Morris Heights was a far cry from the neighborhood I grew up in. The differences weren’t only superficial based on looks, but the entire vibe of the neighborhood. People on the streets hurried to their destinations, avoiding groups of teenage boys who were clearly up to no good. It was obvious people tried to keep to themselves and away from potential trouble. No one ever worried about things like that in my parents’ neighborhood.

When we knocked on the door to Bella’s childhood home, the smiling woman who answered the door looked her age instead of a pampered spa sort of older woman like my mom. Her wrinkle-laden face looked as though she’d spent many days in the harsh elements of weather, which made sense considering Bella said her parents had both worked two jobs. Her hair was grey-streaked, something I had never seen in my own mother, who went to the saloon religiously to erase any sign of aging.

“Isabelle! I wished we’d know you were back in town sooner!” The woman wrapped Bella in the hugest hug possible, kissing her cheek before pulling away and holding Bella by her shoulders. “Let me get a look at you! I can’t believe how much you’ve changed!”

After apparently getting a good enough look, the woman once again hugged Bella tightly.

“Come on, Ma,” said a Brooklyn-accented voice in the background. “Let her and her man in. We all wanna see them.”

“Oh, excuse my poor manners.” Bella’s mother released her, turning to me with a wide, welcoming smile. “We’re so happy you brought our baby home! I wish you’d invited us to your wedding, even if we hadn’t seen Bella in years. We would have loved to be there.”

I shifted my gaze away from her, uncomfortable. There was no way I could tell her we hadn’t had a real wedding, just a meeting with a judge. Still, that didn’t stop a mother from wanting to be there on her daughter’s big day, even if Bella hadn’t seen her family in the eight years since I ruined her life.

“Anyway,” the older woman continued, “that’s not important. I have to thank you, really. It’s just wonderful you’re living in New York. Now we’ll see her more often.” The worship in her mother’s eyes clearly said I was a hero for bringing her daughter home. The woman probably neither knew nor cared that I was a politician. “I’m Sharon.” She reached out to me, wrapping me in her bear hug. “It’s so good to meet you, Damian.”

This was so far out of my element that I struggled with what to do, finally giving Sharon a gentle pat on the back. “It’s nice to meet you too, Sharon.”

She pulled away, beaming happily at me. “You can call me Mom if you want. Sharon sounds a bit stuffy coming from my son-in-law!”

“Sharon,” came a man’s voice different from before, “let them in.” An older gentleman, just as wrinkled and grey as Sharon, stepped into the doorway, shooing her away from the entry. The warm honey-brown that I loved in Bella’s gaze shone from his eyes.

I grinned and stuck my hand out. “You must be Bella’s father.”

“Put that away.” He laughed as his arms came around me in a quick hug. “We don’t shake hands with family. You can call me Pop or Ed, whatever suits you.”

“I... thanks.” Her dad was so warm and friendly. I don’t know what I had expected, but it wasn’t this. People actually interacted like this? I could count the number of hugs I’d received from my father on one hand.

Bella received her own hug from Ed, squealing with delight when her father hoisted her from the ground. “Pop, put me down. I’m too old for this! Think about your back!”

Her dad chuckled, swinging her around a bit before setting her back in place. “Your pictures haven’t done you justice. You’re just as pretty as your Ma, butterfly.”

“Oh, Pop.” Bella’s cheeks flushed, and she looked at the ground. “You’re just saying that.”

“It’s true,” Ed insisted. “For a minute there, I thought your ma’s younger self time traveled to see me all over again.”

“Ugh, Pop,” said the disgruntled accent in the back. “Let them in already!”

“Sure, sure,” Ed said, stepping back.

Within seconds of stepping into the cramped space, I wished we’d invited them to our apartment. There was hardly room to wiggle in the tiny living room, and the three young men sitting on the couch seemed to suck out all the available oxygen. Their faces weren’t nearly as welcoming as Sharon’s and Ed’s had been.

“Brandon?” Bella clapped her hands, rushing across the very short distance to the couch and practically tackling the youngest-looking brother. “When did you get this?” She threw herself into his waiting arms, tugging teasingly on his scruff of beard.

“Come on, Isabelle!” Brandon complained. “I’m not a little kid anymore. Don’t act so surprised.”

“You’re only eighteen,” she argued, “and you’ll always be my baby brother.”

The older brothers gave her a smile, but then focused their gazes on me. One of them stood up, his huge height completely dwarfing me even though I was over six feet myself. “So, you’re the prick who stole my sis, huh?”

Damn, that was the thick accent I’d heard before. He was as intimidating as hell, and I clung to my smile only because I’d faced tougher opponents during debates. However, I was always assured none of my fellow assemblymen would throw a punch at me. This guy just might take me out if I said the wrong thing.

“You must be Kyle?” I asked, hazarding a guess that he was the oldest of the three boys Bella had told me about.

“What’s it to you?” he asked, not at all less belligerent. “You treating my sis right or what?”

Despite my sweat-soaked palms, I shifted to my public smile and nodded. “I’d say so. We have an apartment on Hudson. Plenty of guest rooms. You should visit sometime. Anyway, she’ll never want for anything.”

The other brother, who must have been Elias, let out a snort. “Don’t think we’re impressed by your money, Mr. Politician. We don’t give a rat’s ass about how much you’ve got. Are you good to our sis? That’s the question.”

Confused, I stared at them for several moments. People in my circle were always asking if you could support someone financially before giving their blessing to a union. These guys only cared about her feelings? It was such a foreign concept to me, but I had to admit that I liked it.

“I’m doing my best,” I admitted. “Sometimes I screw up, and we’re getting used to newlywed life, but I hope she’s happy.” I turned my gaze to Bella, who was now sandwiched between Brandon and Elias. “Are you happy, sweetheart?”

Her beaming grin wasn’t lost on her brothers, who relaxed slightly. “Happier than I’ve been in years. You guys don’t have to worry about Damian. He’s a good man.”

Kyle’s mouth still held a slight sneer. “He’s a politician. How good could he be?”

Sharon stepped into the room, apparently having been doing something in the tiny kitchen I spied through the entry. “That’s enough, boys. It’s not like we normally follow politics. We know nothing about Damian. If your sis says she’s happy, how about we give Damian a chance?”

The boys all grunted, not giving the impression they were willing to like me on their mom’s say so.

Bella stood up, hugging Kyle before walking back to me, twining her fingers through mine. “Don’t worry, guys. He’s one of the good ones. In fact, he’s running for a seat in the House of Representatives soon. Just guess what he wants to do!”

“Make money?” Kyle asked.

“Screw people over?” Elias added.

Brandon simply gave me a look that said his opinion was no higher than his brothers’.

“Wrong,” Bella said, her voice breezy and happy. Apparently, their attitudes didn’t bother her in the least. “He’s going to fight for women’s rights and help encourage them to learn self-defense. When I told him what happened to me, he couldn’t wait to help. He’s even letting me do some of the work. I get to tell my story and help others avoid a similar fate. Isn’t that wonderful?”

I’d had no clue Bella was truly so excited about the plan we had to use her past to our advantage. She sounded ecstatic about the chance she’d get to help other women. Maybe having this project could help her finally heal.

The brothers all took on less-skeptical expressions, finally smiling a bit. “Well, what do you say, boys?” Kyle asked. “Sis seems awfully happy.”

“Yeah,” Elias agreed. “Guess we can give him a chance.”

Brandon stood up, holding his hand out to shake mine. “Pop gives hugs. We don’t. Welcome to the family.”

Surprised by their quick turnaround, I shook his hand.

Elias and Kyle then shook my hand in turn, both much friendlier than they’d been moments before. However, just as Kyle was about to let go of my hand, he squeezed too tightly for a second. “Ever hurt her, and you’ll answer to me, got it?”

I drew my hand away, resisting the urge to shake out the pain of his strong grasp. “Got it. Don’t worry. She’s my entire world. I’ll protect her and take care of her.”

Sharon clapped her hands once. “Great! Let’s eat.”

We followed her into the kitchen, where Ed already sat at a rickety, small table that looked like it couldn’t possibly fit us all around it. The boys sat down in folding chairs lined up against the wall, leaving the real chairs for us and Sharon.

The scared wood of the table and chairs would have never graced the inside of my home, let alone my parents’. The table had one leg that wobbled, shaking the table violently when I accidentally bumped it with my foot.

“Careful, son,” Ed said. “Been meaning to fix that, just haven’t found the time.”

Sharon walked from the stove to the table, carrying a large casserole dish with hot pads. “This is an old family favorite, Damian. I hope you like it.”

I couldn’t readily identify what the dish contained. Taking a small helping, I spotted hamburger on the bottom layer, covered by what could have only been tater tots from the freezer. Some sort of cheese sauce covered the entire thing.

With the anxious way Sharon stared at me, I knew she was worried. It had to be obvious to them all that I’d never eaten anything like this.

I flashed her a reassuring grin. “Looks delicious. Thank you so much for cooking.”

“Oh, well. I just wanted to welcome you with one of our favorites.” Sharon’s cheeks flushed with her happiness, and I suddenly saw the comparison to her daughter that Ed made earlier. “I’ll be happy if you like it, but if not, I could make you something else.”

She was so sweet. How did a woman who had so little find it that easy to offer to give it away? No wonder Bella’s heart was generous enough to accept my parents, even with my father’s awful behavior. She’d been raised by tolerant, loving people.

“I’m sure I’ll like it just as much as everyone else,” I said, blowing across the hot bite on my fork and tasting it. While I couldn’t claim it was anywhere near as good as Bella’s food or the meals I normally enjoyed, I could tell Sharon had put a lot of love into it. She made it, hoping to make her kids smile and impress her new son-in-law. After swallowing the bite, I gave her a wide grin. “Delicious. Thank you so much.”

With that, everyone seemed to relax and dug into their meals. The lively conversations around me were so different from my family meals. They teased and joked, making fun of the youngest, Brandon, because he’d gotten his first girlfriend shortly after graduating high school the previous month.

“He’s a late bloomer,” Kyle said. “I thought he’d be a virgin forever.”

“Kyle!” Sharon scolded. “It wouldn’t hurt you to take a lesson from Brandon. The rate you’re going, you’ll never find a woman who wants to keep you.”

Finding an ally, Brandon grinned. “Yeah, bro. Not my fault you have no manners. She was worth the wait, and I don’t have to be embarrassed when I tell her my past.”

Seeing the tables turn on him, Kyle grimaced. “My past don’t matter, am I right, Damian? You look like a man who knows his way around the ladies. You still convinced my sister to marry you. There’s hope for me, right?”

Surprised at being pulled into the conversation, especially by the surly eldest brother, I found myself at a loss for a moment. If Kyle somehow became super rich, he could pay a woman to marry him like I did, but I was sure that wasn’t something I should tell them.

Bella’s eyebrows creased as she looked at me, obviously a bit concerned at my lack of response. When I still couldn’t think of anything to say, she shrugged. “The important thing is to be honest with a woman when you get serious. I mean, everyone dreams of a guy like Brandon who’ll devote himself to them, but there’s something to be said for an experienced man, as well.”

I gasped a bit, choking on a tater tot and coughing loudly, unable to catch my breath. Bella helped out by whacking me on the back, and Sharon rushed to refill my water.

When I finally regained control, I gave her a small frown. “Not sure that’s appropriate dinner talk, especially with your family.”

She laughed. “But you’re in my world now. We always talk about this stuff. If you can’t be honest with your family, who can you be honest with?”

Ed nodded. “We never expected our kids to be saints. Just want them to be good people, hard working, and do the best they can. I’m aware all of them have an active social life.” He grinned across the table at his youngest son. “All except our late bloomer.”

“Pop!” Brandon let out a long sigh. “I finally had the attention off me. Why’d you do that?”

The whole family laughed at that, and I found myself chuckling along with them. These people didn’t have a whole lot in terms of material wealth, but I had to admit that their home was much warmer than mine had ever been. Sharon and Ed also interacted with their children, laughing and joking no matter the subject. They never once scolded them for having inappropriate conversations.

Perhaps this couldn’t be my life on a regular basis, considering I had a public image to maintain, but I had to admit it held appeal. I leaned toward Bella, giving her a quick peck on the cheek when her family’s attention turned to tease Elias about the last girl he’d brought home.

“What was that for?” she said softly, favoring me with a sweet smile.

Every time she looked like that, it reminded me all over again how beautiful she really was. Her unconventional beauty made my heart pound more than any woman ever had. Maybe this wasn’t yet love, but I certainly felt something strong for her.

“I’m happy,” I answered. “Your family’s amazing.”

She nodded. “It’s like I never even left. It was my choice to go to California and never return, but I’m so happy we’re here.”

“We’re happy too, butterfly,” Ed said, obviously listening in. “We understood why you had to leave after that bastard attacked you, but we’ve never stopped hoping you could come home one day.”

While Bella continued chatting with her family, her father’s words echoed in my mind. I was the bastard. I’d not only hurt Bella that night, I’d made her entire family suffer because they’d lost her in the process. They were wonderful people. I’d been an entitled punk who neither thought nor cared about the consequences when I joined that small gang. Sure, I’d regretted it afterward, but somehow, I felt certain none of Bella’s brothers would have ever done something like that. They were all better people than me.

The truth was a bitter pill to swallow. I tried to remain engaged with Bella’s family for the remainder of the evening until we headed home, but I knew she could tell something was wrong. Hopefully her family hadn’t noticed.

Meeting them made me question everything. What gave me the right to be a leader in this country when I had a criminal past? Just because I’d never been caught didn’t mean I was innocent. Making Bella happy was a good step in the right direction toward atonement, but could I really say I’d done the right thing if I continued to hide the truth?