“I’m going to fucking kill you,” my brother howled in frustration as he struggled to free himself from the iron hold on his arms. “You’re dead, Vanderbuel.” So, there was a bit of me in him after all. I almost grinned, but now wasn’t the time.

The object of my brother’s hatred blinked several times, like he was shell-shocked and had no idea how he got here or why this had happened. A millisecond of sympathy surged through me, quickly replaced by my own brand of anger for this dickhead who’d mess with a married woman and mother of five children.

“I didn’t know,” the guy croaked in agony. He shot an accusatory glare in my sister-in-law’s direction. She ducked her head and didn’t look at anyone. I wanted to slap her beautiful face for putting my brother through this once again.

I’d never liked Bria. Never. In fact, no one in our family cared much for her. She didn’t like any of us either. I wasn’t even sure she liked my brother. She’d gone looking for a rich hockey player and snagged my brother when he was a naïve, vulnerable rookie and didn’t know about women like her. Jock hadn’t grown up with love, and he’d craved it. I, on the other hand, rejected it.

Neither she nor my brother was good at using birth control. I assumed she used those kids to rope my brother into being stuck with her no matter what she did. Other than the inconvenience of being pregnant, she didn’t deal much with the kids. Jock always had a nanny, sometimes two.

I’d long suspected she didn’t spend her nights alone when Jock was on a road trip, but now we had explicit proof. Surely, my brother would divorce her, though he’d put up with a lot in their sixteen years of marriage.

“I’m sorry.” The guy called Vanderbuel pleaded with my brother. He seemed genuinely sorry. “I didn’t know she was married, especially not to a teammate.”

He was Jock’s teammate? This was a low blow even for her. She’d never messed around with any of the Sockeyes as far as I knew, and I knew a lot. Vanderbuel? Of course, the guy who just got called up because of an injury on the team. I’d been preparing his equipment just today, instead of going on the one-day road trip with the rest of the equipment staff.

“I’m not interested in your fucking excuses. I’m going to pound that pretty face of yours the first chance I get. Get the fuck out of my sight.” My brother wasn’t a violent guy. He was quiet but determined, with infinite patience. I guess not today.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were a hockey player?” Bria spat at her boy toy, doing her usual blame game. I guess it didn’t occur to her that she shouldn’t have been screwing around on Jock, teammate or not.

Vanderbuel’s gaze swung to me, and our eyes met. A sliver of awareness arced across an invisible thread connecting us. I felt a tug as if being pulled toward this man. He was hot, no doubt about it, but there was more. Something I couldn’t explain sent shock waves through me, and under the circumstances, I refused to explore it further. His green eyes pleaded for me, for anyone, to believe him. He did look devastated.