House on the Broken Dock

She was trained to end lives quickly, quietly, and without hesitation.
Protection had never been part of the job description.

For years, Veyra Kade had survived by keeping her distance-from her targets, from her employers, from anything that could make her care. Assassination was simple. Clinical. Controlled. You watched, you waited, you ended it. Clean lines. Clean exits.

Then she took a job that wasn't meant for her.

A protection contract.
A quiet house at the edge of nowhere.
And a situation that immediately felt wrong.

With unfamiliar eyes on her and too many questions left unanswered, Veyra finds herself trapped in a role she never trained for-guarding a life instead of ending one. The longer she stays, the more dangerous it becomes. Not just because someone is watching the house-but because for the first time in years, she's starting to care what happens inside it.

This is a story about violence meeting domestic quiet.
About a woman built for shadows being forced into the light.
About what it costs to protect when you've only ever known how to kill.

Some jobs end with blood on the ground.
This one might end with blood on her hands-or her heart.

The dead were easy. The living were dangerous.

Contest prompt: It doesn't take long, before everything in your life spins out of control. One moment you're a secret assassin, and the next you've somehow been hired as a nanny and you're not entirely sure how it happened.