Aria woke with a jolt, looking around her dark bedroom. As her senses slowly began to adjust, she looked for the source of whatever had disturbed her. Her cell phone vibrated against the surface of her nightstand, its screen casting a square light onto the ceiling above.

Yawning, she grabbed for it, glancing over at the man in bed next to her, her heart filling with warmth at the sight of Ben's sleeping form. Yesterday had been a dream, as it always was between them. They’d spent their entire Saturday either in bed, on the beach, or in the shower. There was a delicious, dull ache between her legs from how many times they’d been together, but that did nothing to temper how much she still wanted him.

Weekends with Ben were quickly becoming her favorite pastime.

She ran a hand down his naked back as he slept sprawled on his stomach, his head turned in her direction. She leaned over and kissed his cheek and he stirred, but didn't wake. Long, dark lashes rested peacefully on his face—not a care in the world in his expression.

Just pure happiness.

Aria put a hand to her chest, feeling the thump behind her ribs. Sometimes she needed to remind herself that this was really happening—she was really falling in love with a wonderful man who she could trust and give her whole self to.

It was new territory for her. She'd always been so guarded in relationships, but with Ben...she didn't feel the need to be.

She felt safe.

She felt loved.

She was in love.

Pulling away from her self-indulgent thoughts, Aria finally focused on her phone. Furrowing her brow, she realized she had dozens of missed texts, calls, and emails.

"What the hell?" she whispered to herself, sitting up. She pulled the sheet with her, covering her naked body with the thin linen as she propped her elbows on her knees and scrolled through all her missed notifications.

Aria, are you awake? WAKE UP NOW.

Don't look at the news. We need to talk. 911.

Is that you on E! News? Did you allow that?

OMG, ARIA! WHAT THE HELL?

What did you do?!?! This is career suicide!

Her heart began to race, panic swarming her every cell as she quickly clicked out on a website link that Steele had sent her, the first text she'd received.

A photo popped up. Then another. And another, and another, and Aria knew exactly what she was looking at.

Herself.

Nude.

Aria could barely breathe, trembling as she searched social media and entertainment news sites from her phone. She prayed that it was an anomaly—only one site had them and no one else. This wasn't wide spread. She could fix this.

The photos were everywhere.

Every entertainment site was carrying the story, the photos. She was trending on social media, and everyone had an opinion to share. None of them kind.

Her breasts, her body, her love life on full display for the world to see. It would have been bad enough if they'd just been images of her posing nude, but these were pornographic. These were her in her most intimate moments with a man she'd...

Did he do this? Why? A sob stuck in her throat. She looked at the man still sleeping beside her, fear gripping her heart.

This couldn't be happening.

If Ben found out about these photos, he'd never forgive her. He'd never see her the same way again—how could he? She was disgusted with herself right now almost as much as all the trolling comments from people online calling her a slut and a whore.

Articles were debating who was in the photos with her, but she knew. Crawling out of her bed as quietly as she could so as not to disturb Ben, she quickly got dressed and closed herself off in the bathroom, dialing her mother.

"Mom?" Her voice shook, her eyes already welling with tears. "Mom, I'm so sorry. I didn't know...I didn't mean to..."

She didn't even know what she was apologizing for, but embarrassment flooded her at the thought of her parents seeing those photographs. Her sisters, oh god. She'd always wanted to be a role model to her sisters—that was ruined now.

"Don't be sorry, baby," Betty said over the line, her tone the exact calmness Aria needed right now. "Come to my house right away. I'm sending a car and security to get you here. They'll be there in ten minutes. We'll fix this, okay?"

Panic clutched at her. "How? It's everywhere, Mom. I'm..."

"Aria, have I ever failed you before? No. I'm your manager, yes, but I'm your mom first. And I'm going to help you fix this, okay? Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do."

"Then trust that it'll be okay. And, baby girl?" Her mother paused for a moment, then sniffed. "I'm so sorry this is happening to you. I love you. Your daddy loves you. Nothing has changed. Understand? We love you no matter what."

Aria burst into tears, her hand over her mouth to muffle the sounds. Relief flooded her at their unconditional support and love. "Thank you, Mom."

"I'll see you soon, sweetheart." The line went silent.

Aria looked at herself in the bathroom mirror and washed her face. The sun wasn't even up yet, so there was no way she was going to wake up Ben. She didn't want him knowing about any of this. For a minute, she considered dropping his phone in a glass of water.

Running her hands through her hair, she groaned. There was no point. He'd find out from someone. At least she could hold it off as long as possible, and not be here to see the look of disgust and disappointment on his face when he did find out.

Sneaking back into the bedroom, Aria turned off Ben's phone and replaced it on the nightstand. She quickly grabbed a small bag of clothes, changing into casual sweats and an oversized sweatshirt.

Her phone lit up with a text from the driver her mother had sent. Tossing her wallet and phone into her bag, she slung it over her shoulder and headed for the front door. When she swung it open, there was a security guard standing there with a cup of coffee and a small bag that smelled like warm muffins.

"Good morning, Miss Reynolds. I'm here to take you to your mother's house." He handed her the coffee. "She insisted I bring you breakfast."

"Of course she did." Aria chuckled, enjoying the small reprieve of emotions. She locked her apartment door and then followed him down to the lobby of her building.

"We're going out the back." He motioned for a back door she rarely took. "Too many reporters out front."

"Seriously? They're already here?" Aria felt her stomach turning. "This is a disaster."

"Duck your head and grab the back of my shirt. Don't stop moving until you're in the back seat. Got it?" he instructed her right before opening the back door. "There's bound to be a few back here, too."

The moment he swung the door open, lights flashed in her face and questions were hurled at her. She clutched the guard's shirt—grateful for the advice, since she'd be blind otherwise—and in seconds, she was shoved into the back of a car. The entire thing lasted less than two seconds, and yet, it was the most stressful two seconds of her entire life.

She'd dealt with the occasional paparazzi before, but never so many at once. There'd never been such an interest in her before, and she was both devastated and furious that nude photos were the thing that had pushed her into the spotlight.

"Windows are tinted, ma'am," the driver told her after he’d climbed into the front seat, and passed the bag of muffins back to her. "So, you're safe."

"Thank you." She leaned against the leather seat back and took a sip of the warm coffee and a bite of the muffin. The car was pushing through throngs of reporters slowly.

Freaking insane.

"I can't even believe this," she whispered to herself, watching reporters trying to film the car and stop her for a question. She couldn't hear them very well—mostly muffled thanks to the car's interior, but she caught the occasional word from reading lips and none of it was kind.

They were ravenous, wanting to rip her apart for the sake of ratings and website clicks. Not a single empathetic face in front of her—they only wanted to feast on her remains to pad their bank accounts.

Her career was over before it had even begun.