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“Don’t do this.” Dani’s hand comes down onto Malcolm’s as he goes to pick up a case file.
He sighs softly, unmoving for a moment as he considers her words. He doesn’t look at her, which is very purposeful on his part, blue eyes filled with the commentary he’s having without any words being said. Her thumb curls around one of his fingers and he tries to draw it back but she won’t allow him to.
“I’m just questioning him.” He says after a moment, swallowing when his gaze finally meets her own.
They both know it’s not just questioning to him. Dani might not be a profiler but she’s getting better at reading Bright when he’s upset, his walls come down with the lack of control. It’s almost ironic when she thinks about it, when she’s aggravated or riled up, those walls she keeps inside of herself reinforce. But it’s like Bright can’t maintain his own when there’s too much going on, they start to crumble and she slips between the cracks.
The perp in one of the conference rooms already has Gil and JT, they don’t need Malcolm, not really—this all has to do with a personal vendetta.
“You don’t need to go in there, he’s already given everything up to book him.”
He licks his lips, moving to sit on the corner of the table. He lets go of the file and turns his wrist so the palm of her hand meets his. Dani watches his eyebrows draw together as he looks at both their hands, the way their fingers gently lace together.
She understands his knee-jerk reaction to address their killer face-to-face, “He murdered five women,” She says after a moment, squeezing his hand. “I get that you’re angry, that you want to take him down a few notches, you’re not alone on that…but he’s not worth it.”
“You think this is about—” His voice clamps off, a soft scoff leaving his lips as he looks away from her. His blue eyes are incredibly conflicted, the muscle in his jaw working as he struggles with words under his tongue. Malcolm takes a slow breath in through his nose before pushing the file away from himself,
“Maybe you’re right. I shouldn’t go in there…I’ll probably end up killing him.” He’s joking, she can tell that instantly as he runs a hand through his hair. But there’s also something else underlying his words, something darker, something that speaks to her about how much he means that last statement.
“I’m fine.” She says softly. “I’m banged up but you…it could have been worse.” Dani swallows, glancing down at their hands. She didn’t end up being the perp’s sixth victim but she could have been, their honey trap taking a turn for the worse when he took her to his car.
He threw her in the back of his truck, taking her back to his house, stuck her in the basement—her wrists still hurt from being kept in rusted chains. It could have been worse, she knows that, that what she went through infuriated Malcolm more than her but…isn’t the point that she’s here and safe?
“I mean it,” Bright interrupts her thoughts, holding her gaze with an iciness in his eyes that she’s not used to. “I’ll stay in here because…I’ll end up doing something to him for what he did to you. And I won’t regret it.”
Dani swallows and shakes her head, “Please don’t talk like that.” She mutters because she isn’t sure what else to say. She inches forward, slipping between his legs as he sits on the table and he settles for wrapping his arms around her waist.
His forehead dips, pressing into her collarbone. She can feel him breathe her in, his grip on her tightening every so slightly when she moves. Dani runs her fingers through his hair and tries to get that look she saw in his eyes to fade from her memory.