Lust, Obsession, Desires, Ecstasy, Rapture (Part II)

TETERBORO AIRPORT
Teterboro, New Jersey  
 
  
“Fuck!” Steffen barked out forcefully. He verbalized his disbelief in front of Isabella.  
   
“What is it Steffen?”  
   
Isabella closed her mirror compact, placed it inside her clutch purse, and closed it. She looked up.  
   
“Oh my goodness,” Isabella avowed in bewilderment.  
   
She glanced out both sides of the limousine’s windows, and then the elongated rear window.  
   
The limousine’s intercom buzzed no sooner after Steffen and Isabella vented their dissatisfaction.  
   
“Sig. Galeio, I’m going undercover.”  
   
The limousine begin to reverse and flee to peaceful grounds.  
   
Steffen looked out the window and scanned his surroundings. He spotted Cobra, who stood guard within a few yards of his Boeing Business Learjet passengers’ boarding steps.  
   
Cobra looked over the spectators’ head; he witnessed his employer’s limousine pulling away. He managed to convey a hand signal to Steffen with obstructing difficulty.  
   
Steffen immediately pressed the intercom button, which preceded the forecasted hand signal from his bodyguard.  
   
“Fredrick, I’ve just been advised in advance the back entrance to the airport does not appear to be welcoming as well.”  
   
“I understand Sig. Galeio.”  
   
Fredrick stopped the limousine’s reverse path of motion several yards from the inquisitive multitude.  
   
Cobra assumed Steffen must have caught his fair warning, due to the gradual halt of the limousine.  
   
Fredrick’s finger pressed the intercom.  
   
“What should I do Sig. Galeio?”  
   
“Stand by Fredrick.”  
   
“Yes signore.”  
   
An interior silence fell among its occupants. No one uttered a word. Everyone entangled, waited for the next field of action to occur. A will and stubborn mind debated against the forceful calling of the deafening swarmed assembled.  
   
Steffen turned his head in Isabella’s direction; he cupped his chin down, and then smiled at her.  
   
Isabella slid her hand over Steffen’s hand and stroked it for progression.  
   
Her brave smile guaranteed futuristic sweet pleasures and a lifetime token of inevitable rewards.  
   
Isabella gave Steffen’s hand a gentle squeeze.  
   
Steffen pressed the intercom button down.  
   
“I say let’s do this mon.”  
   
Steffen released the intercom button.  
   
“Yes Sig. Galeio.”  
   
The body of the limousine crept forward through the blockade of spectators. The multi-gendered reporters pressed their microphone pieces up against the inhabitant’s back passenger window with urgency.  
   
“My love, have you ever dealt with the general press? Apparently, from what I could assume a press leak?”  
   
Each one witnessed the exterior disorder.  
   
“Yes, but only in greeting at numerous functions given at Queensgate Manor, and all responses to questions were always limited with cordial intentions.”  
   
“Receptive intentions, is not the ordered special for this evening my love. Unfortunately, those here in abiding congregation, just happen to be the persistent news media. The same condemning press who hound you with countless questions. Then turn around and fabricate the truth. However, under no circumstances will they ever allow you to respond truthfully, not unless, and only unless you contact them first. In this predicament, I did not call in advance, merda!”  
   
Isabella gripped her clutch purse to her person tightly, as if it was a protective good luck shied to warn off invading inquiries. She continued to glance out the window.  
   
Steffen and Isabella silently wondered who could have stirred up this frenzied uproar.  
   
The airport’s outside runway was crawling with the national news media, the press, several local radio station vans crowded what restricted space that wasn’t occupied, and a helicopter hung in mid-air at low gravity.  
   
Each entity gathered and waited in disunites.  
   
“Are you ready for this belle?”  
   
Steffen squeezed Isabella’s hand for reassurance.  
   
“With you at my side, I’m ready for this.”  
   
Isabella squeezed Steffen’s hand back for safe measurement.  
   
“Very well then, let’s do this my love.”  
   
Steffen slowly inhaled, and then exhaled. He concentrated on the unplanned task.  
   
The limousine stopped a few yards away from the sight of the promising Boeing Business Learjet.  
   
Steffen already schooled himself on the importance to lock the limousine door when entering the press’ territory.  
   
The multi-media begin to pull on the rooted vehicle’s door handle before anyone had the time to acknowledge their presence.  
   
“I need you to hold onto my hand and rely on me to get us through this, just remember, no comment.”  
   
Steffen snatched a quick kiss from Isabella.  
   
Bruce opened the front passenger door, stepped out, and closed the door back. He trailed his way through the immobile crowd.  
   
Steffen unlocked the door. Bruce reached for the back passenger door handle and opened the door.  
   
“Here we go my love”  
   
Steffen grabbed Isabella’s hand and stepped out into the boisterous crowd.  
   
Bruce slammed the door close, and then led the path for Steffen and Isabella’s journey.  
   
“Move it or lose it,” Bruce shouted from the top of his lungs. He swung the glaring cameras lens sideways as he paved a forwarding path for Steffen and Isabella’s footsteps. “Give them some room dammit!” Bruce’s voice demanded. He moved back thrones of people. And pushed down several camera in his forward progress.  
   
“Is it true Mr. Galeio you plan to wed in secrecy?”  
   
“No comment.”  
   
A microphone was placed in front of Isabella’s mouth.  
   
“A reliable source has estimated your age to be several years younger than Mr. Galeio?”  
   
“No comment,” Isabella threw out.  
   
“Mr. Galeio, any comment as to why you would risk wedding someone to be almost half your age?”  
   
“No comment.”  
   
Steffen pushed forward; he held onto Isabella’s hand with all his might  
   
“Mr. Galeio, there has been numerous speculations, that your late grandfather Nicholas Demetrius Galeio III had an illegal affiliation with the notorious Sicilian Mafia’s Godfather Giovonnio Donateli and that you have incurred and paid off all of his existing debts. Care to comment?”  
   
Several microphones from every direction were pointed in front of Steffen’s face.  
   
“No comment,” Steffen conveyed.  
   
“Is there any talk of any kids in the future?”  
   
“Have a pre-nuptial agreement been signed?”  
   
Isabella held onto Steffen’s hand for dear life while consistently being bombarded with countless questions.  
   
The news camera’s flashing light bulbs blinded her vision. She could not wait to get home. Home? Where is home? She thought.  
   
Steffen’s bodyguard finally escorted them through the speculating assembled rambling press.  
   
“Mr. Galeio,” several voices called out in the distance background.  
   
Bruce rooted himself. He stood affixed behind the wooden blockade someone had the decency to provide. He continued to hold the disarrayed crowd at bay while Isabella, and then Steffen climbed the passenger boarding steps to the Boeing Business Learjet.  
   
Isabella instantly spotted her mother and Mattie.  
   
“Mother.”  
   
Lady Zelda and Mattie stood.  
   
Isabella ran into her mother’s outstretched arms.  
   
“Congratulations baby.”  
   
Lady Zelda kissed Isabella on both sides of her cheek.  
   
From there, Mattie’s arms embraced Isabella’s frame.  
   
“Thank you both.”  
   
Isabella displayed to her audience her expensive accessory.  
   
“It’s so lovely Isabella,” her mother praised with glee as she examined the stone closer.  
   
“And very huge,” Mattie inserted. “Child ya stay happy,” Mattie expressed with misty eyes.  
   
Isabella glanced up the Learjet’s widen carpeted aisle. She held Steffen’s eyes.  
   
Steffen winked at Isabella and then smiled. He returned his full attention to what Julius and he was discussing.  
   
Such a handsome and arrogant man Isabella’s mind reprimanded, and all hers for the keeping and trust her, she shall her conscious rejoiced.  
   
Bruce assumed the coast was clear. He walked backwards to the Learjet. He turned around and greeted Cobra at the passenger boarding steps.  
   
“Nice job man,” Cobra commanded Bruce.  
   
Both bodyguards climbed the passenger boarding steps.  
   
The co-pilot intervened on Steffen and Julius’ conversation. He advised both men they would depart in a couple of minutes. So now would be the appropriate time for he and his company to take their respective seats.  
   
“Oh dear Isabella. Before this completely slips my mind.”  
   
“What is it mother?”  
   
Lady Zelda opened her black Chanel Lambskin bag and dug inside the side pocket. She pulled out a maroon colored velvet jewelry box and closed her tote bag back.  
   
“Here is something I would like for you to have.”  
   
Lady Zelda handed the jewelry box to Isabella.  
   
“Thank you mother.”  
   
Isabella opened the jewelry box; she was puzzled and speechless.  
   
“But..., but mother. This belongs to...”  
   
“I know it does Isabella. I’m certain your father, bless his soul would not have minded me giving this to you for such a ceremonial occasion. During the blessed ceremony, you may now encircle your soon-to-be husband’s finger with it.”  
   
“Thank you mother.”  
   
Isabella kissed her mother on the cheek.  
   
Lady Zelda watched her mature daughter contentment through maternal eyes. She felt overwhelmed with happiness for her; Nevertheless, A surge of loneliness engulfed her heart.  
   
“I’ll always be here for you..., you know if you ever need to talk.”  
   
Isabella dissected her mother’s sentimental exchange a little deeper she hugged her.  
   
“Hey, you will not be losing a daughter; you will be inheriting a son-in-law.”  
   
“Yes of course.”  
   
Lady Zelda composed herself.  
   
“I think it’s about that time you two.”  
   
Isabella hugged her mother again, and then turned to embrace Mattie.  
   
“I love you both,” Isabella submitted.  
   
Isabella turned to walk away.  
   
Silent tears escaped down Lady Zelda’s cheeks.  
   
Mattie patted Lady Zelda on her shoulder for moral support.  
   
“She will be fine.” Mattie fished into her pocket and handed Lady Zelda a piece of Kleenex tissue. “General Tramaine and you did ya’ll selves proud.”  
   
Isabella’s presence was right on time; she took her seat beside Steffen. He clasped her hand in his.  
   
The co-pilot wandered back down the lengthen aisle. He came to stand beside Steffen’s seat; he bent down within ear range.  
   
“Where to Sig. Galeio,” his co-pilot solicited.  
   
Steffen hesitated for a minute; he pivoted his head sideways. His eyes locked with Isabella.  
   
“Destination, Monte Carlos. I feel lucky this evening.” Steffen kissed Isabella’s hand. “Be on standby in a week with proper clearance to fly out, destination, Florence, Italy. I will be introducing my new moglie to my country’s people.”  
   
“That’s affirmative Sig. Galeio.”  
   
The co-pilot dismissed himself from Steffen’s attendance after he received his verbally assigned flying itinerant.  
   
“Ladies and Gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts. We will be taking off shortly,” the pilot’s voice asserted through the Boeing Business Learjet’s overhead speakers.  
   
The passenger boarding stair hatch automatically begin to seal itself.  
   
Bruce and Cobra took their respective seats near the hatch.  
   
Both waited and watched with observant eyes for any unforeseen circumstances that could occur on gravity.  
   
Bruce and Cobra occupied themselves with constructing a safe course of action to insure all departing passengers, and crewmembers their privacy once they have reached their destination.  
   
“What the hell!” Cobra shouted; he cut his sentence off in mid-stream.  
   
For a split second, he forgot his manners. He unbuckled his seatbelt and jumped up. He hit the Learjet’s alarm button for the pilots to delay departure.  
   
Cobra’s sudden outburst and reflexes grabbed the attention of the seated others.  
   
All suspicious eyes reared in the direction of a reporter who leaped his body onto the Learjet before the passenger boarding stair hatch completely fastened.  
   
The reporter begin to snap his hand held digital camera at the enclosed occupants. He knew in advance his exclusive photographs would be worth millions to all interested parties.  
   
“Trap him,” Bruce yelled to Cobra.  
   
The two men sandwiched the reporter’s escape.  
   
“Enjoying the sights pal?” Bruce brutishly asked.  
   
The reporter’s main objective at this critical stage was to protect his future investment. He tucked the camera under his arm, and secured it with the aligned position of his inner arm.  
   
“And what do we have here Cobra?”  
   
“It looks we have a smart motherfucker here Bruce.”  
   
Steffen walked up on the threesome.  
   
“Boss it looks like this idiot is about to lose what he is holding hostage,” Cobra affirmed.  
   
“Do it now!” Steffen demanded. He turned back around and returned to his seat.  
   
“Well you want a story?”  
   
The reporter’s reply was silence.  
   
“Well here’s an interesting one.” Bruce hit the bordering hatch control button. “How about noisy reporter lands on his ass,” yelled Bruce. He kicked the reporter down the Learjet’s passenger boarding hatch stairs.  
   
“Filmed at eleven,” Bruce and Cobra said in union.  
   
Everyone in attendance witnessed the reporter tumble onto the face. His camera sprawled all over the tarmac.  
   
Cobra hit the boarding hatch control button.  
   
The automatic hatch reclosed itself.  
   
Bruce made a telephone call to the cockpit, and advised both pilots the delay has been addressed.  
   
Bruce and Cobra took their seats, and strapped their presence in.  
   
The Boeing Business Learjet gained speed and ascended.  
   
“Steffen, that was rather uncivil and rude,” Isabella voiced with concern.  
   
“Yes, that may be so belle. However, let us also look at it like this. Once a prying mon enter into another mon’s threshold unannounced or uninvited he becomes fair game. Boys play with toys and Scholars play with dollars my love. Moreover, what if this person had been a perilous unwelcomed guest with marked orders? This entire crew, including you and I would have been at the mercy of an assassin’s bullet. Belle, in my country, I am a very affluent and powerful mon, and I must admit I do have plenty of allies, whom I keep close associations with. Whereas, I have several foes, which I maintain their immediate whereabouts with a keen eye at all times.” Steffen kissed Isabella’s lips, and then stroked her cheek. “I would do anything within my powers to always keep you safe, and at my side. I have a weakness for that smile of yours.” Steffen raised Isabella’s hand to his lips and kissed it.  
   
“Excuse me my love.”  
   
Steffen pressed in a button embedded in the armrest of his seat.  
   
“Julius,” Steffen summoned a response over the embedded intercom.  
   
“Si Sig. Galeio.”  
   
“Get on the telephone, and invite by addressed invitations only about fifty or so of my close associates to be a guest at my casa in a week.” Steffen looked at Isabella. “I would be introducing everyone attending, and Italy my beautiful new moglie.”  
   
Steffen winked at Isabella.  
   
“I will take care of it right away Sig.Galeio.”  
   
“Grazie Julius.”  
   
Steffen pushed in the intercom button to the galley.  
   
“Jeano.”  
   
“May I assist you with something Sig. Galeio?”  
   
“Yes. Can I get three bottles of chilled Verdicchio with toasting chalices up here; I will be celebrating the announcement of my wedding engagement and pending marriage. And see to it the kitchen staff remains on standby throughout.”  
   
“Si Sig. Galeio.”  
   
Isabella was quiet throughout Steffen’s bidding.  
   
Steffen turned toward Isabella.  
   
“Are you all right my love?”  
   
“Yes I’m fine, this is all just so overwhelming to me.”  
   
“I know it is belle.” Steffen kissed Isabella on the lips. “We will make this work. There is no other donna I’d rather be with, then you, and I’m hoping the feeling is mutual?”  
   
“Yes my love, absolutely.”  
   
“Then we will do this together my love,” Steffen sustained.  
   
“Together,” Isabella repeated.  
   
The two sealed their promise with a kiss.  
   
“Very well then. Monte Carlos it shall be. I have prepared in advance a return trip back to New York for your mother and Mattie. We will be spending our honeymoon at the Hôtel le Cap Estel, and then in a week. We will be flying home to Florence, Italy as marito with his beautiful moglie.”  
   
Isabella admired her ring; she still could not believe she would be marrying the handsome man at her side.  
   
“Steffen.”  
   
“Yes my love?”  
   
“Would all this have transpired, if you didn’t assume I would be marrying Devin?”  
   
Isabella had to ask. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him with no future regrets on his behalf.  
   
Steffen elevated Isabella’s chin.  
   
Isabella’s eyes met his.  
   
“Yes my love, this would have definitely taken place. In addition, two hours later, and in discreet. I have one question for you Signorina Tramaine.”  
   
“Ask away.”  
   
“Would your late padre have approved of this union to be?”  
   
“My father would have approved of his son-in-law, because he would have discerned his daughter would not have given her heart away to anyone that wasn’t deserving of it. I love you Steffen Galeio.” Isabella brought Steffen’s face to hers, and affixed her lips to his. She kissed him and inched her face back. “And I always will.” She kissed him on the lips again and slowly withdrew her lips away from his. Isabella cupped Steffen’s chin within her palms. “Pardon me, where are my manners handsome.” Isabella blushed with desired shame.  
   
Steffen turned his lips toward Isabella’s hand and kissed one of her inner palms.  
   
“Not to worry my love. I’ll guarantee you a lifetime of this.”  
   
Steffen quickly kissed Isabella’s lips and inched his face back.  
   
“You promise Mr. Galeio?”  
   
“Till death do us part my love.”  
   
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