Bully Bet: Allegri Elite, #1

By Moira Barretti

Caden Dinarti, the new transfer student.

Every girl wants him.

Except for me.

Caden may be the hottest guy I've ever seen, but he's also an arrogant jerk and a bully, and the heir to the Dinarti crime family—my family's biggest rivals.

Getting involved with him is the last thing I should do.

Only, Caden won't leave me alone. He acts like he owns our college and seems hell-bent on tormenting me.

But he doesn't know who he's messing with.

I refuse to bow down, and I just might take the bet everyone is talking about, even if it gets me in trouble.

Caden's icy heart will be mine.

And then I will crush it.
.

This is the first installment in the Allegri Elite series. It is not intended for readers under eighteen years of age and ends with a cliffhanger.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Moira Barretti
• Release date: Jun 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201950064

Book preview

Chapter 1

I HURRIED DOWN THE hallway, hoping that I wasn’t going to be late for my Spanish class.

Before I opened the door, I ran my hand through my wavy, long, dark brown hair to make sure that it was flawless—or well, as flawless as it could be. Hopefully, the mascara around my dark brown eyes hadn’t smeared.

Judging by the noise in the classroom, the professor still wasn’t there. I couldn’t see her anywhere either, which was a surprise.

I’d have to check my clock.

It was probably off.

Adrianna! You’re back! My best friend Megan instantly perked up, waving at me. Her long, light brown hair framed her freckled face. How was Italy? You have to tell me everything!

It was awesome, and I will tell you all about it. Later. I flashed her a smile as I took a seat and placed my blue bag on the floor so I could get everything I needed ready.

My second semester at Allegri Elite—a special private college—had started a week ago, but since my dad had taken our whole family to Italy to visit my grandparents and the rest of the family, today was actually my first day back.

Did I miss anything important? I asked.

Um, yeah. Megan wiggled her eyebrows, her big hazel eyes trained on me.

The rest of the girls were giggling about something too.

Or better said, someone.

What? Did we get a hot new professor? Now that would definitely be something interesting to shake up the mostly boring life.

No. We got a hot transfer student.

Oh. I couldn’t hide my disappointment. Guys my age rarely managed to capture my attention.

I’m sure you’ve met a lot of hot Italian guys, but this one... Megan bit down on her lip. You need to see him. He’s, like, beyond hot.

Okay. Now I’m intrigued. It wasn’t easy to find a guy who could impress Megan, so that meant the guy in question had to be model material. What’s his name?

Caden Dinarti, Megan said.

The room tilted around me, her words echoing in my mind. Megan kept saying something, but I couldn’t comprehend any of it.

It was impossible.

Caden Dinarti absolutely couldn’t be here.

I was hallucinating.

Fuck.

I’d probably fallen asleep and my alarm hadn’t gone off, so this was just a stupid nightmare because my brain subconsciously knew that I was late for class.

Except, everything around me felt and sounded real. My notebook and my desk were solid, just like the sturdy, uncomfortable chair I was sitting in. When I pinched myself, it hurt like hell.

Sorry. What did you say his name was? I must’ve heard her wrong.

Jet lag and all. I was still tired from my trip.

But if this wasn’t a dream, then my mind was playing tricks on me. There was just no other explanation.

Caden Dinarti. Do you know him? Megan asked.

Ah fuck.

My worst nightmare was coming true, unless there was another person with that same name, which I highly doubted.

Megan was still talking, but my mind was in overdrive.

What the hell did the presence of the heir to the Dinarti crime family mean? What if he’d come for me? To kill me?

His family and mine had been enemies for decades. Allegri Elite was in a town about sixty miles to the west of the city that was divided in two parts between our families.

The north belonged to the Dinartis, and the south was ruled by my family, the Savantis.

If the Dinartis wanted to break our shaky peace treaty, then they would’ve sent assassins after me, so why would Caden transfer here?

Was it for the same reasons that I was here?

Because Allegri was on neutral ground, and there were no gangs or mob bosses who had officially claimed this area for themselves, so it was supposed to be safer than a lot of other places?

Or was it because it was one of the rare decent colleges around here that could actually help you get a real degree? Or because the dean was known to be bribable?

Maybe it was none of those reasons, or maybe it was all of them.

The Dinartis had to know that I was a student here, so it was mind-boggling that they’d sent Caden here.

Hadn’t he been at some famous college overseas anyway? Why transfer now? It wasn’t like the Dinartis couldn’t afford it anymore, and Caden must’ve been pretty safe there.

And why now? Had something happened? Maybe his family needed him here now for some reason.

I pulled out my phone so I could text my older brother. Bruno had to know what was going on.

If it weren’t safe for me to be here or if the treaty was off, he would’ve told me. There was no way he’d let me come here if he thought there was a threat to my life.

What are you doing? Megan asked. Is everything okay? You look like you just saw a ghost.

It’s nothing. I just forgot something. I gave her a quick smile before returning my attention to my phone.

Tapping my foot against the floor, I waited for my brother to answer.

Come on.

Come on.

Come on!

When my phone vibrated, I almost jumped.

As soon as I opened the text, my eyebrows shot up. My brother was sorry that he’d forgotten to tell me the big news.

Apparently, it had slipped his mind.

Ugh. How was it even possible to forget that a Dinarti was in town?

But my brother also wanted to assure me that I didn’t have to worry, because our dad handled it all with Mr. Dinarti, and it was very unlikely Caden and I would have any classes together.

Oh, that was just fucking brilliant.

Was I supposed to avoid Caden or what?

I had more questions than answers, but maybe it wasn’t going to be so bad. We were at Allegri where everyone could see us. What was he going to do?

If my dad had handled it, then I trusted him.

But then the door opened, and I looked up straight into a pair of intense blue eyes.

A shudder ran down my spine.

Caden Dinarti stood in the doorway.

It was him.

It had to be.

Short, messy black hair. Handsome face that shouldn’t be real. Perfect, full lips.

Black leather jacket. Black shirt. Dark gray jeans. Black boots.

Hell.

So fucking hot.

All of him.

I’d seen photos of him, but they hadn’t done him justice.

And fuck.

He was in my class.

Why was he in my class?

Caden was still looking straight at me, and then his lips curved up into a smile that I didn’t like at all.

Megan reached out and squeezed my arm, as if I didn’t already know the guy casually strolling inside was Caden Dinarti.

But then again, to everyone here, he and I were just regular students with very rich parents.

No one knew what was hiding behind the facade and what happened in the shadows of the criminal underground, or at least, it was very unlikely that they knew.

Caden glanced at me once again as he settled himself in a chair at the other end of the classroom, and I was glad that there weren’t any empty seats closer to me.

What do you think? Megan whispered. Do you want him? Kind of everyone does.

No. I don’t. I pressed my lips tightly together.

If he weren’t a Dinarti...

I clamped that thought down.

He was a Dinarti.

And no matter how incredibly attractive he was, there was no way anything could happen between us.

Ever.

Chapter 2

I LEANED AGAINST THE wall, watching Caden as he laughed with a group of guys who were gathered around him.

One week here and he already had a bunch of friends. How the hell had that happened? Was he really that charming and friendly?

But then he pulled out something. He was quick, but I still realized what it was.

A small packet of weed.

Seriously?

Was that how Caden wanted to attract as many people as possible? Was he out of his fucking mind?

The first thing my family had told me when I’d gotten here was to keep my head down and make sure that I didn’t catch anyone’s attention.

Sure, not everyone was immediately going to assume I was more than just a daughter of a successful businessman, but there were always rumors, which I so didn’t need in my life.

And what if Caden got caught?

Did he not care or did he know he’d get away with it?

The guys around him laughed harder at something he’d said as if he were the funniest person in the world.

Ugh.

The girls who passed him by smiled at him. And damn, I knew why they were all staring at him. I was staring too.

There was just something about him.

Something magnetic.

I thought you said you didn’t like him, Megan said, startling me because I hadn’t even noticed she was right next to me.

I don’t. I’m just surprised he’s so popular already.

He’s charming, I guess, Megan said with a sigh. And so damn pretty. I wish he’d look my way.

No, you don’t. I turned toward her.

Dating the heir to a criminal empire was a terrible, terrible idea for a person who didn’t know anything about the world Caden belonged to. Actually, it was a terrible idea for just about anyone who didn’t want to put their life at risk.

But I couldn’t tell her any of that, could I?

Megan might be my best friend, but there were things about me that I wasn’t able to share with anyone, including her. The less she knew, the better.

I was a Savanti.

I supposed hanging out with me might be risky for people, but we were in college. We’d graduate, and eventually, Megan and I would drift apart. It was just bound to happen.

It saddened me to think about it, but it was for the best. If my enemies figured out that Megan meant a lot to me, they might try to use her against me, and I couldn’t let that happen. As long as she was safe and happy, I’d be too, even if we were no longer friends after we graduated.

But falling in love and dating someone like Caden... It could only end in Megan’s or any other girl’s heartbreak.

If she didn’t get kidnapped or killed first just for being Caden’s girlfriend.

Maybe I was overreacting, but I didn’t think anyone could have a future with a Dinarti heir. I was in a similar position, so I mostly avoided long-term attachments and potential boyfriends.

But at least my brother was going to be the one to take over my family business one day. If I got lucky, I’d get to finish college, and maybe get away from all of it and have a normal life—if that turned out to be what I wanted.

I still wasn’t sure about my future. Hell, me finishing college heavily depended on what my family’s situation was going to be at that moment. I couldn’t go anywhere in the middle of a war, unless it was far away enough.

I had to find a place where I’d be safe from anyone who might want to harm me. Maybe I could do it under a fake identity, but my family was proud.

We didn’t like to hide from our enemies.

But this town was