The Mediterranean sun cast long shadows as their armored SUV sped along the coastal road. Alex couldn't tear his eyes from Sonia's face—transformed now with a hardened resolve he barely recognized. The woman who had been his executive assistant, his confidante, and increasingly something much more intimate to him now seemed like a stranger carrying the ghost of his father's machinations within her mind.
"Are you still you?" The question escaped before he could stop it.
Sonia's eyes softened momentarily as she met his gaze. "I'm still me, Alex. Just... more." She placed her hand over his, a gesture at once professional and achingly personal. "The neural implants didn't change who I am—they just unlocked information Carlos embedded."
From the driver's seat, James snorted. "Convenient e
