When twelve-year-old Ana Hamilton turned up on a missing person's bulletin put out by her drug-addicted mother, Yolanda, Billy Abbott contacted his lawyer friend, Rafe Torres, and asked him to take the case. Ana, it turned out, had not been kidnapped -- she was being raised by her "Aunt" Tyra. Tyra was sent to a foster home until her custody could be sorted out. In the end, Rafe was able to help Tyra legally adopt Ana.

Rafe's next client was Adam Wilson, son of Victor Newman. Adam had been convicted of forging a diary that was used as evidence to send Victor to jail for the murder of Walter Palin. Adam had been sentenced to serve 18 months in prison, but Rafe was able to get Adam placed on house arrest at the Newman ranch after Adam went blind in prison. Rafe often stopped by the ranch to see Adam, and to spend time with his Aunt Estella, who worked there as the house manager. When someone began gas-lighting Victor's live-in girlfriend, Ashley, to try to convince her she was losing her mind, Estella's dislike of Ashley soon landed her as the prime suspect. Estella was transferred to work at Newman Enterprises as a precaution, but when more planted evidence seemed to prove her guilty, she was fired. It was later revealed that Adam was self-inducing his blindness with Botox injections -- and he was the one who had been gas-lighting Ashley as part of a revenge plot against his father for sending him to prison. One day as Adam was hiding his box of Botox, he heard Rafe at the door and dropped the box. While Adam was on the floor fumbling for it, Rafe picked it up as he explained that Adam could not get a medical discharge from his sentence because he wasn't terminally ill. Rafe was chocked as Adam snatched the box away and said, "Okay, I get it. Give me the box."

Colleen was interested in Rafe, but it was matter-of-factly revealed that Colleen wasn't Rafe's type because Rafe was gay.

Adam arranged for more evidence to point to Rafe's Aunt Estella in the gas lighting of Ashley, but Rafe was hot on his trail, trying to clear his Aunt Estella, and confronted Adam. Knowing that Rafe was gay, Adam pretended to be interested in Rafe, and they had a sexual encounter. Afterward, Adam called Heather to come to him immediately. Adam showered, and when she arrived they made love.

Noah was so distressed that his father Nick asked Phyllis for a divorce and that his mother Sharon was expecting a baby, not even knowing who the father was, that he decided to consult Rafe about divorcing his parents and becoming emancipated, but Daniel helped him change his mind.

After finding out from Nikki, Nick told Victor that Adam was gay, and he took it amazingly well. Later Rafe arrived as Heather was leaving and noticed that they had obviously had sex, so Adam told Rafe it was over between them. Rafe later accused Adam of using him, and was suspicious that Adam was behind the gas-lighting of Ashley and framing of his Aunt Estella. But he was never able to prove it, and Estella ended up pleading guilty to a lesser charge.

Several months later, Jack joined forces with Victor to take Adam down if Jabot could be returned to Chancellor. They plotted to get Sharon to lure Adam to the Abbott cabin, and with all he had wronged in attendance even including Rafe and Heather, they confronted Adam with what they knew. Adam played innocent even after Phyllis arrived with a deathbed letter Dr. Taylor had dictated to the ambulance EMT meant for Ashley. The letter told Ashley that she had a miscarriage months before and a hysterical pregnancy afterward, so never gave birth that night. Ashley remembered meeting "Sabrina" on the stairs and falling, and realized it had to have been Adam. Everyone realized that her baby Faith was really Sharon's. A DNA test later proved it, and Ashley reluctantly gave Faith to Sharon. Everyone went home leaving Adam with Victor, Nick and Jack, but fearing they would kill him, Adam escaped into the woods and fell down a ravine. He was hospitalized and arrested claiming insanity and that he had been kidnapped by the Newmans and Abbotts. Adam escaped and showed up at the annual charity ball in costume. Adam demanded Sharon meet him in the basement or "people would get hurt". Victor, Nick, Jack, Rafe, Heather, Paul, Ashley and Patty went to the basement in search of Adam. Then an explosion rocked the building sending everyone running for the street. Victor and Jack rescued Jill and Kay who were trapped in the restroom, and Nick rescued Phyllis, then Sharon and Faith who had gone back upstairs. It was revealed that a gas line had been cut and a body burned beyond recognition found nearby. The body was later identified as Adam by DNA, and lack of smoke in the lungs proved that he had been murdered before the fire. Suspects were Nick, Jack, Victor, Phyllis, Sharon, Victoria, "Emily", Ashley, Rafe, Heather, Billy, and Nikki. Heather was suspended from the DA's office and Rafe from the Public Defender's office, for their involvement in the incident at the cabin. Some time later after the arrest of Ryder Callahan and the death of Sarah Smythe, Heather was reinstated with the help of Detective Chance. Evidence collected by Detective Owen Pomerantz included Jack Abbott's monogrammed handkerchief found in the victim's mouth, blood on Nick's suit coat (which Phyllis and Sharon connived to hide from the police), and Victor's broken watch stained with Adam's blood. Victor told Detective Pomerantz that he backslapped Adam in the basement after Adam taunted him about losing another child in Faith, sending his watch flying, but he did not kill Adam. Nick cautioned Victor that they were "both involved in what happened" when he did not mention that Nick was there too. A homeless person found Nick's suit coat in a dumpster, Billy and Mac got him to give it up, and Mac turned it over to the police. Because a fancy European pen that was found at the crime scene was determined to be the murder weapon and traced to Victoria, she was arrested for the murder of Adam. Meanwhile, JT was granted full custody of Reed when she did not show up for the custody hearing. Victor and Nikki were about to fly Adam's remains to be buried next to Hope in Kansas. But after Pomerantz revealed the contents of Adams's computer hard drive to contain video from the spy camera he planted at the ranch and voice clips of Sabrina, Victor instead shoved the casket out the cargo door of the plane.

Rafe invited his friends to a party at Jimmie's Bar to celebrate the opening of his private law practice. On his arm was his new boyfriend, Tyler. Abby Newman became his first client to sue her parents for her inheritance from her father Brad and sister Colleen, who had each died tragically the year before.

Rafe shows up now and then whenever someone in Genoa City needs a lawyer, most likely his friends Billy Abbott or Abby Newman. Such was the case in July 2012, when Abby was arrested for misuse of emergency services since she had gotten her fans to call 911 after a faked abduction, and Carmine Bosco for the attempted abduction of Chloe. Rafe, D.A. Michael, and Ronan agreed that Abby would pay a $100,000 fine. But Carmine with his public defender got no deal. Abby then hired Rafe to represent Carmine, who was released on bail.