Caught Up

Caught Up (2025) is a dark romance novel by USA Today bestselling author Navessa Allen. Because the novel explores fraught topics such as sex work and the mafia, as well as instances of graphic violence and explicit sex, the author includes trigger warnings before the work even begins. Caught Up, along with its preceding novel, Lights Out, is part of the author’s Into Darkness trilogy, and she defines these titles as dark romantic comedies because they employ a lighter, more humorous tone despite the ominous subject matter.

The novel follows Junior, a member of the mafia who yearns to renew his relationship with his high school ex-girlfriend, Lauren, whom he once betrayed and who now pursues an online career as a sex worker. As Lauren and Junior navigate the challenges of their fraught past and their complicated present, they must both contend with the lingering issues that are sabotaging their happiness. Lauren must resolve the issues surrounding the play club of which she is a part owner, and Junior must find a way to leave the mafia without abandoning his family. Through these conflicts, Allen explores issues such as The Journey from Obsession to Genuine Love, The Need for Empowerment in Sex Work, and Escaping the Legacy of Violence and Crime.

This guide refers to the Kindle First Zando Edition published in June 2025.

Content Warning: Both the source material and this guide feature depictions of sexual content, graphic violence, bullying, gender and/or transgender discrimination, sexual violence and harassment, rape, cursing, illness or death, and physical and emotional abuse.

Plot Summary

As Caught Up begins, Nico “Junior” Trocci and his three brothers, Alec, Stefan, and Greg, are dumping the body of Tommy Marchetti in a river. Junior recalls his high school relationship with Tommy’s daughter, Lauren Marchetti, which ended when Tommy threatened to kill Junior for dating Lauren. These days, Junior follows Lauren on a sex-working site called Me4U, to which he has been subscribed for 10 years under the username of NT95; this account allows him to access the sexual content that Lauren posts.

Online, Junior congratulates Lauren on making progress with her political aims to improve conditions for sex workers in the city. As he attends to a wound that he sustained while completing a job for his father, Nico Trocci Sr., Junior laments the dangers of working in the mafia. He masturbates to Lauren’s videos on Me4U and fantasizes about meeting her in person again. Although Junior plans to leave the mafia soon, he arranges to attend Mass the next morning with his mother, Moira, because he knows that Lauren will also attend church with her grandmother, Nonna Bianchi.

Lauren lives with her two roommates, Taylor and Ryan (the latter of whom uses they/them pronouns). When she learns that her father is missing, she is not surprised, as Tommy has always been largely absent from her life. Online, she sees NT95’s congratulatory remarks on her political success, and she reflects on the importance of securing rights for sex workers like herself. Lauren then attends church with Nonna Bianchi and ignores the congregants who whisper about her profession. She sees Junior and feels enchanted as her former feelings for him resurface. However, these emotions confuse and anger her because she also recalls how Junior once betrayed her.

After Lauren uses the bathroom, Junior ambushes her, using Alec as a lookout, and presses her against a wall. Lauren fights her physical arousal, and she barely manages to escape Junior. She then threatens Alec with a taser.

Returning to her apartment, Lauren explains to Taylor that she and Junior briefly dated in high school, fulfilling several sexual fantasies, but when Lauren’s friend Kelly discovered Lauren’s diary, she exposed Lauren and Junior’s relationship and Junior denied ever knowing or interacting with Lauren. His denial led to severe bullying that forced Lauren to switch schools. (Ryan befriended Lauren at her new school.) Now, Ryan urges Lauren to be cautious about renewing her affections for the treacherous Junior.

Junior completes a mafia job with Alec. When Alec asks about Lauren, Junior refuses to discuss his private life. After the job, Junior uses the tracking device that he planted on Lauren to find her at Velvet, a play club. Wearing a mask, he infiltrates the club and finds Lauren. The two of them watch a performance in which a married couple has sex onstage. Lauren worries that he will make fun of the show or judge the members of the club, but both she and Junior are aroused. After the show, Junior chases Lauren to a stairwell, and she makes him grovel before they perform a sex act. Suddenly, they are interrupted by Ryan and Taylor.

When Lauren attends an owners’ meeting of Velvet, she learns that the rent on the premises is being increased again, forcing the owners to consider moving Velvet to a new building. Velvet operates under strict regulations, but Lauren, Taylor, and Ryan look for other viable buildings. Ryan and Taylor support whatever decision Lauren plans to make about Junior, but Ryan reminds Lauren of how deeply Junior hurt her.

Junior completes another mafia job for his father and then suddenly has an idea of how to persuade Lauren to give him a second chance. In the past, when Kelly bullied Lauren, Junior planted drugs in Kelly’s locker and home to frame her, but he also stole Lauren’s diary. Now, Junior offers Lauren $5,000 through Me4U in exchange for meeting with him; he includes a picture of the diary in the message. Seeing this, Lauren realizes that Junior is NT95. Finding this fact both creepy and endearing, she agrees to meet.

They meet at an arcade in Little Italy while Taylor and Ryan stand guard outside. Lauren and Junior briefly discuss Junior’s past betrayal, after which they perform more sex acts in a phone booth. They agree to keep their relationship casual, though both of them would prefer a more committed relationship. When Lauren leaves, she invites Junior to come back to Velvet.

Junior is late to his date with Lauren at Velvet because of a family dinner; Lauren interprets his tardiness as a sign that he is betraying her again. At the dinner, Junior’s father offers him more responsibility, which Junior cannot refuse without drawing suspicion. Aly and Josh (Junior’s cousin and her fiancé) are at the dinner; they are both friends with Junior. After dinner, Junior rushes to Velvet and takes a seat with Lauren, and they perform more sex acts while watching the show. (Such behavior is common at Velvet.)

After the performance, Junior tells Lauren that he wants to leave the mafia, and he accidentally implies that Lauren should have a plan for what she wants to do after completing her career in sex work. Lauren is furious at the thought that Junior is trying to control her, and she orders him to leave. Before he does, he uses violence to stop a drunk man from fighting his way into Velvet. Although the crowd supports Junior’s use of violence, Lauren cites his behavior as another reason why he should leave. Junior cryptically tells Lauren that he has been protecting her for 10 years; this comment confuses her.

After leaving Velvet, Lauren feels conflicted. She suddenly realizes that Junior took her phone and left his phone with her. They meet at church and have sex in a confessional booth. Junior then visits Aly and Josh. Josh, who thinks that Junior is in love with Lauren, agrees to help Junior find out who is raising the rent on Velvet’s building. Josh also agrees to help Junior escape the mafia.

Aly and Josh invite Lauren and Junior to their engagement party, which Lauren agrees to attend with Junior. At the party, Lauren gets along with everyone, though Junior mostly spends time with Josh and Josh’s former roommate, Tyler. After the party, Lauren invites Junior to her home, where they have sex. Junior tells Lauren that he wants a committed relationship with her; he then leaves on mafia business.

Junior goes to a port with a group of mercenaries to find the bookie who owns Velvet’s landlord’s debt. Junior is surprised to learn that the bookie is Tyler. Tyler agrees to sell the landlord’s debt at a reduced cost if Junior will accept Tyler as a silent partner in the ownership of Velvet’s building. Junior accepts the deal and is glad to have helped Lauren.

Meanwhile, Lauren goes to visit her sister, Kristen, who claims that her husband, Hugo, told her that Junior was the one who killed Tommy. Infuriated that Junior has betrayed her again, Lauren plans to attack Junior. She goes to his apartment and uses a taser on him when he returns from the port. Junior fights Lauren off and mistakenly confesses to killing Tommy out of anger. The two spend three days apart, devastated by the end of their relationship.

Junior visits Lauren and explains that Tommy is not dead, but her father did leave the country and is now living in Italy under the mafia’s protection. Junior gives Lauren the deed to Velvet’s building, but Lauren realizes that Junior’s wish to become involved in the business side of Velvet will allow him to leave the mafia. They reconcile and have sex, and Junior invites Lauren to his family’s monthly dinner.

At the dinner, Junior, Lauren, Aly, and Josh go inside with Moira, and Junior’s father makes crass comments about Lauren. After Junior explains his desire to leave the mafia, Junior’s father tackles him and starts strangling him, only releasing his grip when Junior calls him “dad.” Lauren tases Junior’s father anyway. After the disastrous dinner, Junior and Lauren pursue their relationship and start performing at Velvet; the business is doing very well. They attend a select family dinner with only Josh, Aly, Tyler, and Tyler’s new girlfriend, Stella.