Page 448 of Edge of Eternity (The Century 3)

He could tell by the way Verena walked that she had had a glass or two of wine with her lunch. They came across the lot hand in hand, she giggling at something the man said, and hot fury boiled inside George.

The man was tall and broad, with thick fair hair, quite long.

As they came closer, George recognized Jasper Murray.

"You son of a bitch," he said aloud.

Jasper had always had a yen for Verena, right from the first time they had met, at the Willard Hotel on the day of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech. But lots of men had a yen for Verena. George had never imagined that Jasper, of all of them, would be the betrayer.

They walked to the Jaguar and kissed.

George knew he should start his car and drive away. He had learned what he needed to know. There was nothing else to be done.

Verena's mouth was open, George could see. She leaned into Jasper with her hips. Both had their eyes closed.

George got out of his car.

Jasper grasped Verena's breast.

George slammed the car door and strode across the tarmac toward them.

Jasper was too absorbed in what he was doing but Verena heard the slam and opened her eyes. She saw George, pushed Jasper away, and screamed.

She was too late.

George reached back with his right arm then hit Jasper with a punch that had all the force of his back and shoulders in it. His fist connected with the left side of Jasper's face. George felt the deeply satisfying squish of soft flesh, then, a split second later, the hardness of teeth and bones. Then pain blazed in his hand.

Jasper staggered backward and fell to the ground.

Verena yelled: "George! What have you done?" She knelt beside Jasper, careless of her stockings.

Jasper lifted himself on one elbow and felt his face. "Fucking animal," he said to George.

George wanted Jasper to get up off the ground and hit back. He wanted more violence, more pain, more blood. He stared at Jasper for a long moment, seeing through a red mist. Then the fog cleared, and he realized Jasper was not going to get up and fight.

George turned around, went back to his car, and drove away.

When he got home, Jack was in his bedroom, playing with his collection of toy cars. George closed the door, so that Nanny Tiffany could not hear. He sat on the bed, which was covered by a counterpane that looked like a racing car. "I've got something very difficult to tell you," he said.

"What happened to your hand?" Jack said. "It's all red and puffed up."

"I banged it on something. You have to listen to me."

"Okay."

This was going to be hard for a four-year-old to understand. "You know I'll always love you," George said. "Just like Grandma Jacky loves me, even though I'm not a little boy anymore."

"Is Grandma coming today?"

"Maybe tomorrow."

"She brings cookies."

"Listen. Sometimes mommies and daddies stop loving each other. Did you know that?"

"Yeah. Pete Robbins's daddy doesn't love his mommy anymore." Jack's voice became solemn. "They got divorced."

"I'm glad you understand that, because your mom and I don't love each other anymore."

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