The steel mill reeked of ozone and scorched metal, a monument to the devastation that had almost consumed them. Capol carried Pat out, her body a fragile weight against his. Her breath hitched against his chest, a soft, raspy sound that clawed at his heart. He could feel the tremor of her fear, the exhaustion, and a deeper, more profound sense of release. She had just faced death for him, for his crew, for a city that despised her. And in that act, she had broken through the last wall around his fractured heart.
Vince and Julian followed, their faces grim, but the fury that had burned in their eyes hours before had been replaced by a stunned, reluctant respect. They had seen her lie for them, bleed for them, almost die for them. The proof was undeniable.
As they emerged from the mill’s s
