Bully Me Never Again: Invern Elite Prep School, #3

By Moira Barretti

I never thought I'd end up like this, with my finger on the trigger.

But here I am.

Can Cole and I survive?

There's only one way to find out...

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This is the third and final installment in the Invern Elite Prep School series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Moira Barretti
• Release date: Jun 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201979584

Book preview

Chapter 1

MY HANDS WERE STILL shaking as I gripped the gun.

But one thing was clear.

I’d missed.

Of course I’d fucking missed since I didn’t even know how to hold that thing properly.

But at least I’d managed to achieve one thing: distract everyone.

And now, there was chaos.

People were shouting and running, and someone else fired their gun. It was all happening so damn fast that my brain couldn’t even process it.

My shot had started it all.

Mr. Arretti’s men and Cole’s guys were fighting, and I had no idea where they’d been hiding since I hadn’t even seen them before. But my attention had fully been on Cole anyway.

Ava, get down! Cole’s voice was louder than anything else, and without thinking, I dropped to the ground.

The grass tickled my face, my heart pounding in my chest.

When I looked up, pushing myself up on my elbows, I realized Cole had managed to wrench the gun out of his father’s hand, but it had fallen into the grass somewhere.

They were now wrestling each other as their men kept firing, and I was glad everyone was on the other side of the field, farther away from me.

My gun was still in my hand, but I didn’t think using it was going to do me any good. It was very likely I’d miss again, and with everyone out there on the field—some hiding behind the trees or in the tall grass—I didn’t want to hit the wrong people.

Hell, I wasn’t even sure how they knew who was on Cole’s side and who on Mr. Arretti’s, but it looked like most of the boys from my school were on Cole’s side.

Were their fathers here? Surely, they wouldn’t try to kill their own sons. Maybe Mr. Arretti hadn’t brought them here for that very reason, and they had no clue what was going on right now.

Or maybe they would shoot their own flesh and blood anyway. That was exactly what Mr. Arretti wanted to do, but then again, Cole had betrayed him and had been planning to take over.

Too bad Cole had been betrayed too.

Someone had pretended to be on his side and told his father about his plan.

Mr. Arretti was on the ground as Cole jumped up to his feet.

Cole glanced around, and he must’ve spotted the gun because he started away from his father.

I held my breath.

If Mr. Arretti was finally dead, it would all stop, wouldn’t it?

Everyone would have to stop fighting one another. Men wouldn’t be dropping wounded and dead to the ground.

But then I heard something.

A rustling noise very close to me.

It was as if someone was marching through the grass straight toward me, but I couldn’t see anything without rolling over or pushing myself even more up.

What was the chance that whoever it was, was coming for me?

If I stayed down, maybe they weren’t going to see me. But what if they already had? What if they knew that killing me would shock Cole enough to stop him from whatever he was about to do?

Cole’s head turned toward me just as he bent down, and his eyes went wide.

The gun was now in his hand, and his gaze quickly went to his father, who was still on the ground, and then returned back to me.

Cole’s lips moved as if he was muttering something, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying.

He broke into a run toward me, and I dipped my head even lower as he fired at the person who had to be not too far away behind me.

Oh shit.

My heart felt as if it was going to jump out of my chest.

Ava! Cole threw himself toward me, and soon, I found myself wrapped in his warm embrace.

He shielded me with his body, his hands covering my head.

Just stay down, he said, and then someone opened fire.

Really opened fire.

They had to be using a machine gun or something like that. I was far from a gun expert, but this person was trying to kill as many people as they could.

It’s okay, Cole kept whispering into my ear.

I was shaking all over, and at some point, I closed my eyes, just hoping all of this would end.

Cole pried my gun out of my fingers, and I felt him shift before hearing another shot.

Help! someone yelled.

Shield him!

Get them out of here!

I couldn’t recognize the voices, but when I opened my eyes, Cole rolled off me and caught my hand.

His blue eyes met mine.

His black hair was caked with dirt, mud, and grass, and I was sure my clothes and my hair were in a similar state, but it was silly to even think about it right now.

Come on! Let’s go! Cole pushed himself up to his feet, offering his hand to me. We need to hurry!

I let him pull me up, and I realized his boys had formed a wall in front of us. They’d found something to use as a shield too.

A large piece of metal or something.

I had no idea what it was, just that it was enough to stop the bullets, at least for now. I couldn’t see Cole’s father anywhere, but that didn’t matter.

We had to get the hell out of here.

Cole’s fingers were intertwined with mine, and I broke into a run with him.

We were following one of the boys, and Cole was still making sure that I was more or less shielded behind him.

Go! Go! Go! someone was yelling, and all I could think about was pushing one leg in front of the other.

A few moments later, I spotted a car in front of us.

It had to be waiting for us. A guy who I vaguely knew from school was sitting behind the steering wheel.

Cole yanked the door to the back seat open. Get in!

I quickly squeezed myself into the car, and then Cole hopped in after me.

The guy who had led us to the car had already gotten into the passenger seat.

Go! Cole yelled, and the car lurched forward even before he’d managed to close the door.

We were on the move. I let out a small sigh of relief, even though I knew that we still weren’t completely out of danger.

Cole’s arm wrapped around me, and I pressed myself closer to him.

I would think this whole thing was a dream if he weren’t right here next to me. My mind was still reeling, my heart in overdrive, but we would get out of here.

Cole was alive.

I was alive.

We were both okay.

That was the only thing that mattered.

Maybe I’d missed my target, but at least I’d unleashed something else.

I’d given Cole and the others a chance to fight back.

Clearly, no one had expected me to actually pull the trigger, except for Cole and his boys. Me doing that had been enough to throw everyone else off their game.

It all sounded so damn crazy, but it was my reality.

I snuggled closer to Cole, hoping we’d never be in a situation like this one ever again.

But I was probably hoping for too much.

Chapter 2

IF THERE WAS ONE THING that I was sure of now, it was that Cole did love me. Even if he told me that he didn’t, I’d know that he was lying.

If he didn’t give a damn about me, he would’ve never tried to save me. He would’ve just picked up that gun and shot his father.

Mr. Arretti had been right there, and yet, Cole had let him escape, and it was all because he’d wanted to save me.

Sure, maybe he’d been returning the favor, since the distraction I’d provided had been enough for him to wrestle the gun out of his father’s grasp, but I was sure it was more than just gratitude.

We’d ended up in some kind of safe house, which I hoped Cole’s father knew nothing about. As people rushed around the room, I was still trying to process everything that had happened.

From what I could catch, Mr. Arretti’s men had grabbed him and helped him get away once Cole’s attention was on me, and then, when Cole and I had escaped too, everyone had pulled back.

Cole’s guys had managed to get their wounded here and were now trying to help them. I had no idea what was going to happen next, but I hoped Cole had a plan.

Hey, he said softly when he finally returned to me.

This damn house was more like a bunker, and we were in the basement, with only a dim light above us. But despite low visibility, I could still see the tiredness around Cole’s eyes.

Are you hungry? Do you need anything? he asked. Sorry I couldn’t get to you earlier, but—

I took a step forward and closed the distance between us, pressing my lips against his.

His mouth responded to mine and he deepened our kiss, but then he let out a sigh, pulling away from me.

What’s wrong? I asked.

You should go, he said. It’s not safe for you to stay in town. You and your parents should just leave and not look back.

But you’re here. I’m not leaving you. My eyes bored into his. We’re in this together.

Ava, I’m so sorry you got dragged into this mess. I’ve never wanted for things to go like this.

Is this why you tried to push me away? Why you wanted me to believe you didn’t love me? Did you get me kicked out of school? I’d been expelled, and I still wasn’t sure why, except I knew that someone was behind it.

His eyes widened. Kicked you out of school? He shook his head. I don’t know anything about that.

Yeah. The principal claims she got some evidence that could get me in serious trouble if she handed it over to the cops, but I think she’s lying or bluffing. It’s some gang-related stuff, I think. But I’m sure someone bribed her or maybe even threatened her into doing it. I shrugged.

I don’t know. It was probably my father. Cole let out a groan. ’And I don’t want you to be in danger because of me. My father and I are at war. It’s only a matter of time before we face each other again. I don’t want you to get caught in the middle of it again. You almost died today. If anything had happened to you, I would’ve never forgiven myself.

If I hadn’t shown up, maybe you would be dead right now. Why didn’t you tell me what you were planning to do? Maybe I could’ve helped you. Or well, talked him out of confronting his father out in the open like that.

Although, I doubted it would’ve worked.

Cole had made up his mind and he’d had a plan.

I know, and it would’ve been my fault. I trusted the wrong people. I thought that I could do something. He ran his hand over his forehead. "I don’t know what’s going to happen next. I need to protect my guys, and I need a new plan. Some of my father’s men are wounded and some died, but we suffered losses too, and now we don’t even have the element of surprise. My father will retaliate with everything he has, and I don’t know if we can fight him right now. If you stay here, your life will be in