CHAPTER 921: CHAPTER 921 JOGGING LEO’S MEMORY

He didn’t expect a direct confession if Luke was truly an enemy; no one would be that careless. Still, he couldn’t ignore the unease crawling up his spine. His gaze flicked toward the others in the room, scanning them with quiet wariness.

The only person exempt from his scrutiny was the pale woman in the cast; everyone else, he studied like a soldier reading the battlefield. Tension rippled in his frame, coiled like a predator ready to strike, every movement calculated, like a puma eyeing its prey in silence.

"Nope, I wasn’t one of them," Luke replied coolly, "but our girl was. She led a team of veteran soldiers to find you, and even went head-to-head in a shootout with your pursuers."

He leaned forward slightly, his expression darkening, the angelic handsomeness of his face shifting into something far more dangerous, murderous, even. "So tell me, how much do you remember? And how the hell did you end up in that situation?"

Luke’s anger wasn’t just about the danger Leo had faced; it was about Hera. How could Leo forget the woman who’d risked everything to save him? It made Luke’s blood boil. He felt indignant on Hera’s behalf, but deep down, his emotions were tangled.

A part of him wanted Leo out of the running entirely. Yet another part, the one that hated seeing Hera hurt, wanted to help jog Leo’s memory, even if it meant giving his rival a clue.

Leo, however, only scoffed.

"And how do I know you’re not just one of my enemies fishing for intel?" he shot back with a smirk, eyeing Luke like he was a complete idiot.

"The fact that you’re still sitting comfortably in a hospital bed with all your limbs intact, instead of being chained up in a dark cell being interrogated, should be proof enough we’re not your enemies," Luke said coldly, his voice sharp and devoid of sympathy.

His aura was practically suffocating, his gaze predatory, making it clear that if he were Leo’s enemy, things would be very different. He’d have thrown Leo into a dungeon, patched up only enough to keep him breathing, and left him in the dark to rot between interrogations.

But here Leo was, surrounded by doctors, guarded by elite soldiers, treated like an asset.

If Leo still couldn’t see they were on the same side, then he was either too paranoid... or too far gone.

Leo scanned the room again, and his gaze settled on Hera. She looked so delicate, almost ethereal, too fragile, and too innocent. He struggled to reconcile the image before him with the woman Luke described, someone who had led a team of veteran soldiers into a shootout just to rescue him. It didn’t make sense.

She looked more like someone who needed his protection, not the other way around.

His brows furrowed in confusion. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t recall anything. But the longer he looked into her face, those clear, steady eyes, the harder it was to believe she was lying.

There was no deceit there.

Just quiet strength... and something that tugged at the corner of his heart.

"Now," Luke growled, his voice cold and biting, "tell us what you remember."

It didn’t even register to him that Hera and the others were right there. His entire focus was locked on Leo. Every word out of Leo’s mouth, every glance he threw Hera’s way, only stoked the fire burning in Luke’s gut. Leo was pressing all the wrong buttons while refusing to cooperate and, worse, eyeing Hera like she was some kind of liar. Luke hated it.

Instead of answering, Leo cocked his head and smirked. "Shouldn’t we start with introductions? You expect me to drop my guard and trust a bunch of strangers? I don’t even know who you are. For all I know, you could be enemies feeding me a convenient story."

Luke’s eyes narrowed, but before he could speak again, Dave abruptly stood up, his chair scraping loudly against the floor.

"Wait—what the fuck? You seriously don’t recognize me?"

Dave stormed up to Leo’s bedside, disbelief written all over his face.

Leo eyed him lazily, then scoffed. "Who are you supposed to be? A member of some washed-up boy band?"

The insult hung in the air like a slap. Dave’s jaw clenched, his knuckles flexing at his sides as if itching for a punch. The look in his eyes said he was about two seconds away from giving Leo something to remember.

A quiet chuckle came from the side—Xavier. That smug, amused laugh only fueled Dave’s frustration. He turned away with a pout, biting his lower lip to keep himself from exploding, and looked helplessly at Hera.

"Sweetheart, look at this bastard, he’s openly belittling me!" Dave complained dramatically, turning to Hera with wide eyes and pointing at Leo like a child tattling to a parent. "This guy... this guy!"

His exaggerated tone made Xavier burst into louder laughter, which only deepened the red on Dave’s face.

But Leo’s brow twitched at the word sweetheart. His eyes narrowed into a glare, and a sharp pang of bitterness twisted in his chest. That name, sweetheart, coming from another man didn’t sit well with him.

"Sweetheart, look at him!" Dave continued with theatrical outrage. "He’s the one bullying me, and now he’s glaring like I’m the villain? A brute like him doesn’t belong in your harem—"

"Harem?" Leo cut in, his voice cool with disbelief as he turned to Hera, studying her more intently now.

Hera stiffened and quickly looked down, lips pursing as her cheeks flushed bright red. She was mortified, not because Dave was wrong, but because... well, it was true. She did have a harem of powerful, dangerously attractive men. But hearing it said so bluntly, especially in front of Leo, made her feel like some sort of shameless beast.

"Yeah? Well, you’re just one of us. We’re all Sweetheart’s lovers," Dave snapped, placing his hands on his hips like an indignant mother hen ready to scold.

"That can’t be," Leo cut in sharply, his tone icy. "There’s no way I’d ever share my woman with anyone. Especially not a guy like you."

He gave Dave a slow, dismissive once-over.

The insult hit Dave like a slap. His eyes flared with outrage, and he lunged at Leo—only for Zhane to grab him by the collar at the last second and yank him back.

Cough! Cough!

"What the hell, Zhane?! Are you trying to murder me?" Dave sputtered, wheezing like a lion whose tail had just been stomped on.

He thrashed in place, gasping dramatically as if he’d just been strangled to death, clearly milking the moment. Zhane only rolled his eyes; he’d meant to stop a fight, not accidentally choke a man.

Dave dropped himself onto Hera’s lap like a wounded puppy and whimpered, "Sweetheart, look... my neck’s all red... huhu..."

Everyone in the room stared, temples throbbing in synchronized pain. One more second of Dave’s antics, and someone’s patience was bound to snap.

But more than anyone, it seems Leo’s patient was the first to snap. "Stop acting like a damn damsel in distress. Who the hell are you, even?"

"Fuck you! I’m the Young Minister of this damn country!" Dave snapped, jabbing a finger at Leo. "I’ve stood in front of cameras on diplomatic news, traveled the world flaunting this handsome face, and you called me a washed-up boy band reject?! Damn you, Amnesiac Boy!"

Xavier burst out laughing while Rafael chuckled quietly on the side, clearly amused as the situation spiraled further into chaos.

’Amnesiac Boy’ Leo looked like he’d just swallowed a fly. He glared daggers at Dave. "It’s not my fault you don’t look like a politician. You act more like a gang member than a minister."

His voice dripped with irritation, his eyes fixed on Dave. Truthfully, Leo was done with the dramatics, but more than that, it was the way Dave kept clinging to Hera’s attention that really grated on his nerves. It felt deliberate. And it was working.

And to make it worse, Leo’s disbelief that Dave was actually the Young Minister was written all over his face.

"Alright, alright. Everyone, calm down," Zhane interjected, stepping between them. "Let’s just introduce ourselves properly. It might help Leo regain some of his memories."

Zhane’s voice was firm but diplomatic as he glanced at Dave, silently telling him to stop provoking Leo. From where he stood, it was obvious Dave was deliberately trying to rile Leo up, hoping that the emotional trigger would somehow jolt his memory and remind him that he wasn’t just anyone to Hera... he was the favorite.

But since that tactic was clearly backfiring, Zhane had to step in before their playful jabs turned into a real fight.

"I’m Dr. Zhane Everett," he began calmly, "a director and senior physician at Providence Everett Medical Center. And yes, that loudmouth over there is indeed Dave Carson, the Young Minister of this country. He just acts like that around us, but trust me, he’s all business when it comes to work. So don’t take him too seriously."