"W-What are you?" Emma stuttered a question.
Ray noticed her distress and paleness. What caused it? sure he let her know that he had control of the situation, but it wasn't enough for her to have such an abrupt reaction. Still, he decided to profit out of it.
Fear was always profitable.
"What do I win telling you anything? Hurry up and tell me what you want and why you're following me".
Emma's blue eyes glared at him, she realised she was in no position to retort, a single thought and her brain would be forfeited. Psionic walls or not.
"You messed with the wrong people yesterday, Ray. One of my friends is a crime lord in New York, the group you disturbed was his and now he's hunting you. He sent me to look for traces of you and I did. That's why I'm following you, it is the truth".
Ray frowned and pointed the 'gun' at her head, she paled further. That being the case, then there was nothing else to do.
"Then it is more profitable for me to kill you here-"
"But I have my own agenda! I told him you were powerful and it was more profitable to blend you into our group rather than killing you, Ray. This is also the truth!" She said honestly.
"What do you mean?"
"You're a mutant with a very interesting power. I can see potential in you so... I'm scouting you~ that's all, no ill intentions on my part, promise" Her confidence increased upon witnessing his interest in her proposal.
Ray frowned, she had contacts he wanted to get in touch with; starting from people capable of laundering huge amounts of money. She was also a good contact to have. Being able to track him all the way here with so little information... that's commendable.
"Are you telling me to become a criminal?"
"I'm telling you to become a rich and powerful mutant if you cooperate with me. What do you think?" She extended her slender hand forward, but Ray didn't take it. He never lowered the finger away from her forehead.
"What reason do I have to trust you? If you came hunting me as you say, you could be lying, especially pretty bitches like you... you think I'll believe everything you say".
She chuckled and looked at him with different eyes, "I'll take that as a compliment. As of now you have no reasons to trust me. But I can give you reasons if you allow me".
"What are you going to do?"
"Are you free this evening?"
"I am".
"Then come with me, I'll invite you to dinner and we can have a more private and endowing conversation~" She switched on the Ferrari, ready to roll but he pointed the gun at her forehead harder.
"How do I know you're not taking me with those guys, do you think I'm stupid?"
'He's too damn cautious of me'.
Emma cursed inwardly, at this point, she did want to earn his trust. Having him so cautious wouldn't allow her to smoothly manipulate him into doing what she wanted, and it was also easy to tell he wasn't easily swayed by beauty as she previously thought. Still, if she didn't take advantage of her looks, what else was she going to take advantage of?
"I'm a pretty girl inviting a handsome boy for dinner. Come on... I'm not going to take you down a dark alleyway. Moreover, with your power... if you want to leave, I can't stop you, can I? The same way you entered the car".
"..."
What she said made sense and so, Ray slowly removed the finger out of her forehead. If she could do anything, she would have already done it.
"Make just the slightest suspicious move and I'll blow your head, understood?"
"Such a rude boy, you don't know how to talk to a girl, do you? Can't you see I am a delicate high-class lady?" She rolled her eyes and so did he, never having seen anyone so narcissistic.
Still, she had looks to flaunt.
He didn't say a word and Emma realised he was not someone to be easily seduced with words, he was completely different from the fifteen-year-old kid she had initially expected to meet.
'He's like an adult in a kid's body... and even the body...' She looked at him up and down and licked her lips, 'Doesn't look that much like a kid'.
"What are you looking at?"
"Nothing~ let's go".
Emma drove off in the middle of the night towards Manhattan.
"My name is Emma Frost, but you can just call me Emma... I'm twenty-one years old. You?"
"Ray Stark, fifteen".
"Ain't you just a kid?~ why do you have to be so scary?" She playfully held his cheeks, in a coquettish manner, but that had been just an excuse. She wanted to use her powers on his head directly... but just thinking about that abyss, that endless darkness.
It made her shiver and think otherwise.
Ray slapped her hand away, "Don't touch me. You're a mutant so I don't know what you have in mind or your capabilities. Refrain from touching me casually. I don't trust you yet".
"You're truly a scary kid you know?".
"If you're not scary, this city will eat you alive... wouldn't you agree?"
She exhaled a light breath, "I totally agree. Do you have a phone on you?"
"I do, why?"
"I want you to call this number and put it on speaker. Since you were kind enough to erase mine out of existence" The lady groaned, losing her phone was like losing her life. And she had lost her make-up too, which was worse.
He frowned but did as she said. In any case, it would be on speaker so he'd be able to know if she was planning something.
Emma called a restaurant located in Manhattan to make a reservation for the next two hours; they said all the reservations were occupied, she gave the name 'Madeline' and a code and they immediately rushed and said they'd open a spot for her.
He resisted the urge to whistle, that restaurant was expensive and prominent, he'd never been there, but he knew about it.
"See? Nothing suspicious" She reassured him.
"Why do you have to take me to such a restaurant? can't it be a pizza parlour or something?" He complained and a shriek resembling a scowl was released by her with the utmost annoyance and cringe.
"Who do you think you're talking to? Do I look like a pizza type of girl to you?!"
Ray gulped audibly. This was the scariest she had been up till now, all over a comment regarding a pizza.
"You don't..."
"You're also not a pizza boy. Get used to this atmosphere, this is where you belong. Not having pizzas burgers and hot dogs".
"What the hell is wrong with pizza burgers and hot dogs?"
"Everything".