Hindsight is always 20/20.

That line kept on repeating in my head as I rode Bart's bike to Chino's office. I still had not bought a car, and there was no way my mind would make me sit in a cab through the noon-hour traffic.

I thought I had my thoughts cleared up after that talk with Jacob, but it was even made clearer today. I still did not feel comfortable discussing things over the phone. It might also have been bugged; we'll never know.

"Atty. Aiden Gochino, please," I panted at the lady behind the reception counter. I have never been to Chino's office. He did not let us visit since he still wasn't a partner, and he felt it would be awkward sitting around his table doing nothing. He was what Seb would call a lowly employee.

"I'm sorry, sir, no one is answering. He may be out," she told me. "Why don't you text him?"

"Shit. Of course." I was about to shoot him a message when a familiar voice called my name.

"Ace, bro, what are you doing here? And what's with the grunge look?" he gave me a deprecating look. His companion, a tall guy also with spectacles, gave me a sidelong glance while he pretended to be busy on the phone.

"It wasn't Jacob. Fuck A, I want to shoot myself here. Now," I panted. I was so ashamed of what I had done, if only I really could shoot myself.

"Oh, Jesus," he groaned and dragged me by my arm. "Come on. Shoot yourself in my cubicle. Don't make a mess in the lobby lest you embarrass me in front of my boss's son."

I looked at his companion to see the guy looking at us, half-stoic, half-worried. I nodded and waved at him, and he just gave me a terse nod and a small grin as he followed us to the elevators.

"Uno, Ace," he introduced us. I combed my hair with my hand and fixed my tie and coat. I kept my mouth shut until we reached his cubicle, where I proceeded to take off my coat and tie quickly.

"Whoa, dude, what the hell! Put your clothes back on!" he whispered so loudly it was clearly audible to the people around because I saw some of the women giggle and turn away.

His office was also an open type with cubicles close to or immediately next to each other. His was located next to the wall, near the windows. The panels were solid gray and went only around four feet high so people could just crane their necks, and they could see what was going on outside. And since we were still standing, my strip show was visible to all who were interested.

"Fuck, A, it's so damn hot I'm sweating like a pig! I biked from my office, hence the grunge look, and frankly, if I could strip down to my boxers right here, I would." I continued to undo the upper three buttons of my shirt and folded the sleeves to my elbows. He let me sit down and recover while he left to get some water.

After guzzling the entire bottle, he looked at his watch and then at me.

"Okay, Ace, you have three minutes to tell me, as objectively as possible, what you're talking about. Then we have seven minutes to make up a good excuse to my cousin. The ten minutes includes you getting dressed," he frowned. "He'll be here in eleven minutes."

"Anderson said yes?" I could not hide my excitement.

"Shush! Talk, now!" he barked, and I complied. It took me less than a minute to tell him what I discovered, and the rest of the time, we planned our next plan of action. I fixed my clothes while we talked, cursing the Manila weather while I was at it.

At exactly ten minutes after I started talking, the lobby receptionist called to inform Chino that his cousin, the renowned criminal lawyer, Atty. Anderson Gochino, was on his way up. A few minutes later, the man of the hour strode into the floor while looking at his cousin's workplace disdainfully.

Anderson was ten years older than us. He was just as tall as Chino, with fair complexion and jet black hair. His eyes were almond-shaped, a little less open than my friend's, but his glare was just as fierce, if not worse. He wore a light blue polo barong and black dress pants. His aura reeked of dominance and confidence and demanded respect wherever he went.

"Gan (fuck), you work in this shit hole?" he greeted Chino, who just shrugged and stuck his hand out. Anderson looked appalled and slapped it away. Instead, he pulled Chino's collar and gave him a crushing hug.

"Fucking idiot, that's not how you greet family."

It was evident how much he doted on Chino, like he was his real brother. He was quick to help and even quicker to ridicule whatever he saw that was not worthy of his younger cousin's time or effort. He wanted Chino to work with them in their family's firm, but our friend did not want to be a criminal lawyer. It was too risky and too high profile, he said.

"And you, Ace. What did you get yourself into?" he shook his head and gave me a once over. He treated me like his cousin, too, complete with praises, bits of advice, and criticisms. "Fix that lapel of yours; it's distracting me."

Embarrassed, I quickly fixed it and made sure my tie was in line, and I looked like the CEO.

"Fancy, shiny cuff buttons," he mockingly commented again. 

I looked at the cuffs of my coat and frowned. The buttons looked unfamiliar, and they were indeed ugly. For a moment, I thought I might be wearing one of Jaxx's coats. But this one fit me perfectly well over the breast and stomach. And that guy has a fashion sense, too. He would not be caught dead wearing these horrendous buttons.

"Are you going to sue your tailor now?" he smirked.

"I don't know. I haven't seen these before, but I'm quite certain this coat is mine," I said tentatively before looking at the secret pocket inside and saw my monogram there.

"Then you have such dreadful taste. Pity, you're supposed to be one of the most eligible bachelors," he mocked, reminding me once again of that stupid interview Jaxx and I did last year.

"Anyway, I came here to ask you something else altogether. I'm a little concerned, and I just want to know what's going on first before taking the case. If I should." His tone was suddenly serious.

"Okay?" I said as I took my seat and eyed him warily. Chino leaned his back against the filing cabinet and crossed his arms.

He leaned back and lazily slid down the seat. He rested both arms on the armrests, his legs spread in front of him. He sighed deeply, pinched the bridge of his nose, and tutted again.

"Goddammit, Ace. Can you tell me why someone would accuse you of withholding evidence?"

"What?" Chino and I said in unison so loud that everyone in the room quickly fell silent and turned to look at us.

"Dammit!" Chino cursed. "Nothing to see here guys, go mind your businesses," he said to everyone and motioned Anderson and me to follow him.

Anderson quickly stood up, but I was still stunned at how someone else knew that I had this sort of information with me. Sheryl must have snitched and told Alvaro! That bitch!

Seeing that I was staring blankly ahead, Chino grabbed my wrist and pulled me harshly. He cussed the moment he tugged and quickly withdrew his hand.

"Son of a bitch, if you're not going to sue your tailor, I will!" he said through gritted teeth while grimacing. He held his left hand tightly with his right while pressing them down on his thigh.

"W-what happened? Are you all right?" I was confused, and my hand was still hanging in midair.

"Do you have a blade on your cuff or what?" he angrily replied. When he opened his hand, there was a bleeding cut on his middle finger. I looked at my cuff, and one of the buttons was missing while the other was hanging on loosely by... a wire?

"What in hell's name...?"

All three of us stood still like statues, eyes wide in shock. Even Anderson's eyes were as wide as saucers as he covered his gaping mouth. When Chino's eyes met mine, we quickly jumped into action, looking for the missing button while I hastily took my coat off again. 

When we found the button, and I tucked it in the secret pocket of my coat. I left the coat folded on Chino's chair as we headed to a private room. Before we reached it, Anderson put a hand on my chest and narrowed his eyes.

"I think you should make sure there are no more electronic devices on you, Ace," he said grimly, and I knew what he meant. I sighed and went to the men's room. Fortuitously, it was right next to the room where we were going to talk.

I handed my neatly folded dress shirt, tie, dress pants with the belt on, and shoes to my demon Chinese-American friend, who was suppressing his laughter. Some of the attentive paralegals on his floor were apparently entranced and were all eyes and ears while we were talking, and now they were staring at me in amusement.

I entered the room quickly and sat across Anderson. The room was chilly, considering I was only in my boxers, undershirt, and socks. Chino returned, still chuckling, and sat beside Anderson. I glared at him.

"What are you so furious about? You're the one who wanted to strip down to your boxers. You just got your wish," he sniggered.

"Shut up."

"Okay, Ace. How about you tell me exactly what the fuck is going on?" Anderson gave me a professional smile, the one that told you that he's not putting up with bullshit and that he ate little shits like you for snacks. He put his hands on the table, interlaced his fingers, and waited.

♤

When I returned to my office, I immediately scoured the place for any more bugging devices. Thankfully, there seemed to be none. The moment I stepped inside my condo, I went over the kitchen, living room, and everywhere Brigs went with a fine-tooth comb and was relieved when there were no unusual electronic devices hidden.

I had thrown my tie and coat in a garbage bin in the mall on the way back to the office. I inspected my belt thoroughly before deciding to keep it since it was my souvenir from Italy.

I haven't worn the coat for a long time. The last was still December last year, right after the accident. We surmised that it might have been installed when it was at the cleaners. And since it sat in my cabinet, I'm unsure which conversations it had heard. However, it was clear that it caught my conversation with Bart that morning. 

It made sense because Anderson said Beau called them an hour before lunch to file the accusation. Since he already agreed to meet us at one-thirty, it was just perfect timing to discuss the matter.

All this time, they were one step ahead because they were playing dirty – they had me bugged and followed, they coerced people, and they threatened and paid their way to get to our company.

I had no intention of playing the waiting game. I was going to strike whilst the iron was hot and catch them off guard. This may be a game of cards to them, but to me, this was chess. And I was going to show them how to properly sacrifice my men in order to win.

♤  ♡  ♧  ♢