Hired soldier happy to hold broken cane (9)
I believe the answer is:
mercenary
'hired soldier' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'happy to hold broken cane' is the wordplay.
'happy' becomes 'merry'.
'to hold' indicates putting letters inside.
'broken' indicates an anagram.
'cane' is an anagram of 'cena'.
'merry' going around 'cena' is 'MERCENARY'.
(Other definitions for mercenary that I've seen before include "Acting for money" , "Soldier for hire" , "Paid soldier" , "Paid fighter" , "Professional soldier serving in a foreign army" .)