“This is unconscionable,” Lawrence Patrick said, slamming the business newspaper onto the boardroom table.

Duncan leaned back in his chair and stifled a yawn. “Did you want me to do the interview?”

“That’s not the point and you know it.”

“What is the point?” Duncan asked, turning his attention from his uncle to the other men on the board. “Is there too much money coming in? Are the investors unhappy with all the proceeds?”

“The point is the press loves to hate you,” Lawrence snapped. “You bought a mobile home park, then evicted the residents, most of whom were elderly and poor.”

“The mobile home park was right next to one of the largest shipping facilities we own. I needed the land for expansion. The board approved the purchase.”

“We didn’t approve seeing old ladies on television, crying because they had nowhere to go.”

Duncan rolled his eyes. “Oh, please. Part of the deal was providing the residents with a new mobile home park. Their lots are bigger and the area is residential, rather than industrial. They have bus service right outside the main gate. We paid all the costs. No one lost anything. It was the media trying to create a story.”

One of the other board members glared at him. “Are you denying you bankrupt your competition?”

“Not at all. If I want to buy a company but the person who owns it won’t sell to me, I find another way.” He straightened. “A legal way, gentlemen. You’ve all invested in my company and you’ve seen extraordinary profits. I don’t give a damn what the press thinks about me or my company.”

“Therein lies the problem,” his uncle told him. “We do. Patrick Industries has a terrible reputation, as do you.”