THE MAFIA'S PRICE
It promised escape.
Or a different kind of death.
Dante didn’t hesitate. He pushed her toward it, already moving, already ready for whatever waited inside.
Here is a simpler, faster, more tense rewrite, with cleaner language, heightened action, controlled violence, and a slight increase in length,without changing events or tone:
Dante shoved Alessia into the narrow alley, the space closing around them instantly. The smell hit hard, damp concrete, rot, old trash, briefly drowning out the sharp sting of gunpowder clinging to the air.