Page 57 of Protected

Chapter Twenty-Four

Parker couldn’t believe his eyes. He had to be seeing things.

The moment he heard the voice, he knew it was her, but how was that possible? How had she gotten out of San Diego without his help?

Hell, how had she survived the fallout of a plan that had gone horribly wrong?

As his gaze took her in, memories of their last day together swarmed his mind. Gone was the scared, quiet sixteen-year-old girl who he had vowed to help get out of California.

In her place was a well put-together woman dressed in an expensive-looking floral blouse and white skirt. The makeup on her tawny-brown face was flawless, and her long micro braids hung loose down to her waist.

If it weren’t for her grayish-brown eyes, Parker wouldn’t be a hundred percent sure it was her—the girl he’d met in high school. The girl who he had befriended despite the hatred between the people they associated with. And the girl who worked with him to set up the war between the Disciples and the Kingz.

“Elena?” Her name came out as a whisper while he tried to make sense of this.

Stunning, narrowed eyes stared back at him. “Knuckles?” she finally said and moved closer but stopped a few feet away. “Oh my…You’re alive?I thought—”

He wasn’t sure who moved first, but before Parker realized it, they were in each other’s arms. He hugged her fiercely and was glad she made it out of California alive.

When they finally released each other, he said, “I can’t believe it’s you.”

“You two care to fill us in on what’s happening here?” Chelsey asked, and her words snapped Parker out of his temporary fog.

Shit.

She was probably thinking more was going on here than it actually was. He and Elena had never been anything more than friends. Two kids who had plotted and had been willing to risk their lives to get out of bad situations at home.

He moved back to the chair he had vacated and reached for Chelsey’s hand to pull her into a standing position.

“Sweetheart, this is Elena. I…she…we…”

He stopped and sighed, struggling to get his thoughts and words to cooperate. Shock had rattled his brain, because he still couldn’t believe she was standing in front of him.

Parker turned his attention to Chelsey. “Elena helped me start the war between the Kingz and the Disciples. Her brother, Calvin, was the leader of the Disciples.”

When Parker looked at the woman again, she was still staring at him as if he were a ghost. “Elena, this is my fiancée, Chelsey.”

“Fiancée?” Rock said, surprise in his voice. “When did that happen?”

“Last night,” Angelo responded before Parker or Chelsey could answer.

Everyone, including Elena, congratulated them, and Parker barely registered Chelsey showing everyone her ring. He still couldn’t get over seeing little Elena and her transformation. Hehad so many questions, but if she was like him, she didn’t want to remember the past. Still…

“Elena,” he said.

“Kamora,” Elena corrected with a gentle smile. “My name is Kamora. Like you, needing a new start, I changed my identity. The other day, when Rock mentionedParker,Parker Wilcox, I had no idea he was talking about you.”

It was interesting that Rock hadn’t enlightened either of them about the other. How long had he known that they once knew each other? When Parker had more time, he’d try to unpack what that meant. For now, though, he was just glad to see her.

“You look different…yet the same,” Kamora said, shock still marring her face.

That had been Parker’s main concern when that photo of him and Journey showed up on TV and the internet months ago. Anyone who knew him as Junior or Knuckles from back in the day would probably do a double take. He’d had minor work done to his face, but he still looked like Junior. Yet, most would believe Junior was dead. Or at least he was supposed to be.

“I can’t believe it. You’re alive,” Kamora said in awe.

“Funny, I was thinking the same about you.” Parker wanted more than anything to know what happened that day in San Diego and how she got to Miami. “What are you doing here?” he asked instead of voicing all the other questions floating through his mind.

“Okay, I’m still a little lost here,” Angelo said, looking from one person to the other.