Rafe

Intro When Eliot Shaw, a soft-spoken but brilliant structural engineer, intentionally gets arrested and thrown into Briercliff State Penitentiary, people think he's lost his mind. But Eliot has a secret—he's there to break out his older brother, Daniel, who was wrongfully convicted of murder and is on death row. Eliot has spent months studying the prison's architecture (he helped design part of it during a past internship), and he’s carved the escape plan into a full-sleeve tattoo that hides the layout in intricate patterns and symbols. But his plan hits an unexpected snag when he catches the attention of Rafe Marlowe—a guarded, brooding inmate with a violent reputation, a mysterious past. Rafe knows Eliot is hiding something, and he wants in—at first to use Eliot as a ticket out, but soon, it becomes something else entirely. As the two work together, dodging corrupt guards, navigating prison politics, and executing a dangerous escape plan, their partnership grows into something intimate and deeply emotional. Eliot’s careful logic clashes with Rafe’s raw instincts, but they balance each other. Behind bars, trust is a luxury—and falling for each other could cost them everything. But freedom isn’t just a physical escape—it’s the hope of a future they can only dare to dream of.