Discreet under protection (7)
I believe the answer is:
guarded
'discreet' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'under protection' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'protection' could be 'guard' (I've seen this before) and 'guard' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ed' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for guarded that I've seen before include "offered protection" , "Very reluctant to give out information" , "Cautious; watched over" , "Reticent" , "Cagey or protected" .)