But… you know. In the world of the Company, I can certainly see why Adam and Donovan thought it was a good idea. At the very least, it was the best-case scenario in a very fucked-up reality.
But that doesn’t make right.
But while McKay is part of this Company world, he’s not an Untouchable like Donovan and Adam. He sees the world just a little bit different from them. He LOVES Indie. That might be the only true thing in this entire book. McKay loves that girl and he has loved her for as long as he’s known her. Which brings a whole lot of other ethical and moral questions up that I didn’t have a chance to explore yet. And if one of these four people has to be “the good guy” then I guess I vote for McKay. Because he feels this shame very deeply.
Donovan starts out at the most “evil” of the three men. His justification for wanting Indie to go home with Adam is simply that. Justification. He needs her for something. Now, I’m sure along the way he changed his mind about his original plan. People do that. I just spent several pages explaining how I do that—so I’m not gonna judge Donovan over his choices as a fifteen-year-old boy. But we see him in a very specific role in this book. Indie’s… conscious. Her sanity. Her truth.
What we don’t see is what Donovan is doing away from the others. We see interviews where he’s the one in charge. He’s the one asking questions. He’s the one in control. His chapters are deceptively simple until we get towards the end and then—BAM. Donovan is not who we thought.
There’s a lot more to Donovan coming. He’s not bad, he’s not good, he just is. And he’s young, so he’s still learning.
I don’t begrudge anyone their learning.
Adam is the one we’re supposed to hate. Adam is set up as the bad guy from chapter one. But I hope you realize he’s not the bad guy. We haven’t even met the bad guy yet. And if you think it’s Carter, well… don’t get ahead of yourself.
Adam wants to quit when he buys Indie at that auction. He sees no point in living other than he was gifted with this privileged life and he feels honest-to-God guilt over not making the most of it. So buying Indie and taking her home to McKay under the pretense of building a Company clean-up team is just a way for him to feel like he’s participating in life.
But… there’s this one chapter where he admits to what he’s become after the brain injury and after the Company fell. It’s actually not that many words. But they are powerful words.
“And a few years later I was the leader of the most ruthless private army to walk this Earth since the Ten Thousand brought terror and fear to Ancient Greece.
But I’m getting ahead of myself…”
So we get a hint at what’s coming at the end.
Adam is in control of this shit show. He has always been in control.
Keep that in mind going forward.
And that leaves us with our last boy, Nathan St. James. If you’re not sure what to think about him, that’s good. After all, we get four very different opinions about this kid. Indie loves him. But I think we can all agree her character judgment is… not really up to par. But she paints an almost idyllic picture of her childhood and teen years with Nathan. I can’t really object to that since her life was so fucked up from the beginning, if she wants to believe it was perfect—who am I to say it wasn’t?
But Nate does very strange things with Indie. Most notably was the first time they had sex. If you were thinking… Uh, what the fuck, Nathan? Good. That’s what you should’ve been thinking.
Adam was on to something when he started questioning who he was and where he came from.
“I don’t even know where Nate came from. Just… one day he was there.
He wasn’t a baby. And there was never a mother over there. Just the grandfather and then the kid. He was about four, maybe, when he showed up. Five at the oldest.
And it occurs to me that I should look into this shit. It occurs to me that I should’ve looked into this shit a long-ass time ago.”
But of course he ends up in the hospital that night and looking in to Nathan slips his mind or… it’s possible he didn’t even remember his suspicions. It’s also possible that he was afraid to get too close to Nathan after Indie almost kills him. So that revelation will have to wait.
Nate’s story is far from over. So don’t worry. You’ll understand soon.
And then, of course, we have Indie.
If you formed an opinion about her I’d like to caution you here. Nothing about Indie is what it seems. You think you know—but her part of this story is slanted, and fragmented, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.
It’s not that she’s LYING. She just sees the world from her own, internal perspective and with her own “Indie Blinders” on.
Here’s something else I want to say about Indie. And this ties in with how the world of Creeping Beautiful fits into the larger world of the Company, Rook and Ronin, and The Misters.
She is no Sasha.
I made this point several times in the book on purpose.
If you want to compare Indie to any of the Company girls I’ve written before, compare her to Sydney in Meet Me In The Dark.
Sydney is a case in the extreme. Not only was she a Company girl, she was owned by a sadistic son-of-a-bitch. Her life was a living hell.
I wrote Sydney that way on purpose. I think I even spelled this out in the EOBS for MMITD. Because up until that point the only Company Girls we knew were the “lucky” ones. Harper and Sasha are about as different from Sydney and Indie as night is from day.
Gonna go on a little tangent here for a sec. When I first published MMITD I got a LOT of weird comments from some of my early readers. Some of my closest early readers. They didn’t get it. They didn’t like it. And for a while there—maybe a year—I had second thoughts about writing that book. But then the reviews were so positive, and people fell for this couple with all their dark imperfections, that my own opinion about the book settled in.
But I remember writing in the EOBS that the reason we NEEDED Sydney was because there was no other way to show you, the reader, just how fucked up this Company world was. If you only ever saw Sasha and Harper, you might think, I dunno. It’s not so bad.
No. It is. That’s why Sydney needed a story.
I needed to put you into the mind of a “real” Company girl and let you experience that life for yourself. There was no other way. There is no other way to BE SOMEONE ELSE. To feel what they feel, to see what they see, to love, and hate, and long for the things they feel, and see, and love, and hate, and long for.
And Indie is like Sydney in that she was left behind.
Not by a man the way Sydney was, but by the Company itself.
She had Adam, and McKay, and Donovan. But they were left behind too.
This is the real reason I wanted to write this new series.
In The Company we saw the heroes.
We saw James, and Harper, and Merc and Sydney, and Rook and Ronin, and Ford and Ashleigh, and Spencer and Veronica, and Sasha and Jax.
But we never saw the bad guys.
Oh hey. I guess we do have a bad guy in this story.
It’s all of them.
In Creeping Beautiful we meet the villains.
And nope. We’re not done with Nick Tate just yet.
If you re-read that ending several times just to make sure you got it right – yes, you got it right.
Need me to spell it out for you, just so we’re clear?
NICK TATE IS ALIVE.
FREE BONUS SCENE
READ NICK TATE’S POINT OF VIEW
(For the very first time ever)
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And… I’m done here. For now! ;) That’s it for me.
If you want to know how all my other Company Books fit into this Creeping Beautiful storyline, keep reading!
Thank you for reading, thank you for reviewing, and I’ll see you in the
Julie
Are you ready for book two?
Read the description below and then pre-order it HERE.
PRETTY NIGHTMARE
INDIE
I have them all now. Just the way I want them.
McKay, the one who loves me deepest.
Adam, the one who protects me fiercely.
Donovan, the one who tells the truth.
They are my friends, they are my lovers, they are my world.
And Maggie belongs to all of us—no matter who her father is.
This is the family I’ve always wanted.
This is the family I deserve.
And I will do whatever it takes to keep them.
McKAY
I have a secret that could ruin everything.
But I’m not keeping that secret to hurt her.
Nathan St. James needed to go.
ADAM
I made plan that could ruin everything.
But I did it to save us in the end.
The Company needed to come back.
DONOVAN
I told a lie that could ruin everything.
But I didn’t tell the lie to them—I told it to myself.
Carter is closer than we think.
There is something truly wrong at Boucher House on the Old Pearl River.
Some hidden evil lurking deep inside the woods.
Nothing about their blissful life is what it seems.
Because just when they think they have it all—he shows up to take it back.
PRE-ORDER HERE
COMPANY BOOKS CHEAT SHEET!
The books in the Creeping Beautiful Series can all be read without reading the other series. The main plot is contained within. But the back story starts at the beginning with Rook & Ronin.
I made some notes about which characters first show up where, if you’re just looking for a specific Company storyline.
Rook and Ronin Series
The entire Company beginnings start in this series. But each series is its own entry point. You can jump in and read them out of order as long as you follow the specific series reading order.
Tragic
Manic
Panic
Ford – Sasha Cherlin (age 12) and Merc first appear here
Spencer – James Fenici first appears here – Five is born
The Company - Rook & Ronin Spin-off – new entry point into the series
The Company – James and Vincent Fenici age 28, Sasha Cherlin age 13, Nick and Harper Tate age 18.
This is the full story of the “Santa Barbara Incident” where Adam and Donovan’s fathers die.
(MAJOR TIE-IN with Creeping Beautiful)
Meet Me In The Dark – Merc, Sasha Cherlin age 21, Sydney Channing (Company Girl like Indie and Sasha)
Three, Two, One – STANDALONE BOOK – Jax Barlow first appears
Wasted Lust – Sasha Cherlin, age 24, with Jax Barlow. (MAJOR TIE-IN with Creeping Beautiful)
Nick Tate, age 29, plays a major role and the rest of the Company characters also show back up.
First appearance of Angelica Fenici and “other Adam”.
First appearance of Max Barlow and “Madrid”.
Wasted Lust takes place DURING Creeping Beautiful. Specifically when Indie is 15 years old and the “Company falls” and when Nick meets Adam in Daphne, Alabama.
The Mister Series – Rook & Ronin/Company Spin-off – new entry point into the series
Mr. Perfect
Mr. Romantic – First appearance of the Silver Society – i.e. The Company
Mr. Corporate – First appearance of “Five”
Mr. Mysterious – Spencer’s daughters
Mr. Match – All the Rook & Ronin Kids come back to play.
Mr. Five (or just Five) – Ford’s son and Spencer’s daughter
Mr. & Mrs. – Ford and Spencer show back up with all the kids
The Bossy Brothers Series
Rook & Ronin/Company Spin-off – new entry point into the series
In to Her – STANDALONE BOOK – Logan first appears
Bossy Brothers: Jesse – First appearance of The Way – i.e. The Company
Bossy Brothers: Joey
Bossy Brothers: Johnny – Logan shows back up Indie first appears at age 14, Chek’s first appearance
Bossy Bride: Jesse and Emma – Chek and Wendy mentioned
Bossy Brothers: Alonzo – Chek and Wendy have a plot point. Angelica Fenici’s back story starts. Max Barlow mentioned and “Madrid” appears.
Creeping Beautiful – Rook & Ronin and Company Spin-off – new entry point into the series
The complete story of Nick Tate, James and Vincent Fenici, “Wendy”, “Chek”, Indie Anna Accorsi, Angelica Fenici, Adam Boucher, Donovan and Carter Couture, Core McKay, and Nathan St. James.
Creeping Beautiful (book 1 2020)
Pretty Nightmare (book 2 2020)
Gorgeous Misery (book 3 2020)
Lovely Darkness (book 4 2021)
YOU CAN FIND ME ALL OVER THE FUCKING PLACE
And I love keeping in touch with fans - so don’t be shy!
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www.JAHuss.com
See all her books HERE
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
YOU CAN FIND ME ALL OVER THE FUCKING PLACE
And I love keeping in touch with fans - so don’t be shy!
Find Julie at her website
www.JAHuss.com
See all her books HERE
CLICK HER FOLLOW BUTTON
to get notices of all new releases and pre-orders.
Chat with Julie
On Facebook
On Twitter
On Instagram
Follow Julie
On BOOKBUB
DO YOU LIKE TO WIN BOOK PRIZES?
Join her Facebook Fan Group to enter to win!
Every single Friday I have a giveaway on my website and on Instagram.
You should really check them out every single week!
Want to learn secret things about me and my books before everyone else?
JOIN MY “SECRET STUFF” NEWSLETTER
JA Huss is the New York Times Bestselling author of 321 and has been on the USA Today Bestseller's list 21 times in the past five years. She writes characters with heart, plots with twists, and perfect endings.
Her new sexy sci-fi romance and paranormal romance pen name is KC Cross and she writes novels and teleplays collaboratively with actor and screenwriter, Johnathan McClain.
Her books have sold millions of copies all over the world, the audio version of her semi-autobiographical book, Eighteen, was nominated for a Voice Arts Award and an Audie Award in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Her audiobook, Mr. Perfect, was nominated for a Voice Arts Award in 2017. Her audiobook, Taking Turns, was nominated for an Audie Award in 2018. Five of her book were optioned for a TV series by MGM television in 2018. And her book, Total Exposure, was nominated for a RITA Award in 2019.
ALL BOOKS BY JA HUSS
CREEPING BEAUTIFUL
Creeping Beautiful
Pretty Nightmare
Gorgeous Misery
Lovely Darkness
BOSSY BROTHERS
Bossy Brothers: Jesse
Bossy Brothers: Joey
Bossy Brothers: Johnny
Bossy Bride: Emma & Jesse
Bossy Brothers: Alonzo
Bossy Brothers: Tony
HAREM STATION
Booty Hunter
Star Crossed
(Free everywhere)
Big Dicker
Lady Luck
Prison Princess
Veiled Vixen
Uncrossed
STANDALONE BOOKS
Wild Thing
Pretty Thing
Sweet Thing
The Dirty Ones
Three, Two, One
Eighteen
Sexy
Rock
In To Her
ROOK AND RONIN SERIES
Tragic
(Free everywhere)
Manic
(Free everywhere)
Panic
Ford
Spencer
The Company
Merc
Sasha
Happily Ever After
THE MISTER SERIES
Mr. Perfect
Mr. Romantic
Mr. Corporate
Mr. Mysterious
Mr. Match
Mr. Five
Mr & Mrs
THE TURNING SERIES
Taking Turns
Turning Back