, and the family Olivia and Mason had started together. I didn’t think I would wish it differently, considering we got Emma out of this, and Olivia was happy.

But back at the gym, it was as if the anger from before had resurfaced, and I didn’t know what to do with it. I had wanted to hurt him, and I probably did too good of a job. Now I was back at work, and all the financial reports I was supposed to read through before approving the investment plan on a property my company was inquiring about had turned into nothing more than indistinguishable shapes. I didn’t even know what the hell I was supposed to be looking at.

When did everything start to turn to shit?

I wondered when my life had gotten so complicated.

A knock at the door brought me out of my thoughts. I looked up at the open door and found my assistant standing there, an uncomfortable look on her face, while two gentlemen I had never met before stood behind her.

I knew right away that they were law enforcement.

I adopted a casual look. “Yes?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Kade. But these two gentlemen from the police department wanted to see you.”

I nodded and stood up. “Thank you, Rebecca. You can get back.”

She nodded and I didn’t miss the curious look in her eyes. I ignored that and turned to the two men. The one closest to me spoke first, holding out his hand. “Mr. Kade. Sorry for taking up your time.”

“Please, call me Max.” I directed them toward the black leather sofa at the end of the office. “Can I offer you something to drink?”

“Water would be good,” the second man said. He was slightly shorter than his partner, but there was a presence about him that told me he was probably the one in charge out of the two. I nodded and grabbed two water bottles from the mini fridge before making my way back to them, trying to gather my thoughts.

When I got there, they were taking in the photo collage I had of Olivia hung on my wall. It was every picture of her first day of school, starting from kindergarten to her freshman year of college. I stopped doing it her sophomore year, because she had been living in an apartment at the time, and it didn’t make sense to continue the tradition.

“Your daughter?” the first man that spoke asked.

“Something like that,” I said as a way of explanation. I didn’t want to go further into the details of my relationship with Olivia. “What can I help you with?”

The first officer who spoke to me first said, “Mr. Kade—”

“Max,” I interrupted.

“Max. My name is Officer Hernandez, and this is my partner, Officer Kyle.”

I nodded and smiled. “Pleasure.”

Officer Hernandez smiled a bit, though there wasn’t anything humorous about the situation. “We’re just here doing a routine questioning.”

“In regard to?”

“The death of Lorenzo Vitelli.”

I was quiet for beat, not giving them any reaction. “I hadn’t realized Lorenzo Vitelli died. What does that have to do with me?”

“He was found in the woods with his wrists cut.”

“Sounds like suicide to me.”

Officer Hernandez nodded. Nothing in his expression told me this was anything more than routine. “We think so, too. But his family doesn’t.”

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