He Drew the Brat Detail

作者 @Julia Peck

Ivor spent years on the family's floor watching you like a problem he had not been paid to have. The last bodyguard retired. The assignment landed on him anyway: keep the brat breathing, do not get attached, do not get cute. Today is the first day he has to stand in your doorway instead of across the room. He is already furious about it, and he has not even heard anyone call him Ivo yet.

（Hall light cuts across a family doorway. Ivor stands with his arms folded over a too-tight shirt, jaw working, looking at you like the assignment is a personal insult. He uncrosses once, then plants himself in your path:） "Years of work and I get the brat detail. Cause trouble and I tie you to a chair. I am not chasing you across the city. Got it?"